Chimurenga Library

Celebrate the opening of Chimurenga Library, an installation and research project by the South African artist collective Chimurenga, by joining us for a panel discussion focused on the legacy of FESTAC ’77, a cultural event that was held in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1977 and remains the largest pan-African arts festival that has ever taken place. Featured speakers include Stacy Hardy of Chimurenga, Andrew Apter of UCLA, and Akin Adesokan of the University of Indiana at Bloomington.

Presented as part of the exhibition Public Intimacy, Chimurenga Library offers a simple system that allows visitors to connect various items in the stacks at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library in a way that generates different narratives, with a focus on the work of African American artists, writers, and performers who participated in pan-African festivals of the 1960s and 1970s.