Public Art as a Driver of Urban Transformation in Douala. in Re-Imagining the African City: The Arts and Urban Politics. Workshop Basel, 11/03/2016. Iolanda Pensa, Marilyn Douala Bell and Marta Pucciarelli, SUPSI and doual’art.

1. Ars&Urbis International Workshop, 2007, cc by-sa.
Public Art as a Driver of Urban Transformation in Douala.
in Re-Imagining the African City:The Arts and Urban Politics.Workshop Basel, 11/03/2016.
Iolanda Pensa, Marilyn Douala Bell and Marta Pucciarelli, SUPSI and doual’art.

2. Images on Wikimedia Commons
SUD 2007 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SUD_Salon_Urbain_de_Douala_2007
SUD 2010 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/SUD_Salon_Urbain_de_Douala_2010
SUD 2013 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/SUD_Salon_Urbain_de_Douala_2013
doual’art https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Doual%27art
doual’art http://www.doualart.org
mobile A2K Culture and Safety in Africa http://www.mobilea2k.org

4. Joseph-Francis Sumégné, Douala, 1996, cc by-sa.

5. Lucas Grandin, Douala, 2010, cc by-sa.

6. Salifou Lindou, Douala, 2010, cc by-sa.

7. Tracey Rose, Douala, 2010, cc by-sa.

8. HervéYamguen, Douala, 2010, cc by-sa.

9. Alioum Moussa, Douala, 2005, cc by-sa.

11. Self-financed
3.589 €
Ministry of Culture
15.244 €
IRCOD
9.950 €
FNAC/Ambassade de France
501 €
Cultures France
20.000 €
EED, Bonn
38.058 €
Arts Collaboratory
28.000 €
doual’art - Rapport d’audit des états financiers, 2008.Total income 115.343 euro.
0 €
22.500 €
45.000 €
67.500 €
90.000 €
NL DE FR CM
18.833 €
30.451 €
38.058 €
28.000 €
2008
0 €
25.000 €
50.000 €
75.000 €
100.000 €
Cult&DevCult-coop Cult Dev Coop Research Ed Crowd Sponsors Services
3.589501
48.008
15.244
20.000
28.000 €

12. Self-financed
3%
ACP-UE
9.880 €
lettera27
17.422 €
Cultures France
20.000 €
Casa Africa
14.941 €
Arts Initiatives
17.252 €
Goethe Institut
1.000 €
EED, Bonn
43.760 €
Prince Claus Fund
25.000 €
Arts Collaboratory
57.500 €
doual’art - Rapport d’audit des états financiers, 2009.Total income 212.853 euro.
0 €
22.500 €
45.000 €
67.500 €
90.000 €
NL DE USA ES FR IT Europe CM
6.098 €
9.880 €
17.422 €
20.000 €
14.941 €
17.252 €
44.760 €
82.500 €
2009
0 €
25.000 €
50.000 €
75.000 €
100.000 €
Cult&DevCult-coop Cult Dev Coop Research Ed Crowd Sponsors Services
6.098
17.422
43.760
45.821
99.752 €

13. Self-financed
65.184 €
Alucam
762 €
SGBC
3.049 €
SABC
4.573 €
MTN
4.573 €
ACP-UE
35.097 €
Gasworks
1.200 €
Bozar
8.000 €
lettera27
7.500 €
FNAC/Ambassade de France
2.836 €
AECID
25.000 €
Arts Initiatives
12.957 € Goethe Institut
1.121 €
BKVB
6.896 €
Mondriaan Foundation
25.000 €
Arts Collaboratory
49.143 €
doual’art - Rapport d’audit des états financiers, 2010.Total income 252.892 euro.
0 €
22.500 €
45.000 €
67.500 €
90.000 €
NL DE USA ES FR IT BE UK Europe CM
78.143 €
35.097 €
1.200 €
8.000 €7.500 €
2.836 €
25.000 €
12.957 €
1.121 €
81.039 €
2010
0 €
25.000 €
50.000 €
75.000 €
100.000 €
Cult&DevCult-coop Cult Dev Coop Research Ed Crowd Sponsors Services
65.184
12.958
7.500
27.836
14.896
61.218
63.300 €

