ADRESSING THE PUBLICArt and safety in Douala

Marta Pucciarelli – USI Lugano (Switzerland)Giovanna Santanera - Università di Milano Bicocca (Italy) – EHESS, Paris (France)

CECAST ConferenceKumasi, Ghana22 October 2013

LIVING IN DOUALA…“You need to know how to live in Douala. You need to be wise. You shouldn't go out during the night, because bad things happen... Briefly, you must be smart. Douala is really the city of the right and the evil. If you are smart, you get by. But if you aren't you are hit every moment. You need to be cunning. Most of the good things are in Douala. People come from everywhere. There is no discipline in Douala. People who are ready to hurt are especially in Douala. If there is something good, it's in Douala. If you get by in Douala, you can get by everywhere. Even in Europe. Douala has everything: the right and the evil.” Julienne Sameu (actress)

THE PURPOSE OF OUR DISCUSSIONTo illustrate how the art practice intersects this complex and ambiguous environment, with particular reference to problems of safety and security.

Two case studies:

1)The “Passerelle de Bessengue” (Alioum Moussa, 2003)2)“Balade dans la cité” (dir. Aime Waffo Kamga, 2006 - today)

PUBLIC ART

Proximity artworks

Monuments Passageways artworks

PUBLIC ARTProximity artworks

La Passerelle de Bessengue

•Produced by doual’art

•Community-based projects

•SUD- Salon Urbain de Douala

POPULAR ART

Balade dans la cité

•Produced by Equinoxe (2006-2011) and WAK Africa pictures (2011- today)•Made by “Les Grands Compagnons de Douala”•Broadcasted by Equinoxe Télévision

TV Series

WHY POPULAR?• No “popular” versus “intellectual”

• It “speaks” people’s pressing concerns

• It is produced, enjoyed, and discussed by inhabitants of Douala

PUBLIC AND POPULAR: WHAT IS IN COMMON?• Produced by local artists

• Out of museum, out of the studios – the street is the stage

• Engaged with the society aiming for improvement

• Portraying the reality with fundamental aesthetical concerns

BALADE DANS LA CITE’

A “PROXIMITY CINEMA”

“I'm not a big fan of the fictional cinema; I'm rather a fan of a kind of cinema that helps people to make progresses; of a cinema allowing people mirror themselves; of a cinema that arises social problems; of a cinema in which anyone can learn a concrete lesson. Basically a proximity cinema”

SCREENING PROBLEMS AND DANGERS• The narrative device: Makalapati cycles around telling what

he sees;• From traditional communication channels (newspaper, radio,

gossip, etc.) to comical television series.

ASPIRATIONS

1- Information and prevention about dangers and social problems

2- Changing wrong doers' mindset

ASPIRATIONS3- Offering an aesthetic facet to the city

LA PASSERELLE DE BESSENGUE

Someone has thought of us, the forgotten of Douala, the development also concerns us

IMPACTS1) Acceleration of development activities:

Creation of a Development Community Attraction of International monetary funds (World Bank)

2) Social cohesion and responsibility

Bessengue entrance (2003) Bessengue entrance (2012)

IMPACTS2) Conviviality space

Meeting place Safe landmark

IMPACTS4) Increasing and improving commercial activities

Façade of the hairdresser - before Façade of the hairdresser - after

CONCLUSION

Two different aesthetical forms

Both of them encourage the audience to reflect upon the gap between what reality is and what it should be, making efforts to bridge the gap.

PUBLIC ART AND POPULAR ART

THANK YOU!GIOVANNA SANTANERA

giovannasantanera@yahoo.itUniversità di Milano – BICOCCA

(IT)EHESS – Paris (FR)

MARTA PUCCIARELLIpucciarelli.marta@gmail.com New Media in Education LabUniversità della Svizzera italiana (CH)