Exhibition: We Face Foward (Toward the City) w/ Whitworth Gallery

Series of ‘Urban West Africa’ interventions in August and September 2012, inspired by

the wider We Face Forward season taking place in Manchester (www.wefaceforward.org).

This series of interventions in Manchester in Summer 2012 was inspired by the fast

growing urban spaces of West Africa and ‘the city yet to come’. The programme explored

some of the most important issues facing cities of the region through three events based

at the Whitworth Gallery, involving over 200 participants, gaining press coverage and

praise from many quarters. A website has been set up to continue this work http://

towardthecity.tumblr.com/

Event One: After Hours, Whitworth Gallery, 18th August

Hello and welcome to the Whitworth Gallery for tonights ‘After Hours’ exploring the theme

of Urban West Africa with friends who have come together to provide a sample of vibrant

urban life from the region. We hope you enjoy both tonight’s features and the inspirational

wider We Face Forward exhibition.

 Music 

Our music and dance

performance for the evening,

courtesy of Band on the Wall,

stars Jokeh Sillah and Santa Yalla

Arts. Jokeh is a dancer from the

Gambia and she will be

performing with three

accompanying drummers. The

main gallery will be playing a

selection of music from the

region.

Film Screening: Democracy in Dakar/Hip Hop Burkinabé 

In association with Nomadic Wax, new

groundbreaking documentaries about

hip hop youth and politics in Dakar,

Senegal and Ouagadougou, Burkina

Faso. These films show the role of hip

hop in contemporary urban life in these

West African cities and show the role it

plays in articulating the voices of urban

society through protest, agitation and

activism.

Links - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLYGQ_PbvUk] + http://vimeo.com/25091991

Trashy Bags

Trashy Bags is a social enterprise based in Accra, Ghana that makes recycled eco-

friendly bags and gifts from plastic trash. We employ over sixty local people to collect,

clean and stitch plastic trash in the form of sachets that have been previously used to

contain drinking water and other drinks, into fashionable and useful bags and other

products.  Plastic sachets have become a big problem across Africa because of the lack

of recycling initiatives and waste management infrastructure.Trashy Bags is leading the

way in sustainable development in Africa in the area of plastic recycling and we have

collected and recycled approximately 20 million plastic sachets from the streets of Accra

since we started in 2007.

Food of Urban West AFrica

The cities of West Africa are known for their tasty, spicy and delicious food. Tonight Edi

Nimba, from Abijan, Cote’d’Ivorie and owner of the Q Cafe on Newton Street will be

providing some nibbles for you to try. Why not wash down the food down with a beer or

wine available all night from our bar located on the top floor. Visit Q Cafe for a delicious

West African meal!

African Urbanism: Exhibition in One Night

This one night only exhibition

projected onto the walls of the

Whitworth brings together a range

of the regions leading architects,

urbanists and researchers to

explore new architecture,

urbanism and cities from West

Africa. The speed of urbanization

in the region is rapid reflecting

both growing prosperity and ever

increasing numbers of urban poor,

this exhibition shows how these

cities are growing and some of the

ways they are being changed.

Bamako Internet Kiosk

Over the last few months Mali and its

cities have featured in news reports of

coups, counter-coups, Islamic

militants, Sharia Law, the destruction

of priceless historical artifacts in

Timbuktu and other such bleak news.

But what’s life like in Bamako during

this turbulent time in the city? How are

people surviving? Is it safe to walk the

streets or talk politics? What will the

future hold? Joining us tonight live

from Bamako, via our internet kiosk, is

Assigue Dolo, a young Bamako resident and tour guide who will tell you more about the

present situation and answer your questions about city life under such strange

circumstances.

 Maps of Urban West Africa

Follow the history of the cities from pre-colonial heydays in places such as Timbuktu,

through to the planning of colonial cities such as St Louis, journey on the post-

independence and the modern city as new maps reveal life in urban West Africa, from the

slums of West Point to the twitter users in Lagos and the movement of armed forces in

Abijan.

Event Two: Film Screening 

This event comprises We Face Forward Toward the City Part II, a follow-up to our after

hours event on August the 18th.

We will enter our final month of the We Face Forward exhibition with a monumental film

screening of the short documentary film 'Shooting Freetown'. On Saturday the 1st of

September, we will be joined by the filmmaker to watch and discuss this award-winning

and insightful piece about determined young film artists in Sierra Leone.

A decade since Sierra Leone’s devastating civil war, from the ashes rises a new dawn of

creativity in audio-visual media. Inspired by Jean Rouch’s ‘shared anthropology’ and

‘ethno-fiction’, Shooting Freetown follows three people forging their way in film and music

in the nation’s capital, facing the constant struggles with vision and resourcefulness. By

incorporating collaborative video projects, their stories give a fresh image of post-war

Freetown – presented to the world through their own lens.

http://vimeo.com/33610757

Event Three; West African Urbanism Workshop

On the 4th of September We Face Forward Toward the City (curated by E6 Lab and 5

North Architects) hosted a day of debate, discussion and creativity around the theme of

‘Urban West Africa’.

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Architecture and Sustainability

1pm to 2pm

Architecture from West African Cities

David Pound, Architecture for Humanity

Eco-Innovation in Accra

Kathleen Carthy, 5 North Architects

Energy challenges and opportunities: a case study of The Gambia

Anne Schiffer, Leeds Metropolitan University

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Urban Issues

2pm to 3pm

Lost Freetown: Urban planning in Sierra Leone

Nazia Parvez, Brightstar Media

Climate change and cities in West Africa

Jonathan Silver, Durham University

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Urban Cultures

3.30pm to 4.30pm

Shooting Freetown: documentary film & collaborative media-making in urban Sierra Leone

Kieron Hanson, Manchester University

Cultural development and Arts Networks in West Africa

Espera Donouvossi, The Arterial Network

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4.30pm to 5pm

Discussion, next steps