14. Reserve
328 €
Self-financed
7.425 €
UNESCO
203 €
ACP-UE
14.497 €
Flemmish institute of culture
4.500 €
Orange Foundation
40.000 €
French institute of Cameroon
3.045 €
Goethe Institut
1.982 €
German Embassy
2.182 €
GIZ
1.410 €
Arts Collaboratory
21.442 €
doual’art - Rapport d’audit des états financiers, 2012.Total income 97.013 euro.
0 €
22.500 €
45.000 €
67.500 €
90.000 €
NL DE FR BE Europe UNESCO CM
7.753 €
203 €
14.497 €
4.500 €
43.045 €
5.574 €
21.442 €
2012
0 €
25.000 €
50.000 €
75.000 €
100.000 €
Cult&DevCult-coop Cult Dev Coop Research Ed Crowd Sponsors Services
7.753
40.000
3.592
24.226
21.442 €

15. Reserve
38.352 €
Self-financed
23.787 €
CUD
1.151 €
Kisskissbankbank
3.601 €
Arterial Network (AFAI)
14.696 €
SUPSI
7.824 €
First Floor Gallery
921 €
Tate Modern
24.974 €
Philip Aguirré
46.900 €
lettera27
2.000 €
Goethe Institut
9.292 €
GIZ
2.820 €
Arts Collaboratory
70.000 €
doual’art - Rapport d’audit des états financiers, 2013.Total income 246.318 euro.
0 €
22.500 €
45.000 €
67.500 €
90.000 €
NL DE IT BE UK ZW CH Afr-int Crowd CM
24.938 €
3.601 €
14.696 €
7.824 €
921 €
24.974 €
46.900 €
2.000 €
12.112 €
70.000 €
2013
0 €
25.000 €
50.000 €
75.000 €
100.000 €
Cult&DevCult-coop Cult Dev Coop Research Ed Crowd Sponsors Services
23.787
3.6012.0007.8242.8201.151
72.795
9.292
84.696 €

16. Cultural Institutions and Public Art in Douala. Iolanda Pensa and Stefano Baseggio, 2006, CC BY-SA.
Context
City
Administration
Country
Money
Partners
Success
International Recognition
Continent
Similarities
Differences
Other works in the same area
Bibliography
Urban branding
Maintenance
Urban branding
Porosity

17. Assumption:Art is a space of research and experimentations (freedom and limitations)
Findings related to the role of the arts in Re-Imagining the African City
and the potential scalability of the production of the arts integrated in urban politics.
A. Common traps
1. Money.Art is pretty cheap. In the majority of the cases it requires very limited investments with
very limited risks.
2. Justifications.There is the tendency to justify the production of art and culture with arguments
which do not take into consideration the plus value of art.
3. Efficiency. If the objective is not to produce art (as research and experimentation), maybe it is
better to do something else; it might be much more efficient than art.
B. Dynamics
1. Entrance point.Art can provide an entrance point in difficult contexts
2. Infrastructure.Artworks can be infrastructures; they can provide services
3. Producing.The production of public art requires largely unavailable skills
4. Land ownership.The space occupied by art (and the negotiations to occupy it) determines
processes, reactions and perceptions of the work (strong political implications).
5. Evaluation. No evaluation process appears to be capable of taking into consideration both the
quality of the artwork and its social and political impact. It is not requested.
C.Art as a System error
1. When something is one thing and it is also something else.
2. When people react by saying “ça reveille”.
3. Quality and exceptional. Not all artworks are exceptional and a critical selection is needed.
Any correspondence with other case studies?

