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© Salifou Lindou & Christian Hanussek „Compteur oracle“, video, 03:20 loop, 2008

Christian Hanussek revisits Salifou Lindou in Douala to continue their current teamwork “avant c’était avant” and to exhibit already realized projects in the exhibition “émotions partagées”.

“Compteur oracle”
(“meter oracle”) is the title of a 3 min video-loop featuring an electricity meter lit by candles during a power cut, a PR-text by multinational AES who is in charge of Cameroon’s power supply and a chat between Lindou’s wife Aicha with her cousin on family matters. The electricity meter serves as interface between the grid and the consumer juxtaposing the ambitious claims of AES with the village-like atmosphere (candlelight chatting) the city is cast in during the frequent power cuts.

“masques voitures”
(“masked cars”) is a series of several photos and  videos extended by ongoing performances of cars circulating the city. Cars are strong bearers of images, and can be understood in Africa as  representing the “West” in a way comparable to how wooden masks represent African cultures in the “West”. Cars are highly charged with symbolic meaning, embodying a certain lifestyle and models of identity; they are in fact masquerades. In “masques voitures” they get associated with images of the places they pass, which were reflected  in their shiny surfaces. These images got inscribed in the cars, as if incorporated in their memory. The combination and juxtaposition of potholes with slogans for cell phone providers sets the trancelike  levitating life promoted in cell phone company adds on gigantic billboards against the literal abysses encountered on the ground.

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“émotions partagées”
Opening Reception: 17.04.2009
www.doualart.org

14.05. – 19.07.2009
kunstraum muenchen