Invisible Borders 2010

Nigeria Mon 26-04-2010

Invisible Borders 2010
By Emeka Okereke

The 2nd edition of “Invisible Borders” (IB) has finally kicked off. IB 2010 sees 11 Nigerian photographers and a film maker on a road trip from Lagos passing through Cotonou, Lomé, Accra, Abidjan, Bamako and finally arriving in Dakar.

This year’s trip is anchored to the Biennale of Contemporary African Art of Dakar (Dak’Art 2010) takes place from the 7th of May to the 7th of June 2010.

The IB team began its journey on the 23rd of April and is scheduled to be back in Lagos by 18th of May 2010.

One good thing about the previous journey in 2009 was that throughout its length, we were confronted with all the insufficiencies and unforeseen challenges that comes with such a spontaneous venture – we made note of them.

Therefore this year’s phase provides the opportunity to elaborate on a progress already began in 2009.

There will be much more emphasis on the journey and its processes than the final destination. Therefore we will spend 2 days in each major city to work with two indigenous photographers from a given city. This way, we would create tangible networks between photographers in every of the cities, while discovering their country through their input.

As usual, Adenike Ojeikere and Unoma Geise would be writing all throughout the trip, and these writings and selected images will appear in our blog in real time as the journey. Chuka Ejorh will be in charge of the documentary film and video interviews.

The rest of the participants are : Amaize Ojeikere, Ray Daniels Okeugo, Uche James-Iroha, Lucy Azubuike, Charles Okereke, Uche Okpa-Iroha, Chidimma Nnorom, Emeka Okereke and Chriss Aghana Nwobu.

This journey will be tedious, the road is hard and far, there will be lots of unforeseen circumstances, but we will be consoled by each click of our cameras and by the faces of a every good persons we encounter. As a team, we will support each other and together, face the challenges every mile of the way! This is photography beyond borders!

For more info on IB 2010, visit our blog: www.invisible-borders.blogspot.com. If you want to follow the journey, please remember to subscribe as a member on the blog.

Sponsors so far are: Culturesfrance, Alliance Française Lagos and Heinrich Boll Foundation Lagos.