ON Wednesday, a body of Nigerian photo artists left Lagos for their Invisible Borders The Trans-African Photography Initiative.Announcing the third edition of their yearly road trip project, holding November 2 through December 16, the group said their land journey through the international boundaries of several African countries will be be made by 12 artists this season.'The official kick-off for this year's event will be Lagos, with twelve African artists, travelling about 12000 km, all the way up to Addis Ababa, with four to seven-day stops in the capitals and major cities of Nigeria, Tchad, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Once again, the approach will be a focus on revealing, through the art of photography, images of African life and people (in relation to their environment), that usually go unnoticed in the media, all the while exploring themes centred on socio-political discourses prevalent in the continent,' states a release from the group.In the group are 10 photographers from Nigeria and Sudan and two writers from Ghana and Nigeria respectively. While the writers will capture the road trip in travelogue reports the photographers' mission will be the artistic documentation and creation from the tour. At stop-over points the photo artists will 'work in collaboration with indigenous artists in the cities visited, all the while developing links with local art communities.'Spokesperson of the Invisible Border initiative, the young photographer, Emeka Okereke, explained, 'the question of identity as it translates into style and modes of dressing, as well as issues such as women's rights, the role of economic world powers in the shaping of the African economy, nature and wildlife preservation or sustainability, as well as conflicts in the African soil will be considered as topics to be explored.'The group will also hold stints of activity with relevant institutions and projects. The group's spokesman elaborated: 'At the five-day stop in N'djamena, Tchad, Invisible Borders will collaborate with Institut Franais of Tchad and the Ndam Ndam Lei Dance Festival to carry out a workshop with photographers from Tchad, as well as create a 'portrait' of the Dance Festival taking place at this period.'On the final leg of this year's adventure, upon arrival in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) at the end of November, a workshop involving local photographers, along with an exhibition featuring a selection of works produced during the road trip, will take place at the Museum of Modern Art of Addis Ababa, in collaboration with its director, Aida Muluneh. The exhibition will comprise of printed photographic works as well as digital projections of photography and video works.'Details of this year's programme show that there is a conscious building on the success of previous editions of Invisible Borders' road trips. This season, for example, the touring artists will make a documentary film and book on there journey. The journey this year will also be streamed daily, online in form of posts and broadcasts comprising, 'images from the photographers, video logs from the film crew, and real-time testimonies from participants as the journey unfolds... via Invisible Borders' blog (www.invisible-borders.com/blog) and social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Creative Africa Network)... Thus enabling the... public to live the experience in real-time and believe that borders are indeed invisible,' Okereke enthused.This year's participants, which comprise some participants in previous editions and new members includes: Amaize Ojeikere, Ray Daniels Okeugo, Chidinma Nnorom, Nana Oforiatta-Ayim, Emmanuel Iduma, Ala Khier, Unoma Giese, Kemi Akin-Nibosun, Tom Saater, Uche Okpa-Iroha, Jumoke Sanwo and Emeka Okereke.Corporate supporters of this year's trip include Art Collaboratory, The Netherlands; Canon Europe; French Cultural Centre Abuja, Institut Franais, Paris; Institut Franais de Tchad; Shoot Me Film + Music Festival Den Haag; Next Newspapers Nigeria; Goethe-Institut, Sudan; Demotix Online Photo Agency; Culture Concepts; New Museum of New York; Museum of Modern Arts Addis Ababa and Desta for Africa Ethiopia.'Invisible Borders Trans-African Photography Initiative was founded in Nigeria in 2009 by Okereke who alongside other artists, 'mostly photographers, with drive and urge to effect change in the society,' embarked in the first adventurous journey through sub-Sahara African countries by road to establish that international borders are artificial while brotherhood bonds are permanent among the continent's artists. According the young photographer, 'the vision of the initiative is to become a symbol of networking and trans-border associations within the arts and photography in Africa but also to become a stepping-stone platform for young emerging talents in the continent in such a way that it creates a breeding ground for young artist to be thinking beyond borders at the beginning stage of their creative quest.'The journeys are also planned to higlight Africa's seldom showcased stories through picture and punchy naratives by Africans 'to encourage exposure of upcoming African photographers towards art and photography as practiced in other parts of the continent; to establish a platform that encourages and embraces trans- African artistic relationships within the continent, and to contribute towards the socio-political discourse shaping Africa of the 21st Century.'He disclosed that while on the tours their goal is 'to constantly spread and share knowledge and information, cutting across the demarcating lines of classes and proficiency in literacy.
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