In Cooperation with Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa): “prêt-à-partager” 26 April – 8 July 2012 in Berlin and 3 May – 1. July 2012 in Stuttgart

The dual exhibition “prêt-à-partager”at the ifa Galleries Berlin and Stuttgart presents the results of numerous transnational and interdisciplinary artistic encounters on the African continent. After having travelled to seven venues across West and South Africa, the exhibition is now also presented in Germany by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations to show the interplay between art, fashion, and sports – and how culture can function both as a connecting as well as liberating means of setting out to new horizons.

The project “prêt-à-partager”, initiated and organised by the ifa, began in November 2008 with an interdisciplinary art workshop in Dakar, Senegal. Seventeen artists from Africa and Europe came together for a multimedia-based and interdisciplinary art workshop in order to explore subjects of fashion, art, perception, and movement in the public space. They brought influences from the metropolises Berlin, Kinshasa, Dakar, London, Stuttgart, Douala, Hamburg and Johannesburg into the capital of Senegal.

Zohra Opoku (Ghana/Germany) and the Senegalese fashion designer Ndiaga Diaw took Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art form, as the basis for creatingtheir fashion items. These were in turn used by Astrid S. Klein (Germany) for her photographs, in which she reflects upon economic and social changes in Dakar. Fashion designer Zille Homma Hamid (Pakistan/Germany) was inspired by West-African dyeing techniques. Nafissatou Diop’s (Senegal) lingerie outfits are powerful aesthetic statements about body and gender politics. These are but some examples of the astounding and socially explosive works developed by the artists in front of the background of their own histories and the experience of new cultural practices – beyond consumerism and brand fetishisms.

The exhibition “prêt-à-partager” has been presented in South and West Africa since 2008 – in Dakar, Maputo, Lagos, Cape Town, Douala, and Accra. With its extensive supporting programme it stimulated collaborations that have expanded the network and enriched the exhibition. In October 2011, the ifa organised an international artistic conference in Johannesburg on aesthetic and economic aspects of the notion of freedom in Africa and the African diaspora. The project and the issuesit dealt with have arouseda keen interest and the participation of a diverse audience far beyond the boundaries of contemporary art institutions.

The exhibition now on display in Germany marks the preliminary culmination of the project; it will also present for the first timethe results of the transnational collaborations resulting from the supporting programme.

With “prêt-à-partager” the ifa establishes a new form of artistic dialogue: this form of artistic cooperation does not consider art as a service, but as a platform for encounters in order to create new ideas and visions emerging from common experience. The ifa seeks respectful partnerships for mutual benefit and inspiration.

“prêt-à-partager” (English: “ready-to-share”) views itself as a platform based on participation and artistic exchange, but also on the joint creation of new forms of understanding and perspectives on contemporary art und fashion.

The exhibition series “Cultural transfers” is concerned with issues of cultural appropriation and transfer of practices, modes of thought and cultural productions.

Duration of the exhibition
27 April – 8 July 2012 ifa-Gallery Berlin
4 May – 1 July 2012 ifa-Gallery Stuttgart

Artists
Jamika Ajalon, Akinbode Akinbiyi, *ARCHIVE*, Ulé Barcelos, Ndiaga Diaw, Nafissatou Diop, Simone Gilges, Mamadou Gomis, Gugulective, Zille Homma Hamid, Hubert Mahela Katamba, Astrid S. Klein, Goddy Leye, Philip Metz, Lambert Mousseka, Zanele Muholi, Pakama Ngceni, Zohra Opoku, Friedrich M. Ploch, Athi-Patra Ruga, Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko

Exhibition catalogue
“prêt-à-partager”. a transcultural exchange in art, fashion and sports – Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e. V. (ifa), 2009. – 167 p.

About the ifa
The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) is Germany’s oldest institution for foreign cultural and educational policy. It is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, the state of Baden-Württemberg, and the city of Stuttgart. As a leading German institution for international artistic exchange, the ifa organises exhibitions of German art on all continents, thus initiating intercultural discussions and promoting artistic discourse. It supports exhibition projects and offers grants; at the ifa Galleries Stuttgart and Berlin, it presents art, architecture, and design from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
www.ifa.de

Team
Curators: Elke aus dem Moore, Sandrine Micossé-Aikins, Koyo Kouoh
Curatorial assistant: Aicha Diallo 
Exhibition design: Friedrich M. Ploch
Projectmanagement, Exhibition: Lisa Berndt
Projectmanagement, Supporting programme: Sabina Husicic
Conference: Elke aus dem Moore, Aicha Diallo, Sandrine Micossé-Aikins
WORKSHOPS BERLIN: Bibiana Arena Coronel, Nkuli Mlangeni, Sinethemba Twalo,Zohra Opoku, Ndiaga Diaw, Jamika Ajalon, Philipp Khabo Köpsell,Sandrine Micossé-Aikins, Friedrich M. Ploch, Annika Niemann
WORKSHOPS STUTTGART: Zille Homma Hamid, Lolo Veleko, Lambert Mousseka;Valérie Hammerbacher, ifa; Prof. Uwe Fischer, Staatliche Akademie derBildenden Künste Stuttgart; Ulé Barcelos, Philip Metz, Sabina Husicic
TEAM IFA GALLERY BERLIN: Barbara Barsch, Ev Fischer, Matthias Merker
TEAM IFA GALLERY STUTTGART: Stefanie Alber, Anton Berndt, Valérie Hammerbacher, Rainer Koch, Iris Lenz
ART EDUCATION PROGRAMME: Annika Niemann (Berlin), Barbara Karsch-Chaïeb andSabina Husicic (Stuttgart)
 

