Editorial Notice: Below news story is an edited version !
Who would have thought that in time to come Photographs and the art of Photography would become a source of unity for continents?
This question was the unofficial theme of the News Conference organized by Goethe-Institut Lagos which held at the German Consulate General in Lagos.
Goethe-Institut Lagos with support from the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lagos will on the 1st of December 2013 host a public conference and photo exhibition on African photography with focus on photography archives from both Nigerian and European Photographers spanning the Pre-colonial era and Post-colonial era, taking place at the Goethe-Institute Cultural Centre, Lagos City Hall in Lagos Island.
Speaking at the News conference, Mr. Michael Derus, Consul General for the German Consulate General in Lagos, revealed that in 2008, the German Federal Foreign Office created a fund of €20 million strictly for a Cultural Preservation and Exchange Program between Germany and African countries. According to Mr. Derus so far, €6000 had been invested for the coming conference in December while €70,000 had been invested for the Photo exhibition to take place during the conference to hold in Lagos.
Mr. Derus further disclosed that this upcoming event had been in planning for a long time, and was been sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office as part of its Cultural Preservation and Exchange Program. Also it was the first ever ground-breaking photo exhibition to be staged in any African country by the Museum Folkwang from Germany.
He stated the need for cultural exchanges between continents to foster world peace, citing that Governments of the World ought to take their relationships with one another beyond political and economic gains or purposes as this was the essence of a cultural exchange.
Anne-Lena Michel, the Assistant Custodian (Curator) to the Museum Folkwang, while addressing Journalists at the News Conference said, that the conference titled The Crossing Archives would feature eminent Art curators, historians and specialists in Visual Arts.
Amongst them is renowned Nigerian photographer J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere, Bisi Silva, Director Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos and Chika Okeke-Agulu, Art Historian at Princeton University, USA.
Share this
