African futures, travelling diasporic sounds and writing by Africans for Africans are at the core of the Chimurenga Library exhibition on show until the 21st of November at The Showroom in London. Chimurenga, whose name comes from a Shona word referring to the ‘struggle for freedom,’ is a Pan-African publication of writing, art and politics. Ntone Edjabe, originally from Cameroon, started the internationally acclaimed platform based in Cape Town, South Africa in March 2002.
Influenced by Fela Kuti’s, ‘Who no know go know’, Chimurenga lets its audiences in on what’s happening on the continent. The multidimensional platform’s publications include a quarterly Pan-African gazette titled The Chronic, a visually attractive journal that centres culture, arts and politics and features an incredibly sharp range of contributors, including Binyavanga Wainaina, Paula Akugizibwe, Lesego Ramolokeng, Kodwo Eshun and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. With the Pan African Space Station (PASS), Edjabe offers a periodic, pop-up live studio that functions as an exhibition space as well as a living archive. Through these and other innovative initiatives, Chimurenga provides a much-needed political platform through word, sound and new spaces.
Chimurenga Library, presented by The Showroom and The Otolith Group, has taken over The Showroom gallery by transforming the existing space and structures into a place for friends and interested folks to come together and hear live broadcasts and music, transcending the limitations that gallery walls pose to the viewer. With taped routes linking ideas with people, writing, research, music, a variety of films, photography and an actual library, the exhibition reflects Chimurenga’s position as a leading Pan-African cultural platform.
Read more here: http://www.warscapes.com/reviews/chimurenga-library-creating-temporary-homes-traveling-diasporic-sound-and-shaping-african