THE CITY IS OURS
The exhibition The City is ours is intended as a nod to the eponymous collective founded by Annie Jouga and Jean-Charles Tall (a symbol of resilience and militant resistance to heritage preservation), and as a tribute to the encounters that have marked this research since the summer's residency.
Architects Carole Diop and Nzinga Mboup, in collaboration with RAW Material Company, demonstrate - through example - the different possibilities of fighting collectively for what is worth passing on as heritage. They have re-thought the RAW space as a laboratory to show us four studies that have sparked their interest in terms of heritage valorization: the tip of the Almadies’ finistère as a mobilizing leverage point through utilization and the impact of cultual forms of expression; the Biscuiterie as an example of rehabilitation; the former Direction de l'Urbanisme et de l'Architecture (DUA) building, a real archive of technicality and materiality; and the Garden of Fann Hock, a model for activating community ambitions for the bokk (common good) and collective engagement.
Their plea for preservation calls into question the state of architectural heritage in Dakar, and questions the very concepts of heritage, collective memory and the commons. The Architects remind us, in particular, that complex realities can be transcended into opportunities by reinvesting successful models, by reimagining the functionality of places or by imagining creative renovations. They have set about creating an interactive, evolutionary mapping of the capital's heritage, with an aim to archiving this collective memory while also ensuring that it is accessible to the vastest cross-section of the public.
Carole Diop and Nzinga Mboup are two Senegalese architects living in Dakar. Since 2018, they have been working together on Dakarmorphose, a series of investigations focused on the genesis of the city of Dakar and its constant metamorphosis. Lebu culture and its territorial dynamics are at the heart of this research, which has led them to question the notion of heritage. Their objective is to spark or reawaken interest in the latter, by showing, by example, the potential of different forms of collective resistance.
"My understanding of Heritage is that it creates the link for a community and through which it recognizes and builds itself. Heritage can stand the test of time."- Annie Jouga
With the artistic participation of
Fehe Sarr, Khalifa Hussein, Cheikh Ndiaye et Laurence Bonvin
*Sandaga images: Sandaga Market, before collapsing, 2023 — © J.-C. Thoret