Exhibitions

The Ghana Think Tank - Also at the –

Oct 23 - Dec 5 2009

Ffotogallery: 23 October - 5 December The National Museum of Wales: 22 - 24 October

As a globally distributed network of think tanks, it was set up to create strategies for resolving local problems. The network began with groups in Ghana, Cuba and El Salvador, and has since expanded to include Serbia, Mexico and Ethiopia.

At the heart of this project is socially mediated problem solving, an activity which bridges divergent cultures and technologies. The intention is to transpose parts of one culture into another. In a series of characteristically playful social interventions, a solution generated in one context is applied elsewhere, often on the other side of the globe. Beyond the propensity to shock or entertain, the ambition is to challenge the hidden assumptions that govern many cross-cultural interactions. Traditional power-roles are swapped, places are exchanged and communities are connected through what had previously been their differences.

Drop boxes around the city, and interviews with passers by, generate a body of problems related to everyday life in Cardiff and Penarth. These are relayed to the international Think Tanks who suggest on-the-street actions from the far reaches of the world to solve Wales day-to-day problems.

Drawing together the paraphernalia generated from this process, Ghana Think Tank construct complex sculptural presentations permanently at the gallery, and as a temporary installation in front of the National Museum of Wales for the duration of May You Live in Interesting Times, the Cardiff Festival of Creative Technology. Commissioned by Ffotogallery and May You Live in Interesting Times with additional support from the National Museum Cardiff.

MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES opens Thursday 22 Oct, see here for more information and listings: http://www.mayyouliveininterestingtimes.org.uk/