ARTension: Straight forward with
...Emeka Okereke!

Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographic Initiative was founded in 2009, in a bid to contribute through art and photography to the patching of numerous gaps and misconceptions posed by frontiers within the 54 countries of Africa. It is an artists-led initiative which in itself is a product of the Invisible Borders Road Trip Photography Project organised and executed annually by as many as 10 Nigerian photographers. The project is trans-African in its orientation, and sees the participating artists collectively taking road trips across Africa to explore and participate in various photographic events, festival and exhibitions while engaging on a daily basis with the environment and the people encountered. The emphasis is primarily on the collective journey of the participating artists who, during their momentary stops in capital cities, create photographic works that often reflect their individual approach to engaging with local artists, art practitioners and the inhabitants. They also collaborate intensively with colleagues from each of the countries involved. Underpinning the project are several major aims:

• To tell Africa’s stories, by Africans, through photography and inspiring artistic interventions.
• Encourage exposure of upcoming African photographers towards experiencing art and photography as practiced in other parts of the continent.
• Establish a platform of cultural network that encourages and embraces trans-African
artistic relationships within the continent.
• Contribute towards the socio-political discourse shaping Africa of the 21st Century.

Emeka Okereke born in 1980 is a Nigerian photographer who currently lives and works between Nigeria and The Netherlands. He came in contact with photography in 2001.He is a member of Depth of Field (DOF) collective, a group made up of six Nigerian photographers. His works mingles between conceptual photography and documentary. Over the past years, he has worked strictly in black & white, but currently, employs other media (graphics, video, sound, and literature), which makes his artistic practices seem more and more active and dynamic by the day. His works deal mostly with subjects and issues that involve the society and the emotions dissipated through cosmic coexistence of human beings alongside the non-humans. In the past, he has explored versatile ways of communicating his own particular vision - in poetry, in video works, in multi-layered exhibitions in the public space as opposed to the gallery, in power point and video presentations of the various projects he was involved in.

http://www.invisible-borders.blogspot.com/
http://emeka-okereke.blogspot.com/
http://60gp.ovh.net/~emekaoke/

ARTension

Artension is an open platform for a critical discourse on and between artistic, scientific and other socially relevant positions. We invite guests to present their projects and discuss their subjects of interest in a public debate. We create a space for direct and intense engagement with concrete ideas, as well as a possibility for a first-hand experience, which can be meaningful for the audience.