Tamale’s Inner-Urban Ecologies (TIUE) is both exhibition and artistic research, exploring the dynamics of urban and ecological life in Tamale’s inner-urban open spaces, one of West Africa’s fastest-growing cities. TIUE investigates three distinct urban sites through field research, artistic practice, and interdisciplinary analysis, revealing the coexistence of human and non-human life as well as the structures and narratives shaping these spaces. The project is a joint initiative between [A]FA, UDS Tamale, and Nuku Studio, supported with an Afrika-UniNet project grant.
[A]FA’s Tamale Old Airfield Tree Transplanting Project transforms a section of the former airfield into a public landscape, planting mature savanna trees to soften the harsh terrain and create collective, shaded spaces. A video documentation presents the complex transplanting process carried out in May 2025. Extending the research beyond Ghana, the Atlas of Habitats explores multi-species and speculative ecologies, imagining beings that exist at the threshold between ecosystem and imagination.
Together, these projects form a constellation of [A]FA’s spatial, ecological, and transdisciplinary work, inviting reflection on the agencies and temporalities that shape urban and environmental futures.
PARTICIPANTS
Abdul-Rauf Issahaque, Alice Bazzichelli, Amelie Koerbs, Apoorva Thapa, Assem Attia Mohamed, Baerbel Mueller, Courage Kosi Setsoafie, Daniil Zhiltsov, Elisabeth Apuseyine, Fibi Afloe, Gideon Nana Adubrowa Asmah, Kimia Lotfi, Kush Badhwar, Malea Noll, Max Groos, Nii Obodai, Philipp Reinsberg, Rafał Szczyglowski, Sadia Halima Musah, Yunxi Wu, Zuzanna Barczyk
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS
University of Applied Arts, Vienna
University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale
Nuku Centre for Photographic Research and Practice, Tamale
TIUE is co-funded by the Austrian-African Research Network AfricaUniNet for 2023-2025
