Abidjan and Accra are the focus of the third edition of the litafrika 2024 exhibition at Strauhof Zurich from June 6 – September 8, 2024.
“litafrika” is an open archive literary exhibition project in three parts organised by Swiss partners Litar Foundation and Strauhof Zurich. It revolves around the central question: “How do we read and narrate ‘Africa’ – a continent and its cultural diversity?” The exhibition trilogy follows a participatory process, where each edition incorporates the themes and results from the previous edition to set a new focus.
The first in the series was “Poetry of a Continent” curated by Christa Baumberger and Rémi Jaccard, in dialogue with partners from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and other countries from 3 June – 4 September 2022. The second was “Artistic Encounters” an intercontinental platform for a long-term dialogue with African and European authors, translators, and publishers, curated by Zukiswa Wanner, from June 16 – September 3, 2023.
The third edition focuses on two metropolises in West Africa: Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and Accra in Ghana. The starting points are the feminist library 1949books and the archive The Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD). Through video installations and photography, the exhibition plunges visitors into the literary life of Abidjan and Accra, presenting contemporary writers and spotlighting the colonial past of two neighbouring countries that are both close and far apart. The exhibition is curated by Sylvia Arthur and Seth Avusuglo (LOATAD, Accra), Edwige-Renée Dro (1949books, Abidjan), Christa Baumberger and Nicole Schmid (Litar, Zürich). The film and photography are by Nipah Dennis and Prince Agyie Peprah (Accra) and Nuits Balnéaires (Abidjan).
The exhibition opened on June 6 with many of those who organised it in attendance. Here are some sights from the event with photography by Zeljko Gataric Imhoff.
If you are in Zurich, please make your way to the Strauhof Zurich for the exhibition that continues until September 8.
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