By Prisca Sam-Duru
The Goethe Institute Nigeria Mobile residency set to take artists to Dak’Art in Dakar, Senegal, commenced their journey on Monday April 9, from Lagos, Nigeria. Stretched Terrains Molue mobile museum departs Nigeria for Dak’Art.
The Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Arts, MMMoCA project titled “Stretched Terrains” according to Goethe-Institute Nigeria Director, Friederike Moschel, involves a group of young artists from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Germany. Moschel who spoke during a press conference in Lagos, said the bus which has been changed into a mobile museum would go from Lagos via Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali and arrive Senegal right at the opening of the 13th International Biennial DaK’Art in May. “Stretched Terrains” is an intensive Mobile artist residency project in a bus which has been transformed into a rolling art space. It examines diverse public spaces as communication zones of social, economic and political interaction as it travels the approximately 10,000 kilometers road trip via some west African countries to the 13th edition of Dakar Biennale in Senegal. From Lagos, Joining Berlin-based Nigeria artist, Emeka Udemba, who is the curator of the project are Monsuru Alashe and Gabriel Goller (Germany), who is also in Lagos. The other artists will be picked up on the way as the journey progresses. Moschel hinted that during the trip, artistic ideas will be developed while finished projects will be presented on the return journey at the Goethe-Institute offices along the way. Moschel further said that everything has been done to make the trip as comfortable for the artists as possible. Goethe-Institute insisted that each of the artists travelling has health insurance, food has been provided and a mechanic for the vehicle, as well. She however said that it is an adventure and the artists travelling would expectedly meet some challenges. They, will, for instance, be expected to cook their own food. Indeed, Alashe, who made the first trip, said they had met with some challenges but he said that from all indications, this would definitely be a much better trip. Presenting an overview of the project, Udemba, said MMMoCA stands for Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Arts and came to being in 2004. He said the concept of the museum is to interrogate the idea of having a space within the Lagos metropolis that is not restricted to a certain part of the city but creating a platform where contemporary art can be seen and enjoyed everywhere in the city. He disclosed that two years ago, it was decided that the MMMoCA would be used as a platform to connect artists along the West African coast. The first trip, he said, was successful with artists connecting across West Africa. Gabriel Goller from Germany, who was at the press conference, will be travelling from Lagos. Also on the bus from Lagos will be Willie Schumann, a film-maker and freelance journalist, Ray Claver Agbo, Souleymane Konate and Dame Diongue.
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