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Als we de kranten en het nieuws mogen geloven is Congo verloren. De problemen zijn immens en het land loopt enorm achter. Maar is dit beeld niet hopeloos achterhaald? Wie zijn westerse bril af zet, ziet in verscheidene Afrikaanse landen een nieuwe stedelijkheid zich in ongekende snelheid ontwikkelen. Nieuwe sociale verschijnselen en culturele dynamiek wisselen elkaar in een hoog tempo af. Ondertussen is een Als we de kranten en het nieuws mogen geloven is Congo verloren. De problemen zijn immens en het land loopt enorm achter. Maar is dit beeld niet hopeloos achterhaald? Wie zijn westerse bril af zet, ziet in verscheidene Afrikaanse landen een nieuwe stedelijkheid zich in ongekende snelheid ontwikkelen. Nieuwe sociale verschijnselen en culturele dynamiek wisselen elkaar in een hoog tempo af. Ondertussen is een nieuwe generatie geboren die op grote schaal het hoofd biedt aan deze hypermoderniteit. Tijdens Congo Later staan we stil bij de vraag hoe Congo er in de toekomst uit gaat zien. Wordt het een land volgens Europees model, of zien we een compleet nieuw soort staat met bijbehorende steden ontstaan? En wat kunnen wij eigenlijk leren van de dynamiek in Congo? Met onder andere: Filip de Boeck (antropoloog, video-interview), Seada Nourhussen (Trouw), Luce Beeckmans (architect, urbanist, promovenda), Francois Tshimpuki (jongerenwerker te Londen) en Antoni Folkers (architect, oprichter platform ArchiAfrika). Onder leiding van Patrick van der Hijden. Voertaal: Nederlands en Engels

The Prince Claus Fund, together with African Architecture Matters, invite you for an evening with Malian film-maker and scholar Manthia Diawara and Ghanaian architect and chair of the ArchiAfrika network Joe Osae Addo. Manthia Diawara will present his new book, African Film, New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics, as well as his film Maison Tropicale. Manthia Diawara is former jury member of the Prince Claus Awards and director of the Africana Studies Program at the New York University. Following the screening of Maison Tropicale, there will be a public discussion about Ownership and Belonging in African Art, Architecture and Film. Due to the large number of registrations, the venue has changed. The evening will take place at Flemish Art Centre ‘De Brakke Grond’ instead of at the Prince Claus Fund. Read further below.

PLEASE NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE! Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond - Nes 43 Amsterdam The Prince Claus Fund, together with African Architecture Matters, invite you for an evening with Malian film-maker and scholar Manthia Diawara and Ghanaian architect and chair of the ArchiAfrika network Joe Osae Addo. Manthia Diawara will present his new book, African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics, as well as his film Maison Tropicale. Manthia Diawara is former jury member of the Prince Claus Awards and director of the Africana Studies Program at the New York University. Following the screening of Maison Tropicale, there will be an public discussion about Ownership and Belonging in African Art, Architecture and Film. When: Thursday October 28 Where: Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond - Nes 43 Amsterdam Time: 19.00 hrs Admission: free Programme: 19.30 hrs Introduction by Els van der Plas, Director of the Prince Claus Fund and Manthia Diawara 19.45 hrs Screening of Maison Tropicale 20.45 hrs Discussion Manthia Diawara and Joe Osae Addo 21.15 hrs End of programme, drinks Click here to register (there is a limited amount of seats available) The evening will be organised by the Prince Claus Fund in cooperation with African Architecture Matters and the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal. -missing pic- Still from Maison Tropicale, showing (left) director Manthia Diawara and (right) Mireille Ngatsé, a former owner of the Maison Tropicale in Brazzaville. Maison Tropicale was shown at the Portugese pavilion at the 2007 Venice biennale (Courtesy Manthia Diawara/Maumaus) About Maison Tropicale The Maison Tropicale, was a house designed by architect and designer Jean Prouvé between 1949 and 1951. The prefabricated aluminium structures were modular, made to be flat-packed, constructed and dismantled with ease. They were intended to address the shortage of housing in the French colonies of West Africa, but only three prototypes were ever made. Manthia Diawara’s 58-minute documentary Maison Tropicale (2008) takes its starting point in another artist’s work: Ângela Ferreira’s project about these buildings, shown in the Portuguese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007. Through interviews with Ferreira, the people she meets, government officials, residents and former owners of the properties in the Republic of the Congo and Niger, Diawara examines notions of cultural patrimony and illuminates issues surrounding African identity and art within the context of post-colonial debate and the legacy of Modernism. Les Maisons Tropicales were removed from Africa in 2000, bearing the scars of general neglect and civil war. Subsequently returned to France, restored, then exhibited in the USA and Europe, they were sold for millions of dollars, a far cry from their original utopian function and social context. -missing pic- Cover of the book ‘African Film’ The publication focuses on new trends in African cinemas from the 1990s to the present. Afro-pessimism has given way to a new self-confidence, paired with a departure from ideological constraints such as social realism or nationalism. -missing pic- The Prince Claus Fund: Culture is a Basic Need The Prince Claus Fund actively seeks international cultural collaborations with partners of excellence in spaces of need. The Prince Claus Fund provides immediate cultural rescue as well as support to sustainable cultural processes. It takes initiatives to raise awareness on the importance of culture in everyday life and for development. The Fund works in the spirit of Prince Claus’ belief that one cannot develop people, but people develop themselves. The Prince Claus Fund is based in Amsterdam and is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Postcode Lottery. -missing pic- The Afrika Museum discloses traditional and contemporary African art, and building and housing in Africa and African societies. The museum’s inspiring presentations and special activities allow a wide range of visitors to get acquainted with the wealth of Africa’s various cultures.

