Across the Benin-Togo-Ghana corridor, a vibrant contemporary arts scene exists (festivals, exhibitions, performances, emerging creators). Yet the critical discourse around these arts remains confined to a small circle of specialists. Young people, communities outside capitals, and non-academic voices have neither the tools nor the spaces to articulate their own perspective on what is being created around them.
CRITICAL MOVE - Towards a Democracy of the Gaze is a cultural mediation and art criticism programme designed to change this. Over twelve months, the project will train 30 young people across three countries (media practitioners, journalism students, cultural mediators) in the fundamentals of art criticism and audio production. Six scholarship holders will gather for a seven-day Critical Lab residency at Villa Karo (Grand-Popo, Benin), where they will produce a podcast series alongside a European critic who joins as a peer (immersing in the corridor's artistic ecosystem to co-create critical content on equal footing).
Back in their countries, they will lead public debates in neighbourhoods and communities, sharing their critical gaze with audiences who rarely encounter cultural discourse. The “Signature” podcast series, distributed across four media platforms and through social networks including WhatsApp, is designed to reach beyond institutional spaces and into everyday life.
