Since 2005 iStrike and doual'art work together on SUD 2007, a long-term programme of cultural activities aimed at transforming the city of Douala (Cameroon) into a case study, to facilitate and multiply new site specific productions and to document, reinforce, consolidate and give international visibility to the cultural and innovative projects produced and based in Douala and in Cameroon.
Since 2005 iStrike and doual'art work together on SUD 2007, a long-term programme of cultural activities aimed at transforming the city of Douala (Cameroon) into a case study, to facilitate and multiply new site specific productions and to document, reinforce, consolidate and give international visibility to the cultural and innovative projects produced and based in Douala and in Cameroon.
iStrike
iStrike is an environmental organisation which aims at highlighting and surveying new dynamics of intercultural exchange and international cultural co-operation. To stress and overcome definitions of culture, identity, diversity and development, iStrike Foundation produces visual representations of territories, focuses on the environment and strengthens the idea of resources, avoiding activities based on problem solving. iStrike is based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and operates as a collective subject at an international level (www.istrike.net).
iStrike members are: Lucia Babina, Iolanda Pensa and Kamiel Verschuren.
doual’art
doual'art is a an experimental laboratory for new urban practices of African cities. Since 1991, doual'art has invited in Douala contemporary artists in order to create a bridge between the city and contemporary art productions. In producing site-specific urban interventions, doual'art works as an intermediary between social and economic actors, population and local collectives. It perceives cultural and artistic initiatives as a tool for consolidating freedom of expression and social cohesion, which allow in their turn transcending and overcoming closures and cleavages. doual'art implements a participatory approach to cultural practice, negotiating with local communities, NGOs and authorities their specific needs and aspirations and involving artists as facilitators of the development processes. doual'art is based in Douala, Cameroon (www.doualart.org).
doual'art members: Marilyn Douala Bell and Didier Schaub
The long-term programme SUD 2007
Since 2005 iStrike and doual'art work together on SUD 2007, a long-term programme of cultural activities aimed at transforming the city of Douala (Cameroon) into a case study, to facilitate and multiply new site specific productions and to document, reinforce, consolidate and give international visibility to the cultural and innovative projects produced and based in Douala and in Cameroon.
Douala is a growing multicultural hub gathering people from many different ethnic groups, while also preserving the memory of a German, British and French colonial past. It is the economical capital of Cameroon with almost 3 million inhabitants. It is an African “city yet to come” (Simone AM., For the City Yet to Come, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2004).
SUD 2007 is composed by 4 phases: the Ars&Urbis International Workshop (March 2007, www.istrike.net), Documentation and Archive (December 2007), the event SUD - Salon Urbain de Douala (www.doualart.org, www.istrike.net), WideSUD (from December onwards).
The Ars&Urbis International Workshop took place in Douala in March 2007. iStrike and doual’art have invited 15 international cultural practitioners to work in Douala for 15 days in collaboration with artists and cultural practitioners based in the city. The participants, specialised in different fields, have been involved in an open debate about the artistic creation as a paradigm of development in the African urban context. The aim is to put together international and multidisciplinary practices in order to observe Douala and to produce unexpected translations of the urbanity. The focus of the workshop is to look into the belly of the city, its lively and vibrant spineless side, which is usually forgotten by media and official cartographers. The final result is the implementation of a heterogeneous and multimedia documentation on real and imaginary perspectives of Douala (www.istrike.net).
The project Documentation and Archive consists of two websites (www.istrike.net, www.doualart.org), a multimedia archive of our projects, and a publication, Douala in Translation, with episode publishers (www.episode-publishers.nl). Douala, the economic and cultural capital of Cameroon, is one of the most important cities in Central Africa. Informal settlements, micro-economies and spontaneous use of the public space have a primary role in the formation of its urban identity. This fast growing city is the context in which doual’art, a research centre of urban practices, has been operating for more than 16 years. Since 1991 the co-founders, Marilyn Douala Bell and Didier Schaub have fostered cultural projects and commissioned site-specific art interventions, using art and culture to develop collective processes of urban change.
The publication brings together cross-disciplinary analyses of Douala that seek to go beyond predictable and prejudicial views about African towns. Douala becomes a thrilling case study in which artistic practices engage and affect the cityscape.
With contributions by Lucia Babina, Edgar Cleijne, Marilyn Douala Bell, Emiliano Gandolfi, Christian Hanussek, Salifou Lindou, Dominique Malaquais, Lionel Manga, Nsame Mbongo, Zayd Minty, Giulia Paoletti, Iolanda Pensa, Didier Schaub, AbdouMaliq Simone, Kamiel Verschuren, Alexander Vollebregt, Silvia Viganò and Hervé Yamguen (www.istrike.net).
The event SUD - Salon Urbain de Douala took place in Douala from the 9th till the 16th December 2007. It is an international event to present to a local and international audience the city of Douala and its most pioneering cultural and artistic projects. More than 15 international artists, architects and researchers will produce site-specific installations ad-hoc for SUD tackling issues like urban mobility, heritage, informal sector, recycling and modernity. SUD will function as a showcase for artists and institutions operating in Douala and as a working platform for experts practicing in the sector (www.istrike.net, www.doualart.org ).
WideSUD is aimed at promoting the book Douala in Translation internationally. The first presentation of the book took place during the event SUD; a second presentation will take place during the Art Fair of Rotterdam (6-10 February 2008) and in Amsterdam. Other presentations will take place in London, Dak’Art, New York (www.istrike.net).
