ARTAFRICAFEATURE / ARTS WRITING IN AFRICAWIELDING THE PEN / HOUGHTON KINSMAN 9/10 ARTAFRICA
Ijeoma Loren Uche-Okeke: A critical writing discourse is a very important tool in
understanding what is happening in the various regional creative sectors across the African
continent and, most importantly, for stimulating and fostering transnational dialogue.
Since mobility within the region is expensive and sometimes challenging, it is crucial
to leverage platforms that provide information and support critical engagement. A key
challenge in this regard is sustaining transnational engagement at multiple levels –given
the lack of infrastructural, systemic and meaningful governmental support for arts and
culture in many regions within Africa. It is in our interest to find creative ways to bridge
these gaps and a good example of a cost-effective approach is the Boda-Boda Lounge
Project, run in 2014 by the Pan-African Network of Independent Contemporaneity
(PAN!C) and initiated by the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) and Picha
Lubumbashi.The videonale was run (on a very low budget) with screenings and related specific events
in twelve venues across Africa. A publication, with contributions from all participating
venues, has also been developed out of this project. Building and sustaining these
kinds of discourse-generating transregional networks and projects is key to fostering
and developing a critical mass of writing, as well as to improving our understanding of
practice and creative output within our continent. It is becoming increasingly crucial
that we focus our gaze inward. This would enable us, collectively as a continent, to self-
reflect, to strengthen the foundation of our creative (re)sources and to understand our
place in the broader global fabric, allowing us to confidently step into and recognise
our immense contribution as a continent both creatively and intellectually. This all
comes with the responsibility of accepting that there is still work to be done to reach
our goal – collectively, not individually.- MISSLA LIBSEKAL
Missla Libsekal (b. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) is an independent
publisher, cultural producer and writer based in Vancouver. She
is the founder and editor of online platform anotherafrica.net -
a journal established in 2010 and dedicated to contemporary
art and design practice from Africa and its diasporas. “The
arts are not a first world luxury, Another Africa is intended
to be a constant reminder of this.” Libsekal has also written
for a variety of print and digital publications including The
Africa Report, The Guardian UK, SAVVY art journal and
Modern Weekly.HK: How important do you think online or digital publishing is (or will be) as a
platform for writing about artistic production in countries across Africa?Missla Libsekal: Eduoard Glissant has this idea of mondialité, or ‘globality,’ which is about
specificity, locality and difference. It is also about the ‘common’ – which I think that