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Boda Boda Lounge Project
On Aspects of Censorships In our conversations with art centres that participated in the video art exhibition that was the Boda Boda Lounge, the issue of local contexts and circumstances was very important for all of us involved. From the Boda Boda Lounge team point of view, we wanted to avoid a doctrinaire transfer of either video art or ideas or models. We believed that multiple approaches to curation would both better benefit the project as well as provide all of us a better understanding of the contexts in operation across the continent. A specific piece of video art, Banned by South African artist Vincent Bezuidenhout, brought into play questions of pornography and homosexuality, and attendant concerns of freedom and expression. These questions and concerns arose specifically in Bulawayo and Kampala, and prompted different responses. In Zimbabwe, Voice in Colours excluded this work from the show, and in Uganda, 32° East, after some initial hesitation, went ahead and showed it. We thought it important for all involved – the organisation that showed the work, the organisation that did not, the artist who made the work – to place on record their thoughts on the process. To stay true to its mission, a project like Boda Boda Lounge requires difficult conversations to take place. We hope that these conversations, however uncomfortable, result in the opening of spaces where we can negotiate our (often) conflicting convictions for freedom and equality, and bring contextual honesty into a regional sphere.
The Boda Boda Team
On Censorship | On Aspects of Censorships