worlds un/making

The worlds un/making exhibition is a FotoFactory.Lagos project in collaboration with Research Centre for Society, Technology, and Ecology in Africa - Challenges of the 21st Century (FZA), Bayreuth, and the Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

worlds un/making is a group exhibition curated by Eva Maria Ocherbauer and features the photography and video of contemporary African artists.

Curatorial Statement:

"worlds un/making" focuses on social, political, economic and ecological transformation processes and the resulting practical challenges in the 21st century, in accordance with the FZA research program.

We aim for an exhibition that will carry meaning for the worlds we currently live in — and most importantly, for the worlds we want to make. Artists are the visionaries and social scientists who allow us to reflect and project in ways that can be exemplary. The topic of "worlds un/making" relates to creating / imagining / building futures in the 21st century. The analysis and critique of “imperial world-making”, including colonialism as a world-making process serves as a basis for mapping out alternative systems, which implies visionary ideas as well as tangible activities. We also see the unmaking of worlds, the prevention / destruction, or silencing of worlds as part of today's new strategies for a sustainable, possible future. It is central for us to think about the world “from the vantage point of Africa” (Mbembe 2023) and not to see Africa as a “world apart”.

We are interested in the dialogues that emerge when a diversified group of images from various propositions, start acting like pieces of a bigger organism, all together linked in one exhibition.

The exhibition features the following artists:

PERMANENT PHOTOGRAPHY INSTALLATION

Andrew Esiebo

Adéolá Olágúnjú

VIDEO

Oladele Bello

Joseph Obanubi

PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

Adedolapo Boluwatife Abimbola, Mecca Akello, Israa Alrrayah, JohnPeters Anyanwu, Anthony Monday Asokere, Terhas Berhe, Jonathan Chambalin, Prince Uhunoma Charles, Adeyemi Damilare, Aderemi Davies, Ismail Odetola Folaranmi, Oyewole Lawal, neec nonso, Grace Diepreye Okilo, Olateju 'King Tesh' Oladepo, Alexander Troye, Oluwaseun Usman.

The brief was to unify the various narratives reflected in the exhibition with the overarching theme.

My starting point when designing worlds un/making was the red line. The red line signifies tangible and metaphorical connections between countries, cultures and consciousnesses threading the stories through time, events, circumstance and location.

For the brand identity of worlds un/making, I illustrated lines that connected every African country to their neighbouring countries resulting in an abstracted map of Africa.

I carried the concept of the red line into the exhibition space to act as a through-line, equator and blood vessel linking the images and videos together.

Curator: Eva Maria Ocherbauer

Exhibition Design: Alafuro Sikoki-Coleman

worlds un/making

Exhibition space of Iwalewahaus at the Research Centre FZA, Campus, University of Bayreuth, Germany

15 May - 11 July, 2025