EAST MEETS WEST IN MODERN AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE ON Monday 25 October, 12:30 - 3:30hrs. IN CEA 102, Cnr N 12th and Norris Streets, Philadelphia

African Architecture Matters produced the ArchiAfrika newsletter September 2010 which was guest edited by Bukka trust from London. ‘Welcome to Lagos – It’ll defy your expectations’, a three part BBC documentary broadcasted in April this year, fired the debate on how to picture Africa and more particularly Lagos as a place to live. Bukka Trust, founded in 2003 by a group of Nigerian architects operating in London and Nigeria, picked up this discussion from an urban point of view. On 18 June they filled the floor of the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre of the Centre for Oriental and African Studies of the University of London with a panel to discuss ‘Lagos … Mega City or Crisis City?’. download the English or French newsletter and enjoy reading further!

On 27 October 2010, AAmatters director Antoni Folkers will lecture at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, and present the recently published book ‘Modern Architecture in Africa’. ‘Modern Architecture in Africa’ is one of the few Western studies of modern African architecture. The architect Antoni Folkers calls into question the moralistic, simplified Western Modernism that has become stranded in the African savannah. The critique of the one-sidedness of Western architecture is not only theoretical, but also assumes a practical form in the pluriform and multi-coloured architecture of Africa. Clash and blending After studying at the TU Delft, Antoni Folkers went to Africa in 1984 to become acquainted with the critique of the practice of Western Modernism. His ‘Modern architecture in Africa’ shows both the clash and the blending of ‘original’ African architecture with Modernism. On the basis of his experiences, he sets the potential and limitations of Modernism in a cultural context and links them with the history and development of Africa. Documentation of forms On the basis of practical examples, Folkers documents and describes the hybrid architectural forms that have emerged from the confrontation and blending with (pre-)modern Western architecture and urbanism. He narrates in passing the history of African architecture. The book is published in the English and Dutch language and can be ordered via SUN architecture.

Competition BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE open for entries listen to the interview iwth jury chair Joe Osae - Addo Africa is planning for the future. Some projects, like the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, affect the entire world. Others, like the works of Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, Doual’art, or the team of Takako Tajima and Aziza Chaouni, are locally focused. With BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE, the Afrika Museum (Berg en Dal) and African Architecture Matters (Utrecht), www.afrikamuseum.nl/blog. two organizations based in The Netherlands, have recently launched a great and challenging competition in which the new generation of African architects, artists and visionairies are given the opportunity to present their thoughts and plans for the future of built Africa: Africa’s Next Top Model? (see attachments). Further information can be found at To turn BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE into a successful event and to collect as many presentations as possible of future aspirations we are looking for as many participants as possible for this great and challenging competition. The presentations must be submitted before the competition deadline of 15 October 2010. The jury will select 25 entries that will be shown in the main exhibition hall of the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal (the Netherlands) from April - October 2011. The winning proposals will be selected by a specially composed jury consisting of 5 members. The panel includes: Manthia Diawara, Lesley Lokko, Joe Osae-Addo (chair), AbdouMaliq Simone, and Femke van Zeijl. The winners (three selected by the jury and the public’s favorite) will be invited to receive their prize at the opening of the exhibition in the Netherlands, April next year. Register as participant at www.afrikamuseum.nl/blog!

Commissioned by the Netherlands Architecture Fund, foundation African Architecture Matters (AAM) is preparing a project plan for international design research on how architecture and urban design can add to the improvement of the cultural, economic and social emancipation of (im)migrants. In the Netherlands, the largest group of non-western immigrants is of Turkish decent, the third group is formed by Moroccans (in 2003: 341.000 Turkish, 295.000 Moroccans, source: CBS). For the Architecture Fund this gives rise to a focus on these immigrant groups. AAM will focus on the Moroccan group. Processes and experiences in Dutch major cities will be compared with those in the country of origin. The project aims to formulate conclusions which will form recommendation for policies concerning city planning for city councils, housing corporations and developers. African Architecture Matters (co-founders of ArchiAfrika) is approached to set up this research, because of its excellent network in Africa and Morocco, as well as the fact that it is involved in the organization of African Perspectives 2011, a large manifestation bringing together architects, planners and other parties involved in the built environment. African Perspectives 2011 will take place in Casablanca in November. This manifestation forms part of the series of bi-annual African Perspectives conferences, organized by ArchiAfrika. The current preparatory research explores the possibilities for the project in Morocco and the Netherlands. It is the aim to set up dialogue and exchange on this matter between parties in the Netherlands and Morocco. What can be learned from the exchange of experience? Are issues comparable or do they differ? Is a comparison feasible at all? In the preparatory research is included: Refinement of the research query in collaboration with partners in Morocco and the Netherlands, as well as with the Architecture Fund;Exploration and assessment of the field, inventory of projects with relevance to the query; Set up collaboration with relevant partners in Morocco, with a focus on Casablanca; Set up collaboration with relevant Dutch partners; Exploration of possible participants, target groups and disciplines, with the aim to approach the query in a multi-disciplinary way.