Inauguration of the sound installation “SONIC COMMUNITARY – The African Union: 20 to 20,000 Hz.” by Emeka Ogboh Julius Nyerere Peace & Security Building of the African Union
On Friday, 4 November – less than a month after the official opening of the new Julius Nyerere Peace and Security Building of the Africa Union by the German Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel together with Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma – the German Ambassador Joachim Schmidt and a representative of the Chairperson of the African Union jointly inaugurated the sound installation “SONIC COMMUNITARY– The African Union: 20 to 20,000 Hz.” by the Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh.
In his inauguration speech (see download “Speech Ambassador 2”), Ambassador Schmidt stressed that mutual dialogue and understanding are the means to prevent and solve conflicts. Therefore, the art work creates a common channel for all humans, enabling us to understand and to listen to each other.
“SONIC COMMUNITARY – The African Union: 20 to 20,000 Hz.” is a combination from audios taken from official political speeches, musical lyrics and bird songs. It represents the corresponding art work of the recently opened Julius Nyerere Peace and Security Building of the Africa Union, which was donated by the German Foreign Office.
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One highlight of the art work is the collection of historic speeches, given by the respective African head of states at the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25th of May 1963.
The art work was conceived by the IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. The jury, consisting of experts from all over the African continent, spoke up mutually for Emeka Ogobh’s sound installation. From 03.11.2016 to 30.11.2016 the Modern Art Museum “Gebre Kristos Desta Center” in Addis Ababa displays the sound and archival material, which the artist used for this project in the exhibition “PLAYBACK”.
Source: German Embassy: Addis Ababa
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