by Ọmọ́túndé Kasali

The 2017 Participants at the Press Conference

On Saturday 14 October 2017, Invisible Borders, the Trans-African Art and Travel Project, held a press conference for the 7th edition of its road trip, termed Borders Within II. This will be the final leg of its trans-Nigerian road trip started with the previous edition in 2016. Since 2011, this group has organized road trips across long distances as a way of interrogating geographic boundaries while providing a means for writers and other visual artists to create new works on the road. We have supported the effort here at KTravula.com because we believe in travel as a way to expand mental, spiritual, and artistic horizons.

[Read our interview with its founders Emmanuel Iduma and Emeka Okereke here]

To begin on 15 October and to last for six weeks, the trip entails a group of artists travelling across 17 States and 21 cities and “mapping diversity across regions and states and ethnic formations in Nigeria” through their works.

The participants, who emerged following a selection procedure involving over 100 applications across Africa are Emeka Okereke, Founder and Artistic Director of Invisible Borders; Kechi Nomu, a culture writer and poet who was a finalist for the 2017 Brunel International African Poetry Prize; Kenechukwu Nwatu, a photographer and filmmaker; Yinka Elujoba, a writer and Director of Publications of Invisible Borders; Amara Nicole Okolo, a lawyer and writer already with two books to her name; James Bekenawei, a writer, photographer, and co-administrator of the IgersNigeria, the official Nigerian Instagrammer’s community; Nengi Nelson, a photographer and filmmaker; Innocent Ekejuiba, Project Manager of Invisible Borders; and Kemi Falodun, a writer and Head of Communications for Invisible Borders.

The artists will aim to produce works that represent their reflections on contemporary Nigeria, while attempting to answer the following questions: “Who am I in relation to the artificial map? How am I a product of what I have been inevitably named? And how do I interact across several visible and invisible borders I confront as a Nigerian?”

Following the road trip, the participating artists will be required to produce a major body of work – the writers a long travel essay of up to 7000 words, and the photographers at least an encompassing body of work. Additionally, a lengthy documentary containing narratives of Nigerians encountered on the trip will be produced, with the aim of “creating a crowd-sourced narrative of contemporary Nigeria.” In the meantime, the artists will, while on the trip, reflect on and share their experiences at their dedicated blog here.

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Ọmọ́túndé Kasali is an aspiring educationist, with interests in language and in literature.