Minutes of the 11th meeting

Present

Jane Awuor (on behalf of Mary Claire Akinyi Kidenda), Kenya; Constanze Kirchner, Germany; Zhang Ming, China; Nicola Pauli, Germany; Avi Sooful, South Africa; Bernadette van Haute, South Africa and Ernst Wagner, Germany.

 

Minutes

  • Prof Zhang Ming, a new member

Constanze introduced and Avi welcomed warmly Prof Zhang Ming. Zhang Ming teaches at the Qilu Normal University, Jinan, Shandong, China. She worked at the Institute of Art Education at the University of Augsburg as a visiting lecturer and scholar for a year. Prof Ming published a chapter on the artist Yongli Tang and a report on an art education project on traditional Chinese painting. These are available on the EVC website (https://www.explore-vc.org/en/objects/yongli-tang-dream-of-dunhuang.html)  and https://www.explore-vc.org/en/lab/the-power-of-traditional-chinese-painting.html  respectively.

 

  • Documenta Summer School

Avi presented her idea for a contribution to the summer school. This idea is on people who collect recyclable waste in South Africa. The contribution is a shared project between students and staff from the University of Pretoria (UP) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The idea is to have an exhibition of artworks made from recyclable waste material, a documentation on the waste reclaimers that will be a focus for a discussion/lecture with students. Students at UJ will design and create an item that will be of use to the reclaimers. UJ students had previously designed a jacket that opens into a sleeping bag for the homeless.

 

More information about the specific local documenta projects is desirable. An additional meeting of the Expert Panel will take place early in 2022 to introduce the project to each other and to the Documenta-team.

 

  • Coordination of the virtual exhibition

South African Selection: This submission is ready to be published. It will be on the website before Xmas – serving as a prototype for the other submissions. Missing bios of the artists will be forwarded.

Kenya Selection: Jane informed the panel that there are two submissions, one from Kenyatta University and one from Technical University Nairobi. This submission will be published in early January.

Ghana Selection: Patrique has sent a general introduction

Cameroon Selection: Paul had submitted the contribution from Cameroon. The works focus on the idea of building a national identity. The idea if framed within various events that transpired which consider a positive view on the strength and caliber of the Cameroonian people. Ernst suggested that someone should write a text on this submission to tease out these ideas.

German Selection: Nicola will coordinate the contribution from the University of Augsburg. Ernst will forward to her the project brief for Collective Memory.

 

The catalogue for this exhibition will be coordinated by Ernst.

Theoretical articles are requested from Stefan (context museum), Patrique (context education), Bea (memory, objects, and history), Bernadette (context art history).

Each selection should have a general introduction, written by the respective curators. Critique and reviewing comments on the different selections of the exhibition by critical friends could be added.

 

  • Book Visual Cultures of Africa

With the incredible support of Lize Kriel from Pretoria, the manuscript including 24 chapters could be completed in the meantime and sent to the publisher (Waxmann). The editors are Mary Clare, Lize, and Ernst. We thank them for dedicating their time to this project.

 

  • Next meeting will be on 10 January 2022.