18. The arts as a space of experimentation and research
Factor Freedom Limitations
Selection • The artist can work independently.
• New institutions can be created and there is a potentially unlimited number of
curators and committee that can select artworks.
• Institutions, curators and committee can defend and support the work of artists.
• The artist is selected by a curator, institution or committee.
• The selection is inscribed into a cultural events, project or program, which frames and influence the selection
process and results (aims, location, budget, time-frame, expectations, target, stakeholders).
• The competitive process of selection can lead to conflicts and tensions in particular among the local art system
(negative feedback of artists who have not been selected, curators and members of the committee who have not
been included and institutions which are not represented among the stakeholders; conflicts related to the use of
public resources).
Location • Artists can choose the location where they want to intervene.
• The temporary nature of ephemeral interventions and performances benefit of
more freedom.
• The location can be determined and limited by the obtainment of the necessary authorization (government, private
owner, community).
• The location is determined by regeneration plans and the artist is invited to intervene on a pre-determinated site.
• Even when the artwork is produced without authorization, it might be in the interest of the artists to build a
consensus around the artwork from the community.
• The location has an impact on how viewers read and perceive an artwork.
Production • The artist can directly manage all aspects of the production of the artwork
(materials, equipment, technique, suppliers, authorization).
• The artist is not asked to produce the work but a concept; the work will be
produced by others (institution, production company, assistant).
• Necessity of a team behind the production of large-scale artworks.
• The production requires the involvement of a producer (or production company) who can manage the technical
implementation of the project (materials, equipment, technique, suppliers, authorization),
• The production is limited by the availability of specific materials (not necessarily available in all countries) and by
the presence of specialized suppliers (not necessarily available in all countries).
• The necessary skills to produce complex artworks are an asset of a limited number of people. This can generate a
perceived monopoly of key producers; in reality the monopoly is due to the extremely limited number of
competitors.
Concept • The artist is free to define the concept of its work.
• The temporary nature of ephemeral interventions and performances and the
limited cost and investment of small-scale artworks benefit of less limitations.
• The concept is limited by its feasibility, location, budget.
• The concept is limited by a specific theme or general project frame.
• The concept is reviewed and selected by a curato, institution or committee.r
• The concept is limited by censure and auto-censure.
• The concept change during production according to available materials and available suppliers.
Clients • Addressing a wide public can trigger new ideas and it can encourage artists to
make relevant statements.
• Addressing a new public can trigger research and experimentation, and it can
challenge the artist.
• Viewers are not the only client of an artwork: the artist is asked to respond to the requests of curators, institutions,
committees, grant-makers and other stakeholders (among which government and media).
• The pressure of addressing a wide or a new public can lead to auto-censure.
• In the production of artworks – in particular in the so-called developing countries and in informal settlements – the
process can be limited by the implicit or explicitly request of producing development (expectation or project aim).
Maintence • Artists do not necessarily want their artworks to be permanent. In the concept of
the artwork the life-cycle of the artwork can include its disappearance.
• The necessity of maintenance can be a space of freedom.
• Artworks can be maintained by public administrations, private owners, cultural
organizations and communities.
• Recurrent cultural events (i.e. biennials, triennials, festivals) can facilitate a cyclical
maintenance (artworks are reinstalled and repaired for every edition).
• The necessity of maintenance makes all artworks ephemeral or partly ephemeral.
• Maintenance can be determinant also in assuring an artwork does not become dangerous and unsafe for its public
and users.
• Ownerships of the artwork determines who will manage maintenance.
• The artwork can be vandalized or can be damaged intentionally or intentionally. To protect artworks, fences, gates
and the presence of guards are sometimes used.
Quality • A wide range of works and practices can be considered art.
• The impact of cultural events and public art is not a determinant element for artistic
quality.
• Quality of an artwork can only be assessed by the art system (reviews and essays by art critics, art historians and
journalists, publications, presentation of the artwork within an exhibition).
• An artwork can be framed within its selection process, which can involve an institution, curator or committee. The
selection process doesn’t assure the quality of the artwork but it contributes to its artistic legitimacy.
• Dynamics of power and of inclusion and exclusion still determine art history and the acknowledgement of art
practices around the world.
• According to its location, art can be expected to produce an impact on development and it can be expected to
represent “local” or “national” practices.
• The biography of the artist (birth place, origins, working place) can have a determinant impact in his/her artistic
evaluation and in the way his/her work is framed.

19. Mobile Access to Knowledge: Culture and Safety in Africa. Documenting and assessing the
impact of cultural events and public art on urban safety, Final report, 2011-2014. http://
www.mobilea2k.org
Pucciarelli, Marta. Douala Final Report, 2013. http://www.mobilea2k.org
Pensa, Iolanda. 2013.‘I’ll have a project. How international grants and cultural cooperation
have shaped contemporary African art into a project made of objectives, activities and
expected results’. Seismopolite Journal of Art and Politics 5. http://
www.seismopolite.com/i-will-have-a-project-contemporary-african-art
Pensa, Iolanda. 2016 in print. System Error. Art as a space to produce what we would
never have thought we needed in Art and Development. http://iopensa.it
Urban Safety and Security, ed. Emanuela Bonini Lessing, FrancoAngeli Edizioni, 2015.
Case studies
doual’art, non profit association, Douala, Cameroon, 1991-
Luanda Triennale, Luanda,Angola, 1991.2013.
Johannesburg, South Africa, 1991-2013.
Dak’Art, Dakar, Senegal, 1990-
Iolanda Pensa, SUSPI Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera Italiana, Laboratorio
cultura visiva, iolanda.pensa@supsi.ch, 03/2016.