Bassam El Baroni during launch at SMBA, Amsterdam

Like the first issue, the new magazine ECHOES_DiARTgonale Special Edition #2 seeks to extend access to relevant archives, books and education in Cameroon. As part of its efforts to inform European audiences of the conditions of artistic production in African contexts, SMBA is hosting a round-table discussion with select experts.

Annette Schemmel will lead her talk to the following questions: how to engage in projects of artistic research together that touch, for instance, upon our shared history? Should we extend the notion of archive to bodies of knowledge that lay far beyond the reach of traditional archival premises? Are we ready to relate to this peculiar knowledge from the universalist point of view of Contemporary Art? The Alexandria-based curator Bassam El Baroni will contribute a brief sketch of his theory of Contemporary Art to this reflection, while art historian Pauline Burmann will share her expertise as chair of the Thami Mnyele Foundation in Amsterdam that offers artist-in-residence programmes for African artists. A discussion with the audience is to follow.