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Discover untold stories, rare documents, and captivating visuals that shed light on multi-vocal perspectives on the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon
The Forest has been actively involved in addressing the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest regions since 2020. Initially activists, they've evolved into providing care for internally displaced people, especially from Bamenda. The crisis stems from historical factors, including colonial influences dating back to the late 19th century, with prominent politicians originating from areas representing the British side during independence.
The idea of reunification was mainly supported by the Cameroon people from the Southwestern area, but interestingly, it was mostly pushed by Francophones. They championed, spread, and sustained it until the United Nations acknowledged it in the 1960s. However, Anglophones always felt sidelined in this forced union. The differences in language, culture, and governance created a significant divide, leaving those from Southern Cameroons feeling marginalized in every public aspect.
Language played a crucial role in the marginalization of people from Bamenda; French was consistently the administrative language used in governance. Moreover, the lack of infrastructure made it difficult for the farming population in Bamenda to expand their trade due to poor roads, hindering their mobility and economic growth.
Efforts to restore and protect Anglophone institutions began in 1984 with the establishment of the Ambazonian group by Fon Gorji Dinka. The movement gained renewed momentum in 2016 after security forces' violence against protesting lawyers and teachers in Bamenda, who advocated for the use of English in courtrooms and classrooms. This led to the emergence of an armed militia, the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), escalating tensions in the Anglophone regions, leading to a guerrilla war against the Cameroon armed forces.
The conflict, termed "The Anglophone Crisis," erupted in September 2017. The government declared war on the separatists and deployed its army to the Anglophone regions. This conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 4000 people and displaced more than half a million individuals, forcing many to flee to cities or neighboring countries like Nigeria. However, attempts at negotiations have been limited and have failed to yield positive results, further complicated by leadership disputes within the Ambazonian movement.
The impact of this war on Bamenda's civilians has been severe, affecting various aspects of their lives, including education and mental health.
It is in this continuity that we imagine a new context, working framework under a project titled Going back through memory lane. Going back through memory lane wants to respond to a situation that has revealed the many impossibilities of our contemporary existences created on a foundation of a history with many erased gaps.The project wants to explore the potentiality of archiving making and their opening to a wider public. Using official documents, voices, sound, the project aims to create a space for new imaginations and alternative knowledge formation where conversation and translation of official unknown stories and histories break with silence.
Going back through memory lane will be built on the idea that knowing and speaking is freedom. How to create an archive that allows and encourages criticality? Acknowledging that archives have been oppressive spaces for different bodies (women, young people) how can archives become spaces that makes reparation possible? Going back through memory lane wants to unfold Cameroon History, its past and demonstrate how it has affected our present.
"Going back through memory lane" is a project by The Forest Creative Loft in partnership with Studio XL Douala. Funded by the Rights For Time network. Supported by The University of Birmingham.
