In the world of endangered archives, the challenges are as diverse as the records themselves. In late October, Karl Ohiri (one half of Lagos Studio Archives) and founder of Archivi.ng Fu'ad Lawal co-hosted an engaging talk and open discussion centred around two ambitious archiving initiatives dedicated to preserving Nigeria's rich cultural heritage. This event shed light on the impact of Lagos Studio Archives Projects and Archivi.ng, encouraging us to reflect on the vital importance of safeguarding cultural history for both current and future generations.
Together the facilitators and audience delved into themes of collective responsibility, accessibility, and the hurdles encountered in establishing self-initiated archives. Following an opening presentation by Karl, Fu'ad shared some insights from his work with Archivi.ng. After the individual presentations, Karl and Fu'ad facilitated an interactive dialogue, inviting the audience to participate actively by posing questions and sharing their thoughts.
The relaxed and informal atmosphere allowed the audience the freedom to listen, contribute, and engage at their own pace.
EVENT DETAILS
Date: 26th October 2023
Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: G.A.S. Lagos, 9b, Hakeem Dickson Drive, off T.F. Kuboye Road, Oniru, Lagos
Please note this event is free but it is essential to RSVP to secure your place.
ABOUT THE PROJECTS
The Lagos Studio Archives project, initiated by artist Karl Ohiri aims to collect, preserve, and present the imagery of a generation of Lagos-based photographers who discarded their negatives due to a shift from analogue to digital photography. Through the manifestation of appropriated works, exhibitions, and publications the project explores the complex relationship between ownership, authorship, and intended context whilst further expanding dialogues around West African photography, culture, and the legacies of the diaspora.
The Archivi.ng project led by Fu'ad Lawal is a project that aims to recapture lost Nigerian history by digitizing old newspapers and making them accessible to everyone. In the long term, they want to build the largest archive of old newspapers across Africa dating as far back as the 1800s. But in the short term, their current goal is to archive one newspaper for each day from 1960-2010. They have currently digitised almost 50k pages across 17 years from 1994-2010. By leveraging advanced OCR techniques and AI they have helped thousands of people find answers to questions about our shared history and personal heritage.
MEET THE FACILITATORS
L - Karl Ohiri (Lagos Studio Archives), R - Fu'ad Lawal (Archivi.ng)
Karl Ohiri / Lagos Studio Archives
Karl Ohiri is a British-Nigerian artist and photographer working between the UK, Nigeria and Finland. His conceptually driven practice explores the Human Condition and the lived experience in an approach that seeks to create art from the everyday, incorporating the use of photography, video, text and everyday objects. Alongside his practice he is the initiator and co-guardian of the Lagos Studio Archives, a project that aims to collect, preserve and present the archives of a generation of Lagos-based photographers that discarded their film negatives due to a shift from analogue to digital photography.
Fu'ad Lawal
Fu'ad Lawal is a media and technology operator who's spent the past decade impacting businesses at every level. He's done stints working at digital media companies, from Pulse to Red Media and Big Cabal Media (TechCabal and Zikoko), to driving business growth at startups like Eden Life. Currently, Fu'ad is the Founder and Project Lead of Archivi.ng, an initiative making Nigerian history accessible by digitising old Nigerian newspapers and democratizing access for everyone. He also publishes stories and does other creative projects under Vistanium.com.