The Brunei Gallery, SOAS London 2008
15 Aug 2013
The 19th century German explorer Heinrich Barth was one of the first Europeans to recognise the significance of African history and culture. Travelling under the Arabic name Abd el Kerim, he crossed the Sahara desert, over the Aïr Mountains and into Central Africa and recorded his journey in the five volume Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa 1849-1855.
Inspired by Barth’s account and by tales of a mysterious room containing a trove of ancient artefacts connected to his expedition, Julia Winckler, artist and senior lecturer in photography at the University of Brighton, journeyed to Niger in 2005 to uncover traces of Barth’s journey. On her return she worked with Sam Butler (of Design Interactive) and Mia Thornton (Chiron Research Fellow 05/06) to develop an interactive multimedia website which was launched in 2007.
A resulting photographic exhibition in 2008, guest-curated by Julia at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS in central London was seen by over 7500 visitors. This was the first exhibition in the UK to explore the legacy of Barth and it also included stunning photographs taken by Hausa and Tuareg community photographers who Julia worked with in Niger.
The exhibition itself reflected the notion of a journey, through both time and space. Julia wanted to mirror an actual journey using the gallery space and the photographic narration within the exhibition. A circular gallery walk-through the exhibition was created, directed by seven text panels. Entering the gallery, visitors first encountered display cases containing historical artefacts and aerial photographs of Agadez. These artefacts, many directly associated with Barth, were on loan from the Royal Geographical Society, SOAS special collections, the State archives Hamburg and many private lenders (including African historian Professor Achim von Oppen, Barth’s great great grandnephew, who brought Barth’s portable writing set and an original saddle bag). Modern artefacts like the cedar benches made especially by University of Brighton 2nd year woodwork students under the guidance of Patrick Letschka for visitor seating echoed the historic.
Moving through the gallery, visitors could then continue their journey into the section containing images of the Sahara desert, where they could “meet” village elders and learn about contemporary politics. In the centre of the exhibition space, a semi-enclosed dedicated digital gallery space with a touch-screen and projector had several functions: a room within a room this space emulated the Barth room in Agadez whilst also representing a virtual world within the more tangible world of exhibits. The final section of the gallery displayed the participatory community project Stories from Agadez, featuring work by eight local photographers.
Three multimedia experiences were developed through interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues at the University: these were a 3D model of the actual gallery space to facilitate curatorial decisions on exhibition layout, created by Erminia Carillo (Chiron research fellow 07/08); a re-purposing of the existing website for touch screen use within the dedicated digital gallery space by Karina Rodriguez Echavarria (Centrim); and the development of interactive “audio journeys” within the gallery by Lyn Pemberton and Ana Vitoria Joly (School of CMIS/Interactive Everywhere project).
Supported by an education and outreach grant from Arts Council England South East, Julia also developed an extensive events and education program. This included education co-ordinator Anita Chowdry working with pupils from London’s Tower Hamlet, Camden, Merton and Brent; four exhibition-related seminar speakers from the fields of sociology, anthropology, African history and development studies; community workshops facilitated by experienced artists, and gallery tours, led by SOAS student ambassadors. An large map format exhibition catalogue was designed by MA Brighton graduate Luce Choules, and further educational tools (postcards, an explorer’s writing sheet and an explorer’s drawing sheet) provided opportunities for visitors to record personal notes and reflections.
The nineteenth-century German explorer Heinrich Barth was one of the first Europeans to recognise the significance of African history and culture. Travelling under the Arabic name Abd el Kerim, he crossed the Sahara desert, over the Aïr Mountains and into Central Africa and recorded his journey in the five volume Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa 1849-1855.
