Cologne Exhibition Explores Art and Media From Africa's Megacities

International Sat 13-11-2010

Cologne Exhibition Explores Art and Media From Africa's Megacities
Dw-world.de

Car drivers honk, busses roar and merchants shout about the goods they're selling. It's everyday life at a bus station in Lagos, but the sounds of the Nigerian capital have now come to Cologne as part of the "Afropolis: City, Media, Art" exhibition hosted by the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum.

The skyscaper stands out in Kinshasa | Photo: Junior Diatezua Kannah

At Cologne's central library, Nigerian sound artist Emeka Ogboh has set up a speaker to bring Lagos and Cologne into acoustic dialogue. "It's a melting pot of all kinds of sounds," Ogboh said. "In this bus park, you discover the multiculturalism and the economics of Lagos. It embodies what the city is all about."

Developing at lightning speed

The exhibition deals with the rapid pace of growth in the population of Africa's major cities, which can be up to four percent annually - the highest in the world, according to exhibition organizers. The cities of Cairo, Lagos, Nairobi, Kinshasa and Johannesburg are spotlighted in the exhibition.

"We found it fascinating to look at what happens when a place becomes a world city. It's interesting to see how these models differ from those in Europe or America, and that's what we wanted to examine with this show," said curator Kerstin Pinther, who developed the concept for the exhibition.

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Posted By: Hirum Ndungu

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