Stretched Terrains – The Mobile Museum on its Way to Dak'art
For the second time since 2016, the Goethe-Institut Nigeria initiates a mobile residency program titled "Stretched Terrains – The Mobile Museum on its Way to Dak'Art" with a group of young artists from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Germany.
The group will start the six-week journey with an old converted public transport bus, the Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Art, on April 11, 2018 in Lagos. Crossing Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Mali, they will eventually arrive in Dakar, Senegal right at the opening of the 13. International Biennial DaK'Art, beginning in May. On May 07, they willhead back to Nigeria, where they will finally arrive on May 25.
On their journey, the artists examine diverse public spaces as communication zones of social, economic and political interaction/intervention/disruption. The project embraces the diversity of practices and perspectives of the participating artists, who will discuss and exchange their artistic interactions as they travel the approximately 10.000-kilometer road trip. The artworks, which will be created in Dakar and during the journey will be presented and discussed along the way back to Nigeria at the Goethe-Institutes and cultural centres at Dakar, Bamako, Abidjan, Accra, Lomé and Lagos.
The challenge for the artists, but also the special character of the project is the frequent relocation, the constantly changing framework and the unexpected connected with the journey. Experimental in nature, the project encourages exchange and collaboration among participating artists and the public.
The Nigerian artist Emeka Udemba, who is living in Germany, is the curator of the project.
The whole journey can be followed on the webblog, Stretched Terrains, and social media with the #StretchedTerrains
"Stretched Terrains – The Mobile Museum on the Way to Dak'Art" is a project by Goethe-Institut Nigeria, supported by Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines.
Participants
In 2014, Emeka Udemba founded the Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Art Lagos (MMMoCA). His curatorial projects are informed by the investigation of the in-between spaces devoid of boundaries. They offer platforms for exchange as a means of connecting and questioning our relationship to others.
His curatorial projects include Lagos Open (2005 and 2013), In God we Trust (2008), Exchanging Spaces (2010), ‘Ein Haus für Junkman’ (Ewerk, Freiburg/Germany, 2013).
As part of his internship semester, Gabriel Goller gained practical experience in the film industry as he participated in a film project.
The subjects of his recent works mainly focus on documentary and portrait photography. Most parts of his work choose the critical view on the agglomerations of European cities. Gabriel Goller addresses the role of a consumer society beside the identity of the individual in the urban space. He provides a glance into the interior space – shops, restaurants, shopping window displays – and thus into the people's desires and longings.
In his sculptures, Ray Claver Agbo integrates other materials, symbols and nails to strengthen his works and creative philosophy.
For many years now, the artist has been working and participating in several local and international workshops, symposiums, exhibitions including residencies (e.g. 2005 in Accra/Ghana), for example at the Art House in Laongo/ Burkina Faso (2008,) Dakar Biennial (2014), KARP-Kamina (2016 and 2017) edition in Togo. He is a winner of the Alias Norbert Foundation prize in 2004.
Ray Claver Agbo is currently the director of the NGO Art in Action, a studio sculpture mentor, adviser and a board member of Takoradi Technical University Faculty of Applied Art, Sculpture Department, Ghana.
The global approach of Souleymane Konate thus suggests a reflection on the role of the image in rupture with its immediate perception to give it a more symbolic and elevated character, a sacred dimension. The artist has already exhibited his works in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Italy, France and Germany.
