DIASPORA AT HOME
With El Anatsui, Ntshepe Tsekere Bopape, Nidhal Chamekh, Bady Dalloul, Rahima Gambo, Goddy Leye, Abraham Oghobase, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Chloé Quenum and a Reading Room by Amandine Nana. A collaboration with the CCA, Lagos. Curated by Iheanyi Onwuegbucha and Sophie Potelon. KADIST, Paris and the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria (CCA, Lagos) are pleased to present Diaspora at Home , a group exhibition which provides an opportunity to engage in a variety of conversations on the issue of mobility within Africa. After a first chapter presented at the CCA, in November 2019, the exhibition returns to KADIST with works produced in Lagos and new adaptations. In the context of a current global discourse where the “South-North exodus” occupies media attention, especially as the Mediterranean becomes the world’s deadliest migration route, statistics show that most Africans move within their own country, in rural-to-urban migration, or to other countries in the same region, therefore creating diasporas at home and abroad. While the term diaspora is now used to refer to any immigrant group and their descendants who maintain a link with their place of origin, it is rarely applied to African populations within Africa. This seems strange when one juxtaposes two persistent themes that often recur in many discussions about the continent: a history and practice of migration long before colonization, and people’s close attachment to place. The Covid-19 Pandemic has raised several issues about international and national mobility and restrictions. It has also heightened global xenophobia. With one of the world’s fastest growing populations, internal conflicts provoked by resource control and heightened desire for international travel, the pandemic in Africa has triggered reflections on mobility beyond international borders and what it means to live in diaspora. Nevertheless, before the pandemic, how did Africans move within the African continent? Beyond the transatlantic slave trade, how did Africans contribute to global development? These questions offer a launch pad for our ongoing discussion on mobility in Africa. Diaspora at Home is a collaboration that stemmed from a conversation with Bisi Silva (1962 – 2019), founder of CCA, Lagos and is dedicated to her and her belief in promoting cultural exchanges and creating new networks throughout Africa.