Light in Immuna

Immuna, Accra, September, 2016

A year after our first exhibition in Immuna, having a base research in their culture, including environmental, migration and plastic pollution existent in the area, the focus became on the lagoon. It has invaluable values and functions, considering the following: natural water quality improvement, fish and wildlife habitats, hydrological cycle roles, bio geochemical cycling, flood storage, shoreline erosion protection, opportunities for recreation, reduction of flood damage and education, research and aesthetic appreciation.

Unfortunately, there is a big amount of plastic pollution in the proximity of the lagoon, coming from the village, but also from the Ocean. At the moment, the dry side of the lagoon is treated like a dump. Neither the authorities are making an effort to prevent this thing going on, because they don’t provide with a constant system of collecting the rubbish and the plastic from the village. Is a frequent problem in many remote rural areas.

Our intervention works as a manifest first of all, the scope being to take over the lagoon in a creative and artistic way, to emphasize the beauty of it for the Immuna’s people, so that they realize the dump area should not interfere with the lagoon.

Only through a landscape project we can achieve this. For the time being, as we stayed in the village 2 weeks, a temporarily light installation and few rural furniture created a very idyllic atmosphere around the lagoon. Children enjoyed the round palm leafs mats, crafted with traditional techniques. In the evening, the bamboo lights displayed in key points around the lagoon to create a magic walk, made the place look very different, as the dump would not even be there anymore.

In the future, the project would result in an increased public awareness of environmental matters through formal education programs, by​ organizing information sessions to try   to convince the community in Immuna that they have a duty to protect their resources.

This educational program is to be accompanied by ​steps to empower local leaders and give them the means to take action, as the primary objective of the project is to introduce a programfor the beneficial effects on the environment.

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team: arch. Ioana Binica, arch. Archibold, arch Gideon Djakumah, 3+3 Studio, Accra

copyright photo: arch. Archibold