addressing the public @ cecast2013
TRANSCRIPT
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ADRESSING THE PUBLICArt and safety in Douala
Marta Pucciarelli – USI Lugano (Switzerland)Giovanna Santanera - Università di Milano Bicocca (Italy) – EHESS, Paris (France)
CECAST ConferenceKumasi, Ghana22 October 2013
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LIVING IN DOUALA…“You need to know how to live in Douala. You need to be wise. You shouldn't go out during the night, because bad things happen... Briefly, you must be smart. Douala is really the city of the right and the evil. If you are smart, you get by. But if you aren't you are hit every moment. You need to be cunning. Most of the good things are in Douala. People come from everywhere. There is no discipline in Douala. People who are ready to hurt are especially in Douala. If there is something good, it's in Douala. If you get by in Douala, you can get by everywhere. Even in Europe. Douala has everything: the right and the evil.” Julienne Sameu (actress)
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THE PURPOSE OF OUR DISCUSSIONTo illustrate how the art practice intersects this complex and ambiguous environment, with particular reference to problems of safety and security.
Two case studies:
1)The “Passerelle de Bessengue” (Alioum Moussa, 2003)2)“Balade dans la cité” (dir. Aime Waffo Kamga, 2006 - today)
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PUBLIC ART
Proximity artworks
Monuments Passageways artworks
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PUBLIC ARTProximity artworks
La Passerelle de Bessengue
•Produced by doual’art
•Community-based projects
•SUD- Salon Urbain de Douala
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POPULAR ART
Balade dans la cité
•Produced by Equinoxe (2006-2011) and WAK Africa pictures (2011- today)•Made by “Les Grands Compagnons de Douala”•Broadcasted by Equinoxe Télévision
TV Series
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WHY POPULAR?• No “popular” versus “intellectual”
• It “speaks” people’s pressing concerns
• It is produced, enjoyed, and discussed by inhabitants of Douala
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PUBLIC AND POPULAR: WHAT IS IN COMMON?• Produced by local artists
• Out of museum, out of the studios – the street is the stage
• Engaged with the society aiming for improvement
• Portraying the reality with fundamental aesthetical concerns
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BALADE DANS LA CITE’
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A “PROXIMITY CINEMA”
“I'm not a big fan of the fictional cinema; I'm rather a fan of a kind of cinema that helps people to make progresses; of a cinema allowing people mirror themselves; of a cinema that arises social problems; of a cinema in which anyone can learn a concrete lesson. Basically a proximity cinema”
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SCREENING PROBLEMS AND DANGERS• The narrative device: Makalapati cycles around telling what
he sees;• From traditional communication channels (newspaper, radio,
gossip, etc.) to comical television series.
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ASPIRATIONS
1- Information and prevention about dangers and social problems
2- Changing wrong doers' mindset
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ASPIRATIONS3- Offering an aesthetic facet to the city
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LA PASSERELLE DE BESSENGUE
Someone has thought of us, the forgotten of Douala, the development also concerns us
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IMPACTS1) Acceleration of development activities:
Creation of a Development Community Attraction of International monetary funds (World Bank)
2) Social cohesion and responsibility
Bessengue entrance (2003) Bessengue entrance (2012)
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IMPACTS2) Conviviality space
Meeting place Safe landmark
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IMPACTS4) Increasing and improving commercial activities
Façade of the hairdresser - before Façade of the hairdresser - after
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CONCLUSION
Two different aesthetical forms
Both of them encourage the audience to reflect upon the gap between what reality is and what it should be, making efforts to bridge the gap.
PUBLIC ART AND POPULAR ART
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THANK YOU!GIOVANNA SANTANERA
[email protected]à di Milano – BICOCCA
(IT)EHESS – Paris (FR)
MARTA [email protected] New Media in Education LabUniversità della Svizzera italiana (CH)