A space to read a manifesto

Activity carried out from June 17 to 30, 2019 in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in Niamey and with the support of the ACERCA program of AECID

In 2019 the fourth edition of Grigri Pixel is held with a program that revolves around the theme of hospitality and that has two main objectives: on the one hand, to reflect on the power that arises in a territory when it is able to open up, to facilitate the encounter and give rise to what is apparently different, foreign and strange and, on the other hand, to highlight the capacity of these processes to mutually enrich the people who participate in them, expanding their horizons and common imaginary.

For this workshop, the materials previously presented during the meeting on June 13 in Madrid were taken as a starting point; the contents produced will serve as a research base for the October workshop at Medialab Prado.

In the context of this fourth edition, a meeting is held in Niamey (Niger) to activate a reflection on hospitality in this territory with a design and construction workshop that results in the manufacture of a collective amulet: Les Chaises Koubeyni.

Les Chaises Koubeyni

Les Chaises Koubeyni are a space created collectively to read the manifesto of hospitality developed throughout the workshop. They are a place to lie down and protect yourself from the Sahelian sun, located in the Séno neighborhood in Niamey. A self-sufficient urban amulet that captures the sun’s energy through self-built solar panels and transforms it into lighting.

Les Chaises Koubeyni are also a scenic resource for the Arène Théâtre company space, located in the Séno district, in the north of the city of Niamey. This district was founded in 2012 to host people who were victims of the heavy floods in August of that same year, it is a neighborhood with all kinds of deficiencies and it is also a place of reception for migrants from other African countries.

Thanks to the presence of the company in this territory, it links its activities with a particularly neglected and marginalized population, hosting, for example, part of the programming of the Bijini Bijini Festival of street arts, also offering artistic and cultural training to the people who live in proximity.

Hospitality Maps

Made by the participants in the workshop as a previous step to the development of the manifesto.

The Hospitality Manifesto

Participants

Fatouma Akiné, Nana Kadidjatou Aboubacari, Moussa Gentil Mahaman Bachir, Mohamed Abdelmunime, Jean Rene Kokoye, Ali Narey, Jhade Tawakal, Abdel-Razak Toure Seydou, Mouhamed Kitary Harouna Coulibaly, Mahamadou Illias Ango, Ismael Maman Boukari, Ali Garba, Abder Raouf Garba, Einabou Moussa Amadou, Zeinabou Lawali, Maman Lorwana, Souleyman Abdou and Alhousseini Yaye Touré.

Workshop photo gallery