Visionary Africa: Art at Work

International Mon 06-12-2010

Visionary Africa: Art at Work
Press Release

3rd EU-Africa Summit, Tripoli, 29-30 November 2010 International political summits are crucial occasions to discuss issues of economy, immigration, good governance, climate change and international justice.

Visionary Africa: Art at Work Poster

Major international summits such as the 3rd Africa-EU one that took place in Tripoli on the 29th and 30th of November between heads of state of the two continents are historical opportunities to deal not only with these fundamental issues, but also for symbolical gestures of reconciliation, of cooperation, of real partnership between north and south, between the rich and the poor, between different representatives of international power.

This summit was also the opportunity to put cultural cooperation on the agenda of national and international policies.

Visionary Africa: Art at Work was conceived to stimulate both dynamics. It is a symbolic project meant to bring together and reconcile painful historical backgrounds with the complexity of the present through a celebration of African culture in the form of a traveling exhibition, artist residency program and workshop.

It is also a project that promotes, through the statements of artists, musicians, writers and intellectuals from the African continent and its diasporas, the role that cultural industries can play in the development of civil societies in particular today in Africa.

Mr. BARROSO in his role as President of the European Commission, put culture on the agenda, for the first time at such an important political summit, by presenting to all the heads of state gathered in the plenary assembly of the afternoon of the 29th, Visionary Africa: Art at Work, and by explaining how this could be a pilot-project for African and Europe cultural cooperation.

Visionary Africa was initiated in Brussels in the summer of 2010, in the context of the 50th anniversary of the independence of 17 African nations.

It represents a real multilateral European-African project. In its first phase, and thanks to the funding of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council (Foreign Affairs, of Cooperation and Prime Minister Chancellery) the project included two major exhibitions, one on the dialogue between Africa's past and present artistic traditions, and the other on 50 years of African photography, as well as a number of musical and cinematographic events.

In its second phase, some of the elements of the main exhibitions have been incorporated into the new concept of the travelling project Visionary

Africa: Art at Work, funded by the European Commission in partnership with the African Union. The goal is to create a platform for debate about the potentially positive influence of art and culture on the development of Africa's cities.

A selection of images from various African photographers and artists made by Swiss- Cameroonian curator, Simon Njami and of images of all capitals of Africa will be installed in a special architectural pavilion designed by British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye.

For the Summit in Tripoli a reduced version of the project was installed as the normal surface of the pavilion is 170m2, which were not available in the Congress Centre.

At least 400 people amongst the delegates and the heads of state visited the pavilion and the exhibition having also the opportunity to consult the special box set of Visionary Africa and to receive a copy of the book Visionary Africa: Art at Work, Une Plateforme Itinérante en Afrique that offered both a prospective view on the projects implementation in Africa and a retrospective one on its first results in Brussels.

In Tripoli the "Atlas wall" was also presented, a special timeline of the evolution of national and international cultural policies in Africa and a project by Adjaye Associates, London and SumResearch, Brussels. The "Atlas wall" will feature also on the external walls of the pavilions in the different venues of the project in the other African capitals.

It is worth noting that the only two books distributed at the congress centre were the "Green Book" of the Lybian revolution and the EU/Bozar's "Yellow Book", a new and maybe unexpected perspective of dialogue not only between colors but between countries and continents, all working for greater peace, justice, happiness and sustainable development.

For a presentation of the project join us at the European Development Days in Brussels, the 7th of December at 12.15, Room 204, Square.

The next rendezvous for the full version of the project is in Addis Ababa, capital of the African Union, at the end of the second week of January 2011.

Visionary Africa : Art at Work - Curated by : Simon Djami & David Adjaye. A project by the European Commission together with the Centre for Fine Arts of Brussels, with the support of the Belgian Presidency of the European Council and in partnership with the African Union.

Press contact
Hélène van den Wildenberg - Cecoforma press: info@caracascom.com
32 4 95 22 07 92 Leen Daems, press officer Bozar Expo - www.bozar.be
Leen.Daems@bozar.be

Posted By: Hirum Ndungu

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Your Comments

margaretta wa gacheru: i would be enthused about such an event except that Simon Djami is the near-sighted 'curator' who came to Kenya and I'm told said he couldn't see 'one' local artist of international calibre. Hello!? That's why I believe he's near sighted.

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