70 years after the mid-20th-century surge of African independence, the quest for true authorship remains the defining challenge of our time. While the shackles of direct colonial rule have been dismantled, the task of designing the singular African future remains.
Blueprint for a Renaissance is an invitation to move beyond the desire for a future and into the active building of one. Conceived by French-Cameroonian polymath artist Pierre-Christophe Gam and hosted at the historic New Culture Studios, this project approaches the African Renaissance not as a static monument, but as a restless, lived practice.
Drawing inspiration from Thomas Sankara’s conviction that “Everything that we imagine, we can create,” this project explores imagination as a primary resource for nation-building.
Blueprint for a Renaissance transforms the New Culture Studios, an architectural manifesto of sovereignty designed by the legendary Demas Nwoko, into a living laboratory where ancestral memory meets radical innovation.
We are not building an exhibition to be viewed but rather a site to be inhabited.
We are seeking the uncontained. The dreamers whose visions cannot be boxed into rigid, limited formats. If your practice operates at the intersection of spirituality, vernacular materiality, and radical hope, your voice is needed here.
THE CALL FOR MAKERS: Earth as Architecture
Target: Architects, Spatial Designers, Land Artists, and Sculptors.
The “African Renaissance” must be built from the ground it stands upon. We are seeking practitioners to join a high-intensity, hands-on residency in October 2026. This project is a return to the soil, a deep dive into traditional vernacular techniques reimagined for the 21st century.
We are looking for makers obsessed with the possibilities of Earth Architecture (Laterite, Adobe, Rammed Earth) to work alongside Pierre-Christophe Gam and the Ibadan community in building:
- Land Art Structures: Large-scale interventions carved from and built with the red earth.
- Architectural Prostheses: Physical extensions of the site that are simultaneously functional and sculptural.
These works will be activated through community-led rituals, transforming New Culture Studios into a living sanctuary.
* Note: This project is self-funded. We are seeking those who view the act of building as a radical personal and political commitment.
THE CALL FOR VISIONARIES: The Symposium
Target: Researchers, Academics, Poets, Film Directors, and Writers.
The African Renaissance must be staged as a shared conversation. We are seeking those whose practice engages with narrative sovereignty, postcolonial memory, and the unseen. Instead of rigid academic panels, we invite:
- Film Directors who use the lens as a portal to speculative realities.
- Poets and Writers who can anchor the “African Renaissance” through the spoken and written word.
- Academics and Researchers ready to dismantle colonial archives and propose new methodologies for African “making” and “being.”
For those who cannot be physically present in Ibadan, we invite you to contribute to the “Blueprint for a Renaissance” from afar.
- Narrative Sovereignty: Submit films, soundscapes, poetic incantations, or research papers that will be woven into the fabric of the activation.
- The Medium: Your work will be screened, read, or staged within the Earth structures, ensuring the conversation is global even as the experience remains local.
TIMELINE & PARTICIPATION
- May 5: Official Launch.
- June 20: Closing Date for Submissions.
- October 5 – 30: On-site residency and construction in Ibadan.
- November 2 – 15: Grand Opening, Rituals, and Symposium.
A TOGUNA World Production in partnership with The New Culture Studios.