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Projects for cross -disciplinary/-cultural engagement and intergenerational succession | 🧠 @wcedoesart

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In 2025, Citizen Projects (@citizenprojectspace ) and WCEHosts presented the Resisting Forgetfulness exhibition in Accra, Ghana. Whitney C Ernest (@wcedoesart ) curated the exhibition to explore the intertwined histories of art and politics and the role both played in shaping the visual identity of the defining music genre, Afrobeat(s).

The exhibition closed in January 2026 with an auditory journey through the past decades of the sound led by @_kikelomo_ of @orokoradio and a listening session with Alte pioneers @showdemcamp , powered by @trance.gh @jonbasiltequila

Beyond its aesthetic commentary, Resisting Forgetfulness demonstrated how creative practice can carry knowledge across generations. The intergenerational dialogue between Lemi Ghariokwu's iconic body of work and the practices of the younger exhibiting artists (each influenced by his legacy) stood as a testament to the power of art to shape collective consciousness beyond linguistic, geographical, and cultural boundaries.

Grateful to everyone who contributed to this chapter. More to come.

🎥 : @staplestudios01 by @wcehosts

Creative Democracy Lab Roundtable 2026
Theme: Reimagining a Just and Resilient Democracy In Africa
Date: 21st & 22nd of August

@au_ecosocc , @reforminitiatives , and @wcehosts have come together to co-create the ‘Creative Democracy Lab Roundtable’ as part of a broader continental effort to rethink how Africans engage with democracy and governance processes. WCE Studio, on behalf of the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC) to curate this inaugural event in Accra, Ghana. The event sits within ‘Reimagining a Just and Resilient Democracy’, a 2-year project funded by the Open Society Foundations.

‘Reimagining a Just and Resilient Democracy’, as far as the arts, African culture and Africa's prosperity are concerned, can be most simply described as seeking a practical imagination in which we rehearse how governance can be better conducted on the continent.

Lead Program Curator: Whitney Chinonye Ernest @wcedoesart

▪︎ Partners
@au_ecosocc - @reforminitiatives - @wcehosts by @wcehosts

Witnessing Democracy is a series of three data artworks by Whitney Chinonye Ernest (WCE, @wcedoesart). After its installation at the Ghana Youth Policy Dialogue Forum, the exhibition travelled to the Sierra Leone Youth Policy Dialogue Forum, convened by AU-ECOSOCC and Reform Initiatives in partnership with UNDP and local partners.

| Further Context:

Democracy needs to be seen, felt and understood by the people it serves. For that to happen, the substance of democratic governance must travel beyond the institutions that produce it.

Witnessing Democracy was commissioned by AU-ECOSOCC and Reform Initiatives under their two-year project, “Reimagining a Just and Resilient Democracy in Africa.” The installation traces democracy’s upward battle in Africa, drawing on the optimism of the Pan-African vision and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG). The Charter is one of the most ambitious governance instruments in the world, yet it remains largely unknown to the populations it seeks to serve.

The three data paintings take the arms of government as their entry point: the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. Each invites citizens to discover new perspectives on our history and our potential. Together, they form a visual reading of the ethos of ACDEG, designed to travel across regions and contexts. by @wcehosts

📍🇸🇱 FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE: What does the story of democracy look like when data becomes art?

The first session of the Sierra Leone Students Assembly explored this question through Witnessing Democracy, a data art presentation by @wcedoesart, data artist and Founder of WCE Studio.

Inspired by the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), the presentation transformed complex democratic histories into visual patterns, offering students a fresh perspective on how governance has evolved across Africa.

Representing 55 African countries through lines, the series traces different political experiences, from military rule and one-party systems to multiparty democracy, civil conflict and unconstitutional changes of government. Each pattern offers a starting point for examining the challenges, turning points and signs of resilience that shape democratic life across the continent.

For students considering their own role in shaping governance, the presentation opened up a different way of thinking about democracy: not simply as elections or political institutions, but as an evolving process shaped by history, accountability and citizens’ participation.

Through Witnessing Democracy, art and data came together to make democratic principles more tangible and encourage a closer look at the realities behind Africa’s governance journeys.

#StudentsAssembly #WitnessingDemocracy #YouthParticipation #Democracy #Governance #ReformInitiatives by @wcehosts

ACCRA-GH > Can art help us imagine Africa's future differently?

At the Ghana Youth–Policy Dialogue Forum, Whitney Chinonye Ernest, data artist, explored this question through the "Witnessing Democracy" inaugural #dataart installation, commissioned by the AU-ECOSOCC with Reform Initiatives. Her presentation demonstrates how visual storytelling can make complex #governance information more accessible.

As WCE explained, “Data doesn't have to be numerical,” emphasizing that information can be communicated through patterns, creative expression, not only through statistics and conventional research.

Through Witnessing Democracy, the data artist invited participants to explore #Africa's democratic journey from independence to 2026. Using an artwork featuring 55 lines representing Africa's 55 countries, WCE illustrated the continent's different political experiences, including military rule, one-party systems, civil wars, multiparty governance and unconstitutional changes of government.

