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[A]FA EXHIBITION | Tamale’s Inner-Urban Ecologies
October 29^th – November 7^th, 2025

Opening October 28^th, 6:00pm

Postsparkasse Kleine Kassenhalle, ÖAW, 

University of Applied Arts Vienna
Georg-Coch-Platz 2
1010 Vienna, Austria

The exhibition Tamale’s Inner-Urban Ecologiespresents ongoing artistic research by [Applied] Foreign Affairs (A]FA), Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna, exploring the dynamic coexistence of human and non-human life in Tamale’s inner-urban open spaces — one of West Africa’s fastest-growing cities.

Through the lens of architecture, art, and ecology, the exhibition investigates three distinct sites in Tamale, revealing how spatial practices, co-habitation, vegetation, and material transformations shape the city’s everyday environments. Field research, mapping, photography, video, and sound recordings merge to form a polyphonic reading of the city’s inner-urban landscapes.

Tamale’s Inner-Urban Ecologies has been supported by an Africa-UniNet project grant (2023 – 2025) and was developed jointly with the University for Development Studies (UDS) and Nuku Studio Center for Photographic Research and Practice, Tamale. The collaboration brought together academic, artistic, and local perspectives to explore the ecological and social dynamics of the city.

The Tamale Old Airfield Tree Transplanting Project transforms a section of the former airfield into a public landscape by relocating mature savanna trees. The project creates collective, shaded spaces that mediate between built and ecological systems. A video documentation traces the complex process of transplanting carried out in May 2025.

Extending this inquiry beyond Ghana, the Atlas of Habitats explores multi-species and speculative ecologies — imagining beings that inhabit 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.

Opening
Tuesday, October 28^th, 2025 – 18:00
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Postsparkasse Kleine Kassenhalle ÖAW
Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna

Exhibition Duration
October 29^th – November 7^th, 2025
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Postsparkasse Kleine Kassenhalle ÖAW
Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna

Curated by Baerbel Mueller, Daniil Zhiltsov and [Applied] Foreign Affairs ([A]FA), Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna

With contributions by [A]FA participants and collaborators in Tamale, Ghana

A special thanks to the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) for their generous support and for providing the exhibition space.

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