Forms and topographies : African Cityscape in flux

Forms and topographies : African Cityscape in flux focuses on video creation in Africa, with programming that presents artistic practices reflecting the most current preoccupations and experimentations in video art. The program aims at exploring the new possibilities of artistic interpretation of the dynamics of everyday life in African urban ecology. It asks urgent questions about the role of image in the public narrative of African urbanspace within a profound mutation of world ecology. How are artists looking at life and experience in urban Africa using the tool of video? As such, the works in the program reveal the intensity of life in contemporary African cities and the artists’ personal response to this ever changing post-colonial metropolis. The 12 works exemplify the concept of city in flux by offering a broad range of interpretations of the evolving forms, the changing dynamics, and the unexpected surprises that characterize African cities. Therefore, the videos offer a richer view of the African cityscape, revealing the nuances, shades, and imaginative universes of contemporary African urban life.

Moshekwa Langa, Marta, South Africa, 2001, 8’ / Bouchra Khalili, Mapping Journey #2, Morocco, 2008, 3’/ Achilleka Komguem, Précarité, Cameroun, 2006, 1’35’’/ Dicko Saïdou & Piniang, Histoire d’eau, Burkina Faso, 2007, 1’30”/ Moshekwa Langa, Where do I begin, South Africa, 2001, 4’/ Nicène Kossentini, Revenir, Tunisia, 2006, 2’11”/ Bouchra Khalili, Mapping Journey #1, Morocco, 2008, 4’ / Luc Fosther Diop, Around and around, Cameroun, 2005, 6’12”/ Piniang, XXI e SIÈCLE, Senegal, 2007, 2’/ Essombe2Sawa, Passion, Cameroun, 2007, 1’/ Guy Bertrand Woueté Lotchouang, Mirroir, Cameroun, 2005, 1’6”/ Emido Josine, Strange, Mozambique, 2007, 1’

As part of the 2nd THESSALONIKI BIENNALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART

“PRAXIS: Art in Times of Uncertainty”

May 24 – September 27, 2009