Emeka Okereke is a 2020-2022 Jane Lombard Fellow, nominated by Naeem Mohaiemen for their Invisible Borders Trans-African Project for the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice Prize and is part of the Vera List Center’s As for Protocols cycle of programs.

Okereke is a Nigerian visual artist and writer who lives and works between Lagos and Berlin. He employs photography, video, poetry, and performative interventions in the exploration of one overarching theme: that of borders. Another aspect of his artistic practice lies in the intersection between art-making and pedagogy, specifically, lecturing and project organizing – coordinating artistic interventions that promote exchanges cutting across national and international platforms.

Invisible Borders Trans-African Project is an artist-led initiative that seeks to confront, challenge, humor the misconceptions posed by frontiers within the 54 countries of Africa through art and photography. It was founded in 2009 as a platform to explore the contemporary African experience.

The organization’s flagship undertaking is the Invisible Borders Trans-African Road Trip, wherein a dozen artists, including photographers, writers, filmmakers, and performance artists collectively travel across Africa to explore and participate in various photographic events, festivals, and exhibitions while engaging on a daily basis with, and producing work about/in collaboration with, the people and the places they encounter. These trips start in Lagos, Nigeria (north-east Africa), and can go to Maputo, Mozambique (south-western Africa). In 2015, Invisible Borders participated in the 56th Venice Biennale of Arts with the project A Trans-African World Space.

“A dream of open borders, through journey, stories, and images, between African and Asian nations, stands in stark contrast to the nightmares that have grasped our lives.”
Naeem Mohaiemen, Jane Lombard Prize Council