Events
Arahmaiani, Sonam, 2010–2012, acrylic on canvas diptych, 200 x 180 cm each © Courtesy Arahmaiani
As part of the Curating as Multiplying Mediation and Access to Culture programme, launched in May 2024 by the Njabala Foundation in collaboration with Independent Curators International (ICI) and AWARE, we are pleased to invite you to an online lecture by N’Goné Fall titled ‘When things fall apart: critical voices from the radars.’ The programme supports six female-identifying emerging curators based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and includes a series of online guest lectures, that were inaugurated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.
In this online lecture, N’Goné Fall will speak about ‘When things fall apart: critical voices from the radars’, a group show she curated in 2016. In her own words, the exhibition is introduced as follows:
“The title is drawn from Nigerian author Chinua Achebe’s groundbreaking 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, which portrays the decline of a human being obstinately struggling against the mutation of their society. Ironically, this 19th century story line seems to ridicule the world of today. For the current abolition of frontiers made virtually possible thanks to the internet, much like the (re)-discovery of lands in past centuries—has, instead of opening up an infinite realm of inspiring encounters, created a vast intersection of fratricidal conflicts. This disturbing context based on power control, ostracism and fear can lead us to conclude that the Other is not our brother or sister, has never been and never will be. It is an enemy to neutralize or destroy so as to maintain our own system of values alive and intact. And it matters little if this murder necessitates our own loss.
‘When things fall apart: Critical voices on the radars’ is a metaphor of Achebe’s novel. But rather than staging the dichotomy of a hostile geopolitical, economic, socio-cultural and religious relationship based on ‘us’ versus ‘them,’ the exhibition analyzes our common chronic pathologies. Built as a series of wake-up calls, it tells us that the little we have retained of history could be the reason why societies, throughout the entire world, create their own Nemesis by living in an almost constant state of intolerance, withdrawal into oneself and fear. Using humor, poetry, radical protest or interactive role-play, 12 voices direct a critical gaze at a world that is drifting to emphasize the vital necessity to learn to live together, for the survival of communities is at stake, for the survival of humanity is at stake. Because human beings, architects of their past and their present, behave as tragic gravediggers of their own destiny.
‘When things fall apart: Critical voices on the radars’ is a platform for artists who are taking a radical stand for a salutary change of mind-set and attitude. It probes how their positions and voices are acting as a warning that mirrors societies in turbulent times. If some of them are demanding Equal Justice and Social Change by addressing gender, race, sexuality, politics, democracy and human development issues; others are embracing a globally resonant humanitarian cause with an Empathy that will uplift humanity, redefine otherness, rehabilitate solidarity, and lead us to believe that the best is yet to come.”
Koyo Kouoh was part of the mentorship programme as a guest lecturer alongside Bonaventure Ndikung and N’Goné Fall.
The partners of the programme, Njabala Foundation, ICI and AWARE, mentees and mentors express our deepest gratitude for Koyo’s generous support, especially during her busy time preparing the Venice Biennial. Her passion and knowledge will be deeply missed. We send our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones.
Further information on the conference series, is available on the Njabala Foundation website.
Practical information
Friday, June 6, 2025
4:00 pm CET/5:00 pm EAT
Public Virtual event: RSVP required to access meeting link
N’Goné Fall is an independent curator and cultural policies specialist. She has been the editorial director of the Paris-based contemporary African art magazine Revue Noire from 1994 to 2001. She curated exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the United States. She was one of the curators of the African Photography Encounters in Bamako, Mali, in 2001, and a guest curator at the 2002 Dakar Biennale in Senegal. She is the author of strategic plans and evaluation reports for national and international institutions. She has also been a professor at the Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt, and a lecturer at the Michaelis school of arts in Cape Town, South Africa, and at the Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger. She was the General Commissioner of the Africa2020 Season, a series of more than 1,500 cultural, scientific, and pedagogical events held all over France from December 2020 to September 2021. Since 2023 she has been part of the academic committee of AWARE: Archive of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions and the Njabala Foundation’s programme, Tracing a decade: Women artists of the 1960s in Africa.
