Exploring the role of critical cultural production and discourse in the contemporary landscape is “Publishing against the grain exhibition which took place at the center for Contemporary Art Lagos, Nigeria between April 18, 2018 and ended May 19, 2018.

Organized by Independent Curators International (ICI), NewYork, this travelling exhibition showcases a geographically diverse numbers of independent publications focusing on a myriad of topics/ themes such as feminism, arts, architecture, culture, sociology, politics etc.

The exhibition’s installation was a highly stripped down setup focusing on an array of selected publications and their nominated works differentiating them with a series of colour codes as well as giving visitors the opportunity to examine works displayed on tables in no particular order – at least the visitor were not stripped of this sacred right.

On one hand, the exhibition served as a detoxification against the hustle and bustle as well as tech dependent routine in a mega city where the reading culture is constantly under threat; on the other hand it succumbed to technology. However, it does this from a point of goodwill. With its use of QR codes enabling visitors to further probe these works from their tangible offline forms to the online realm.

The exhibition space as we know it has been transformed to an archive/ library of some sort. Between the white walls and gloves used by visitors, there is a sacred ritual performed. There is this urgency – “To read or not to read” “To explore or not to”.

Unlike its predecessor (the previous edition of the exhibition organized at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in Cape town, South Africa), which uses school furniture to create a form of orderliness and authority thereby taming its visitors. The exhibition at CCA, Lagos schools you while standing.

Amongst the many publications, my attention was drawn to the South African publication “Pumflet” exploring art, architecture and stuff. Perhaps inspired by the title’s playful take on the word pamphlet. An active publication since 2016, its name which includes art, architecture and stuff invites you to explore what’s hidden within the pages.

Of great concern to the curators of Pumflet is the erosion of history, social imagination and the destruction of collective spaces not just in South Africa, but across the globe. A concern for humanity.

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