Lufthansa, Brussels Support Nigerian Artists, Others in W/Africa

Chinedu Eze

Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines are supporting selected Nigerian artists and others from West Africa on art theme: ‘Stretched Terrains – The Mobile Museum on its Way to Dak’Art’, a residency programme for young artists from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Germany on the move spanning several countries in West Africa.

“Stretched Terrains’ is a great platform to show the strengths of Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines in West Africa working closely together and supporting the development of young African talents”, Lufthansa General Manager Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, Robin Sohdi said.

The airlines in a statement said that from April 11, 2018, starting from Lagos, the artist group began a six-week journey with a Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines branded, converted public transport bus, called the Molue Mobile Museum of Contemporary Art.

The artists would cross through Benin, Togo, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Mali, with a planned arrival in Dakar, Senegal at the beginning of May, right in time for the opening of the13th International Biennial Dak’Art” exhibition.

The artists would be greeted at every stop by the Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines and GoetheInstitut teams.

“Furthermore, they will display their artwork at each destination they stop at. Once they reach Senegal, the artists will stay for the Dak’Art” exhibition, until May 07, when they will start their journey back to Lagos. On their way back, they will make stops again at all the previous Goethe-Institut locations they visited on the way to the exhibition, planning to arrive in Lagos on May 25,” the airlines said.

During their journey, the artists would examine diverse public spaces as communication zones of social, economic and political interaction.

The project, the airlines said, embraces the diversity of practices and perspectives of the participating artists, who will discuss and exchange their artistic interactions as they travel almost 10,000-kilometers on a road trip. The artwork, which will be created in Dakar and during the journey, will be presented and discussed along the way back to Nigeria at the Goethe-Institutes and cultural centers at Dakar, Bamako, Abidjan, Accra, Lomé and Lagos.

A Nigerian artist Emeka Udemba, who is living in Germany, is the curator of the project. The whole journey can be followed on the weblog, Stretched Terrains, and on social media with the hashtag #StretchedTerrains “Stretched Terrains – The Mobile Museum on the Way to Dak’Art” is a project by GoetheInstitute Nigeria, supported by Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines.