I

1:54 Forum London 2015

Keynote address by Jihan El-Tahri

and opening remarks by Koyo Kouoh

 

We will start at the borders where geopolitical imaginaries have left us. We will push back against these borders. We will inhabit them.

 

This forum explored how ideas circulate and proliferate across critical landscapes.It addressed the tradition of the re-mapping of territories, intellectual, artistic and geographic by imperial authority and its still prevailant residue.

I was enraptured by these two women in conversation.(Initially because Koyo Kouoh is curating Eva International 2016 and I have submitted a proposal), but then by their strong confident interrogation of all the complex issues associated with contemporary Africa and how it is perceived by those who live there and those who do not.

This was a very inspiring occasion. I left the symposium feeling a little more clear about my fascination with edges and my continuing need to explore them as a concept.

Colonialism was all about civilising the barbarians.Post-colonialism continues to struggle with its constructs. Divide and rule is still being played out on the African scene. Even by Africans themselves against each other. 

​