© Emiliano Gandolfi

10.09.09

I AM PUBLIC: Art and Social Change in Douala, Cameroon

Douala is a booming city of more than 2 million inhabitants and is the most important harbor in central Africa. In a city where there is no art school, let alone a museum capable of representing an idea of art in an institutional way, artists have developed a strongly political vision of the role of art in society.Several artists are actively challenging existing definitions of art, while developing critical responses to the emergencies of everyday life. They organise themselves in collectives and are engaged in using art in community projects in order to install a process of awareness, emancipation, and empowerment. Through public art projects and community events, these artists and collectives are taking responsibility and actively working to enhance urban change. I AM PUBLIC, part of the exchange program Talking About!, is a roundtable discussion that will confront experiences, insights and narratives from Cameroon with a number of Rotterdam-based artists and critics, who will share their ideas on how cultural production can affect social change. Emiliano Gandolfi will moderate a dialogue between the Cameroonian guests - Achille Atina, Ruth Belinga, Achillekà Komguen, Goddy Leye, Lionel Manga and Hervé Youmbi - and practitioners engaged in the local scene. Thursday, 10 September at 8 pm. For more information contact Zoe Gray of Witte de With.