“prêt-à-partager” in Berlin
With: Jamika Ajalon (London/Angers), Ulé Barcélos (Stuttgart), Ndiaga Diaw (Dakar/Paris), Nafissatou Diop (Dakar), Simone Gilges (Berlin), Zille Homma Hamid (Berlin/Paris), Mamadou Gomis  (Dakar), Astrid S. Klein (Stuttgart), Hubert Mahela (Kinshasa), Pakama Ngceni (Johannesburg), Zohra Opoku (Hamburg), Friedrich M. Ploch (Johannesburg/Berlin/London), Athi-Patra Ruga (Kapstadt), Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko (Johannesburg)

Press preview:
Thursday, 26 April 2012, 11:00

Opening:
Thursday, 26 April 2012, 19:00

Duration:
27 April – 8 July 2012

Opening hours:
Tue–Sun    14:00–19:00
Closed on Mondays
The gallery is open during Whitsun holidays
Admission free.

ifa Gallery Berlin
Linienstrasse 139/140
10115 Berlin
Phone  +49-30-28449140
Fax +49-30-28449142

SUPPORTING PROGRAMME BERLIN

Artists and curators talk (in English)
Friday, 27 April 2012, 17:00

ART EDUCATION PROGRAMME
Sunday, 6 May 2012, 11:30–14:00
KinderKunstProgramm: Stoffwechsel
Woher kommt mein T-Shirt? Und wohin geht es, wenn es mir zu klein geworden ist?
(Children’s Art Programme: Changing clothes – Where does my t-shirt come from? And where does it go when I have outgrown it?)
With fashion designer Zohra Opoku and art education tutor Annika Niemann.
For children from the age of 8, admission free; registration requested.

All events are free of charge. 

Guided tours for school classes and groups by appointment with Ev Fischer, phone +49-30-28449140 or email: ed.afi@rehcsif

WORKSHOP 
Berlin Textures – Uncovering the Hidden (hi)Stories in Berlin’s City Scape
Date: 8–12 May 2012
Venue: Werkstatt der Kulturen, Wissmannstrasse 32, 12049 Berlin

Seven artists working in the fields of fashion design, performance, photography, and fine arts take the public space of the city of Berlin as well as their own diverse cultural and national backgrounds as the basis for exploring manifestations of historical and contemporary connections between the African continent and the diaspora in Berlin.

Participants: 
Jamika Ajalon, Bibiana Arena Coronel,Ndiaga Diaw, Philip Khabo Köppsell, Nkuli Mlangeni, Zohra Opoku,and Stix (Sinethemba Twalo)

CONFERENCE
Where We Meet … – Cultural Translation and Art in Social Transformation
Tuesday, 5 June 2012, 18:00Cultural Translation
Wednesday,  6 June 2012, 18:30  Art for Social Transformation
Venue: Werkstatt der Kulturen, Wissmannstrasse 32, 12049 Berlin

The last years have seen the establishment of anever-growing transnational network of African artists and curators, who proactively founded and run art spaces in their home towns. The conference sheds a light on the role of these initiatives with regard to their influence on social transformations as well as the challenges of cultural translation processes that the actors encounter.

With: 
Keynotes: Sarat Maharaj (tbc) and Françoise Vergès
Nana Oforiatta Ayim (author, film maker, London and Accra), Lizza May David (Global Alien, Berlin), Ntone Edjabe (Chimurenga, Pan African Space Station [PASS], Cape Town), Koyo Kouoh (Raw Material Company, Dakar), Patrick Mudekereza (Picha ASBL, Lubumbashi), Didier Schaub (Doual’art, Douala), Giò dì Sera (Streetunivercity, Berlin), Bisi Silva (CCA, Lagos) and others.

