(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
BY INGRID WESTGAARD STOLPESTAD AND DAY HERBJØRNSRUD dag@nytid.no
[exhibition] – I believe that African design and art are often presented out of context. The western idea of the museum, which presents the works separately from the culture it seeks to present, is old-fashioned.This is how the Nigerian curator Yetunde Aina sums up in an interview with Ny Tid from Lagos the recent years' sporadic exhibitions of African art. But on January 17, a different exhibition opened in the Norwegian Design and Architecture Center in Oslo, well noticeable in a museum room. This is the Danish traveling exhibition NewAfrica: 45 designers from 13 African countries give a new picture of the continent south of the Sahara. Using architectural projects, ceramics, graphic, fashion, industrial and furniture design.
The vision of a number of today's urban, modern, African artists is to create a new and better continent through the meeting between traditional crafts and cutting edge design.
And Nigerian curator Yetunde Aina, leader of the pan-African cultural foundation Jadeas Trust, is among those who have come to speak. Danish main curators Elisabeth Topsøe and Tina Midtgaard have given Aina the responsibility for the part called Made in Naija.
Fighting for influence
Naija is a term used by the creative class and hip hop community in Lagos to describe their dreams and goals for Nigeria. In addition, Aina has been able to write the first article in the catalog: Design and the African Renaissance. But even for such an exhibition with new perspectives in Europe, African curators must fight on their own to be allowed to influence the production of their own continent.
- In fact, I discovered the exhibition on the internet. I contacted the main responsible Topsøe and Midtgaard and expressed that I was interested in curating a screening from Nigeria. As part of my job with creative companies in Lagos, I am always looking for opportunities to showcase their work abroad. The Danish curators were very receptive to our proposal, and we agreed on a theme.
- How has your influence been on the finished exhibition?
- Just having Made in Naija designers in the exhibition was an important breakthrough. Nigeria is the largest black country in Africa and will obviously have a completely different design orientering than post-apartheid South Africa, which was the exhibition's original focus. Due to the annual Design Indaba held there, South Africa is more easily associated with design than the rest of Africa. We describe the Naija style as brave, confident and black, something we think emerges in the design. However, some of the objects that we had liked to bring from Nigeria were excluded, because they did not correspond to Topsøe and Midtgaard's curatorial vision, says Aina.
Want your own voice
In the article, the leading Nigerian curator explains how African design is not a new phenomenon. It is as old as the Sphinx in Egypt, the geometric "known cloth" designs from Ghana, or the shape of the design in the divinity boards of Ife in Nigeria.
- What do you think about an exhibition with African designers having European main curators? Would it be any different with an African curator in the driver's seat?
- I am passionate about blacks and Africans having their own curatorial voice and having the opportunity to tell our own stories on a global platform. I think it is politically important for black Africans to develop and present their own curatorial visions to a global audience – especially in the 21st century. The curator has the power to choose and edit, and it is inevitable that this will lead to a Western presentation. Sometimes this can reinforce the stereotypes of how Africa is viewed abroad, explains Aina from Lagos.
As an alternative to the traditional museum exhibitions, which she believes presents the art out of context, Aina exploits the possibilities of new media and digital technology, such as music, video and multimedia presentations. She is currently curating an exhibition on traditional Yoruba culture for The Africa Center in London.
Big differences
- I use "cutting edge" media to develop the exhibition and hopefully give the western audience a deeper understanding of the lifestyle of the people who have created the works of art they get to see.
- In the presentation of the exhibition, it is said that "African design is in the middle of a process where they are working to redefine themselves". Can one really talk about one unified African design wave, which applies to the entire continent?
- I believe that generalization about the entire African continent, whether it relates to poverty, art or design, is one of the mistakes made by Western countries. It would be just as wrong if I talked about the Nordic countries, Great Britain, France and Germany having the same culture, lifestyle or level of prosperity. Only within Nigeria are there huge differences between peoples and cultures. At the same time, I believe that the more dialogue we have along these lines, the more understanding we will get from each other.
Get praise
- This is the reason why I believe that Topsøe and Midtgaard should be praised for putting together the NewAfrica exhibition. That is also why Jadea's Trust greatly appreciates the opportunity we get by being invited to curate a Nigerian part of the exhibition. We hope that those who visit it will greatly appreciate this, and that they leave the exhibition with a richer appreciation of African design – with all its diversity. I hope that the exhibition strengthens people's interest in and curiosity for the people who have created the design they see.
The exhibition will be on view in Oslo until February 17, as part of an exhibition in line with the Diversity Year 2008. Communication manager Janicke Sæther also points out that an idea with this exhibition is to create a synergy effect.
- We want a wide audience to be inspired and surprised by the innovation that Africa represents in the field of design and architecture. This is a step away from the classic, western and exotic gaze of "the others", a step towards what we can learn from them. NewAfrica can be interpreted as a professional update for specialists – and as public information. The project will hopefully help to change our perception of what Africa can be, says Sæther. ■
New Africa
- Traveling exhibition – previously shown at Rundetaarn in Copenhagen
- Exhibited at the Norwegian Design and Architecture Center (DogA), Hausmanns gate 16, Oslo, from January 17 to February 17, 2008
- Curators: Elisabeth Topsøe, Tina Midtgaard, Yetunde Aina, Des Laubscher and Eugene Ngugi
- Shows design and architecture from 13 sub-Saharan African countries. 45 designers are presented.
- Includes architectural projects, ceramics, graphic, fashion, industrial and furniture design.
- The exhibition's stated vision is to create a new and better Africa through a meeting between traditional crafts and cutting edge design.
- Arranged in connection with the Diversity Year 2008.