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It was an evening designed to be for the screening of the film Returning Fire: Interventions in Video Games Culture, a part programme of the GAME AND POLITICS exhibition ongoing at the Goethe Institut Lagos. It however made history in a subtle way as the very first programme hosted at the sprawling Alliance Française de Lagos/Mike Adenuga Centre.
Friederike Möschel, Director of Goethe Institut Lagos, while welcoming guests to the event, hoped the screening will trigger public discourse within the space and thanked Alliance Française for the corporation. In his response, Charles Courdent, Director of Alliance Française Lagos was ecstatic about this programme, being the very first event at the newly built centre.
Speaking with the Director of Alliance Française Lagos later in the evening, he said “You can do anything at this new centre. There will be an art gallery, a cinema, meeting rooms, restaurants, language labs, libraries (digital and traditional) and an amphi theater that sits 300.” Wowed by the enormity of the project, this reporter was quick to say that the European cultural centres in Nigeria practically serve as the unofficial Federal Ministry of Culture, visibly supporting and promoting the arts. Charles Courdent saw this differently. “It doesn’t have to be that way”, he said. “All that is necessary is for a few people to insist on what they want and hold the government responsible. Look at all these for instance, its a corporate social responsibility from the private sector. Alliance Française Lagos is not paying anything for the next 10 years”
French President, Emmanuel Macron was in Lagos Nigeria July 2018 for the inauguration of the centre.
Charles Courdent
“All that is necessary is for a few people to insist on what they want and hold the government responsible. Look at all these for instance, its a corporate social responsibility from the private sector. Alliance Française Lagos is not paying anything for the next 10 years”
Goethe Institute’s GAMES AND POLITICS opened April 23 to run till May 15 as it is rounded up by a presentation on Enter Africa Lagos, a part of a pan-African gaming project spaning 15 countries.
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