Dreaming New Worlds 2024

2024 dnw © Goethe-Institut

This year’s entries featured several science-based art projects aiming to deconstruct the human experience from biological, diversity, mental, and urban perspectives. The selection process focused on the research practices of the applicants, their project concepts, interdisciplinary approaches, critical thinking, and availability. These considerations resulted in eight outstanding art technologists to be part of this year’s edition of the program.

Over the next three months, we will raise the bar in collaborative thinking and practice, working towards two installations and an exhibition that interrogates the contextualization of African collective wisdom. In November, this exhibition will showcase the results of our critical research, debut the evolved practices of the respective collectives, demonstrate the powerful convergence of science and art, and provide a space for the exploration and expansion of ideas.

Several events along the timeline will invite the public to engage with the foundational science behind the project where scientists and contemporary art practitioners will lead workshops, talks, presentations, and screenings. "Dreaming New Worlds" continues to be a project designed to open its core to the public, feeding its inspiration, contextualization, development, and showcase.

Obieze Chinyere
Curator

The Source Code

Created by Ayomitunde Adeleke, a biologist and documentary photographer; Femi Fala, a contemporary technical artist currently working with light as a meduim; Neec Nonso, an indigenously inspired extended reality photographer and filmmaker; and Olajide Ayeni, a documentary and architectural photographer; The Source Code is a collective committed to exploring the consciousness of the human experience through deep ecological approaches in their practice.

Our work aims to illuminate the interconnectedness of human experiences, using our diverse expertise to communicate this essence through various mediums. By combining biology, light art, extended reality, and architectural photography, we strive to make sense of the complex relationships spanning from the microscopic details of nature to the ideal forms of communities and relationships. Our art is dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding of these connections, ultimately encouraging a more mindful and ecologically aware perspective on life.

Ayomitunde Adeleke is a Botanist and a visual artist Adeleke’swork focuses on documenting the human spatial-temporal moments and societal issues relating to man and his environment. His work is a study depicting a person from diverse social-cultural backgrounds that explores and questions imbalances and inadequacies in society with the hope of finding solutions. In a sense, it is a visual narrative that actively seeks to engage with society and its conscience. Adeleke regularly experiments with innovative ideas and mediums and has succeeded in creating a niche for himself as a reputable visual artist. his works have been featured in The Guardian UK, The Sunday times UK, World Press Photo, and so on, his works have been published in magazines, websites, and Exhibitions such as Open society foundation, The bright continent, Lost in Lagos, " Whither I Stand And The Trajectory Of Vision" at the 12th edition of the Bamako Encounters in 2019. He was a Top 5 finalist of the ArtX Prize and also one of the winners of the PHmuseum x AAF Prize He is a member of the African Photojournalism Database (APJD) - a joint project with world Press Photo and Everyday Africa. He lives and works in Lagos
I am a digital artist specializing in 3D and interactive immersive creations, I blend cutting-edge technology with artistic expression to transform physical interactions into captivating digital experiences. Through the integration of sensor-mixing software, hardware, and AI, my work invites audiences to engage with art in a dynamic and intuitive manner. By harnessing the latest advancements in technology, I strive to create immersive environments where people can connect with digital art on a deeply personal level, fostering a sense of wonder, exploration, and connection. My goal is to push the boundaries of how we perceive and interact with digital art, making it a truly participatory and transformative experience.
As a visual artist based in Lagos, Nigeria, I strive to capture everyday life, its nuances, and the little things that make it beautiful. I work predominantly with photography, integrating augmented reality to bend a two-dimensional piece into a multi-sensory story with sounds, movements, and other art forms that encourage interaction.

My style is a hybrid of sorts, fusing documentary photography with self-portraits, often featuring multiple angles of one frame performing stories of people. I collage dozens of images to develop a single piece, animating these elements and building an augmented environment to bring them to life. I believe a still image deserves a chance to move, transcending its dimensional limitations.

My aim is to inspire conversations, evoke deep emotions, and compel viewers to delve into their own memories while reliving their experiences through my work. I draw inspiration from the life and death of my late mother, the everyday experiences of Africans, urban myths and superstitions fueled by Nollywood, pop culture, folklore, and my little brother.

In 2022, I was shortlisted for the prestigious 10th edition of the Vantage Point Sharjah Photography Prize and the renowned Art X Lagos Award. I am also a proud member of "1884 Photo," a collective of visual artists committed to documenting African stories and offering African perspectives on global issues. In 2023, my work continued to gain attention as I was shortlisted for the CAP (Contemporary African Photography) Prize and selected for the prestigious Prince Claus Mentorship Programme.
Ọlájídé Ayẹni (b. 1994) is a media artist focused on the built environment and its relationship with people. He documents urban change and its impacts on residents in construction or destruction sites. With a background in architecture, his work blends architecture and documentary photography, highlighting everyday elements like buildings, civic projects, designed objects, and spaces such as gates, windows, and bus sheds.

