GROUP EXHIBITION

Initiated by Azu Nwagbogu (KADIST advisor and African Artists’ Foundation director) in 2022, the curatorial framework of _Dig Where You Stand _focuses on regeneration, offering the exhibition as an experimental site for the repatriation of capital, ecology, and resources—both tangible and symbolic—toward the reclamation of the commons. This approach shifts the decolonial paradigm away from the two pillars of Western institutions and futurist imaginaries toward a solution-oriented perspective, exploring the regenerative potential of art across the African continent and its diasporas that is meaningful and relevant today.

Inspired by Swedish author Sven Lindqvist’s concept of “Dig Where You Stand,” this initiative seeks to develop sustainable models for art and culture, engaging local audiences in activism, pedagogy, and creative expression.

Dig Where You Stand is also a curatorial tool box, handed from curator to curator through its different iterations. Under the overarching theme of culture as an emancipation mechanism, the Benin edition of Dig Where You Stand seeks to address the neglect of creativity and imagination in West Africa and its diaspora, particularly how the continent has long been treated as a blank canvas for foreign ideologies, as outlined in Felwine Sarr’s essay Afrotopia. This exhibition aims to highlight the importance of indigenous cultural frameworks for development by curating artists whose work fosters a contemporary, endogenous approach to self-projection, exploring themes like nature, politics, and spirituality. Set in Benin, a country rich in tradition and spirituality, the exhibition will connect local and global conversations, with a focus on re-examining identity through visuals, sound, and performance, and fostering dialogue that transcends borders and societal divisions.

Artists

Bayeté Ross Smith, Bruno and Brice Zountounnou, Caleb Kwarteng Prah, Charbel Coffi, Dodji Efoui, Enar de Dios Rodríguez, Enrique Ramírez, Joana Choumali, Kapwani Kiwanga, Kwami Da Costa, Louis Oke-Agbo, MAR+VIN, Natalia Lassalle-Morillo, Nedia Were, DJ Orlando, Oroko Radio, Renzo Martens and CATPC, Roméo Mivekannin, Silvia Rosi, Victor Ehikhamenor and Zanele Muholi