PARALLEL EXHIBITIONS
Goddy Leye – Hommage
Zohra Opoku – Handwash Only
Dakar – Berlin,  Mamadou Gomis and Simone Gilges 

Gallery Peter Herrmann, Potsdamer Strasse 98, 10785 Berlin
Openingon 27 April 2012, 20:00
 

“prêt-à-partager” in Stuttgart
With: Akinbode Akinbiyi (Berlin/Lagos), Jamika Ajalon Cothrine (London/Angers), Simone Gilges (Berlin), Zille Homma Hamid (Berlin/Paris), Astrid S. Klein (Stuttgart), Goddy Leye (Douala), Philip Metz (Berlin), Lambert Mousseka (Stuttgart/Kinshasa), Zohra Opoku (Hamburg), Friedrich M. Ploch (Johannesburg/Berlin/London), Stix (Johannesburg), Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko (Johannesburg), Zanele Muholi (Johannesburg)

Opening: 
Thursday, 3 May 2012, 19:00

Ulé Barcélos, Nafissatou Diop, Astrid S. Klein, Lambert Mousseka and Friedrich M. Ploch will be present.
 
Duration: 4 May – 1 July 2012

Opening hours
Tue, Wed, Fri–Sun        12:00–18:00
Thu                12:00–20:00
Closed on Mondays, and on 17 and 27 May 2012
Admission free. 

ifa Gallery Stuttgart
Charlottenplatz 17
70173 Stuttgart
Phone +49-711-2225173
Fax      +49-711-2225194
 

SUPPORTING PROGRAMME STUTTGART

ARTISTS AND CURATORS TALK
Friday, 4 May 2012, 16:00–17:30

GUIDED TOURS
Tuesday, 22 May 2012, 16:00
Thursday, 24 May 2012, 18:00
Thursday, 21 June 2012, 18:00
Friday, 22 June 2012,16:00

ART WORKSHOP
Saturday, 16 June 2012, 14:30–16:00
Bunte, fliegende Objekte (Colourful, flying objects)
For children agedbetween 6 and 12.

Saturday, 23 June 2012, 14:30–16:00
Originelle Stencils (Original Stencils)
For youngsters.

Admission to all events of the supporting programme is free. Registration requested with ed.afi@rebla.

WORKSHOP
Students from the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts meet photographers, fashion designers, and performers. They respond to works by the Pakistani-German fashion designer Zille Homma Hamid (Paris) and the South-African photographer Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko (Johannesburg/Paris). Further aspects of transculturalart are contributed by performance artist Lambert Mousseka (Stuttgart/Kinshasa).

Public presentation of the results of the workshop: 
Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 16:30–18:00 at the ifaGallery Stuttgart.

ART EDUCATION FOR YOUNGSTERS ACCOMPANYING THE EXHIBITION
[Kultur] Identität – eine sichtbare Positionierung  ([Culture] Identity – a visible positioning)
For one week, pupils from the Lerchenrainschule, together with fashion designer Ulé Barcelos, photographer Philip Metz and art education tutor Sabina Husicic,will try to experimentally discover possible meanings of identity. By means of texts, images, photographs, films, and specially designed identity costumes, they will explore the question “who am I?” – between self-expression and self-construction, between attribution or exclusion and the marking of affiliation and dissociation. The results of the workshop will be presented in the form of a public exhibition in Stuttgart.nIn cooperation with Lerchenrainschule, Grund- und Werkrealschule [LOGO]

[Kultur] Identität – Trachten betrachten ([Culture] Identity – Costume customs)
Costumes are anestablished element of national or ethnictraditions. Together with youngsters from the cultural club MLADOST, the fashion designer Ulé Barcelos, photographer Philip Metz and art education tutor Sabina Husicic will explore in a four-day project the expression repertoire of traditional costumes. They appear in a context where the evocation of the national has become problematic and unfounded. The results from the workshop, specially designed individual “expression costumes”, photographs and video films will be presented in a public exhibition in Stuttgart.nIn cooperation with Jugendkulturverein Bosnien und Herzegowina MLADOST e.V., Stuttgart

FILMPROGRAMME
“A Rasta is a male version of a diva”– dance – stance – commence
Opening event Friday, 4 May 2012, 19:00

On the occasion of the exhibition project “prêt-à-partager”, the artist Friedrich M. Ploch has programmed three film nights dealing with different aspects of Black subcultures. The films are historical documents of the struggle for the recognition of the individual. They explore the position of the individual in society and its relation to popular culture. The series will open with Theodoros Bafaloukos’s “Rockers” (Jamaica, 1978) and a party with the participating artists of “prêt-à-partager”. 
Venue: Filmtheater, Türlenstraße 2, 70191 Stuttgart
In cooperation with Filmgalerie 451, Stuttgart

Admission free.

 
Contact 

ifaGallery Berlin
Ev Fischer, Linienstrasse 139/140, 10115 Berlin
Phone+49-30-28449140, fax +49-30-28449142, email: ed.afi@rehcsif 

ifa Gallery Stuttgart
Stefanie Alber, Charlottenplatz 17, 70173 Stuttgart 
Phone+49-711-2225161, fax +49-711-2225194, email: ed.afi@rebla 

Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations(ifa)
Miriam Kahrmann, Head of Communications, Charlottenplatz 17, 70173 Stuttgart 
Phone+49-711-2225105, fax +49-711-2264346, email: ed.afi@nnamrhak, www.ifa.

Media partner: AfricAvenir International e.V.