Ọlájídé is interested in how these structures influence human interaction and user experience. He aims to reveal the intricacies of the African built environment and preserve its memory through his art. An alumnus of the 2018 Canon Storytelling Masterclass led by Georgina Goodwin, his works have been exhibited at the Rasheed Gbadàmosí Èkó Art Expo, Canon Alumni Exhibition, African Artists' Foundation, Rele Young Contemporaries Bootcamp, Tirandentes Photography Festival/Rotterdam Photo Festival, and Plus 234 Art Fair. His work has been featured in Saraba Magazine, PHmuseum, Lost in Lagos, Esquire Korea, and the Architectural Guide Sub-Saharan Africa, Vol. 3.

Chronoverse

Chronoverse is a collaborative sanctuary of visionary pioneers: contemporary ceramist Ōlúbùnmi Atere; Afro-futurist visual artist and ex-physicist Kolapo Obadiah Olorunyemi; and creative technologists Simileoluwa Adewale and Isaac Johnson. Our collective work dances in the seams of the past, present, and future, revealing the humanness of existence in all its glory and follies.

We take a deeply philosophical approach to our practice, harnessing science to create both fine and applied art. Our aim is to explore and stage the essence of what it means to be people ‘coming and going’ through time. By merging traditional and futuristic elements, we strive to create pieces that provoke reflection, inviting our audience to ponder the continuous journey of human experience.

I have been interested in art all my life; I naturally see patterns and images form in everything, from fluffy clouds to the tracks left in the sand by erosion. My love for art led me to document it as a communications professional and to explore nature as a hobbyist photographer before committing to full-time art practice. As an artist, I am fascinated by the complexity of human emotions, self-discovery, and their expression. I aim to understand the world from the inside-out, intrigued by the murky, messy parts of life.

Self-taught and guided by curiosity, my journey of self-discovery was influenced by growing up with a handy dad and a curiosity about materials, which brought me to ceramics. Captivated by how materials can be transformed, I began working with ceramics in 2021, focusing on textures, nature, innovation, emotions, and culture. As an observer who is effusive with feelings, I explore and express deep and often unwelcome emotions through my work to get familiar with, dissect, and embrace emotional expressions.

Art bridges the translation of my emotions and personal inclinations with universal and societal exchanges, allowing myself and others to relate, wonder, question, or delight in it. I also explore self as a carrier of experiences, needs, conditioning, and dreams, interrogating the similarities and differences that balance and question our choices and decisions in relation to their effects.
The work of Nigerian Artist Olorunyemi Kolapo focuses on identity and connections that human beings make or don't make through language, gesture, looks, expression, physical placement, cultural values, and more. Kolapo was born in the city of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, where he started his art practice as a young teenage boy working majorly with charcoal on paper, wood, and other available surfaces within his reach. Against his parents' wish, who wanted him to be an engineer, he started art professionally in 2005 but after graduation, he was able to get their support to pursue his passion. The Nigerian self-taught artist marries Art and Science (mainly physics) to investigate and illustrate identity and emotions through portraiture using oil and charcoal with the Science knowledge he gained after graduating with a B.Sc. in Applied Physics at Kogi State University. After a couple of international group exhibitions, Kolapo debuted his first international solo exhibition in 2022 in Vigo, Spain. In 2016, he founded “Elbowroom”, an art movement for young realistic artists with a common goal of “Freedom of expression”. He has exhibited his work across Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia, and America with five successful solo exhibitions and lots of group exhibitions. Kolapo is presently working on a new body of works on how Futurism wished to revolutionize culture and identity by depicting the beauty of modern life and recalling the lost identity of Africans in the utopian world against dystopia.
As a Creative Technologist and AR/VR developer, I blend my expertise in multimedia design, extended reality development, and creative design. My background in Graphic Art has fueled my passion for merging science and art, driving innovative ideas. I have worked on diverse projects addressing societal issues, including the award-winning Next Gen powered by Autogon AI and mental health advocacy efforts recognized with the SDG award. My approach focuses on pragmatic solutions to real-world challenges, uniting scientific principles with artistic expression. This residency offers an exciting opportunity to explore this symbiotic relationship and push the boundaries of innovation and social responsibility further.
A digital realm artisan: merging realities with code | Passionate about crafts and African art. Operating at the intersection of reality and code, engaging with the challenges and opportunities of ubiquitous computing today, reflecting on humanity's essence in the AI era. A master of machine intelligence aesthetics, blending tradition with technology to spark innovation, inspire creators, and foster change through collaboration and community.