The interactive presentation encouraged participants to interpret the visual patterns and reflect on what Africa's democratic history tells us about the possibilities for its future.

Using #Botswana as an example of sustained multiparty governance, Whitney challenged participants to look beyond familiar narratives of political instability and recognize positive democratic experiences across the continent. She reminded participants of the importance of understanding what has already been possible in Africa when imagining what shape its democratic future could take.

The discussion also explored the role of creative expression in widening public participation. Responding to questions about objectivity and artistic interpretation, Whitney explained that art creates space for “opinion,” “uncertainty” and “interpretation,” enabling people to engage with complex governance questions through curiosity and conversation.

She emphasized the importance of “democratizing knowledge” by finding ways to communicate information beyond traditional technical formats and reach people who might not ordinarily participate in discussions about democracy.

@au_ecosocc @reforminitiatives @wcehosts by @wcehosts

From the roundtable to the streets of Accra, Day 2 of the Creative Democracy Lab Roundtable moved the conversation from ideas to action, exploring how creative practice can make democratic participation more accessible, engaging and relevant to everyday life.

Through discussions on creative approaches to democracy, public engagement and institutional partnerships, participants considered what it would take to bring these ideas to life. The evening took things a step further, with three public events conceived and curated by the creatives themselves, using art, satire, painting and conversation to explore citizenship, collective responsibility and the society we want to build.

The question was no longer just what creativity can contribute to democracy, but how we put that potential into practice.

Creative Democracy Lab, curated by Whitney Chinyonye Ernest @wcedoesart @wcehosts.

The Lab is part of AU-ECOSOCC @au_ecosocc and Reform Initiatives’ @reforminitiatives Reimagining a Just and Resilient Democracy in Africa, supported by the Open Society Foundations @opensocietyfoundations . by @wcehosts

So much wisdom came from @wcehosts @reforminitiatives and the African Union’s Creative Democracy Lab. I’m so grateful to share some notes from the incredible presentations by @efuasutherland and @kobbygram by @wcehosts

Delegates were charged with designing and hosting public creative activations on the evening of the second day, intended to raise participant consciousness.

▪︎ For me; For us. A paint and sip. Participants were not told what to paint, only asked what one thing they would change in their community if they had the power. It included a photography workshop, a playlist of democracy songs, and a discussion of how they made people feel.

▪︎ CTRL ALTL expo. An evening of embodied practice: a game about civic identity, a short film screening, and a choreographed movement practice on the grounds that the convening had treated democracy as an intellectual ideal rather than something felt in the body, a film, and an unstructured close in the garden.

▪︎ Wahala Art Rant. An exhibition, stand-up comedy with the audience writing their own jokes, written grievances, an open floor, and dancing. It was built to make people confident again about registering displeasure.

CDL Roundtable | @au_ecosocc @reforminitiatives @wcehosts

Curated by @wcedoesart by @wcehosts

Day 2: CDL Ceremony

What did the Creatives take away from the Creative Democracy Lab Roundtable and how are they bringing it back into their own practice? Here’s what they had to say. by @wcehosts

WCEHosts founder @wcedoesart, Whitney Chinonye Ernest joined JoyNews to talk democracy and why creative sectors need a seat at the table.

She shared how, alongside the African Union @au_ecosocc and Reform Initiatives @reforminitiatives, @wcehosts pioneered the Creative Democracy Roundtable, mobilizing creatives to use their mediums to make multilateralism accessible to everyday people.

Her point: insecurity isn’t just a Sahel, Sudan, or Ukraine problem anymore. It belongs to all of us. And creative sectors, media, arts, culture, aren’t just there to report on it. They’re translators of complex negotiations, spaces for informed debate, and sources of insight through artistic research.

Her call to action: include creative and media organizations as real partners in policy conversations, not just observers, so their networks can help amplify solutions across borders. by @wcehosts

Got the opportunity to work with WCE studio to bring the inaugural Creative Democracy Lab Roundtable to life.
The goal was to move beyond dialogue and explore how arts and creative practice can build a practical narrative around democracy.

The energy on day 1 was unmatched and I absolutely loved contributing to this project!

Lead curator - @wcedoesart

Partners - @wcehosts @reforminitiatives @au_ecosocc by @wcehosts

Citizenship in Sound Presentation by @kobbygram

Africa is the youngest continent governed by some of its oldest leadership. His presentation argues that African youth culture - including music scenes like alté - already practises some of the citizenship and care a functioning democracy needs.

The presentation traces a lineage from African spirituals and African American blues through hip-hop to today's Accra scenes, closing with two calls:

1. The state has much to learn from watching its youth organise.
2. Youth culture-makers, as genuine agents of change, carry a responsibility to build that culture with thoughtfulness and intention.

CDL Roundtable @au_ecosocc - @reforminitiatives - @wcehosts

Curated by @wcedoesart by @wcehosts