Made in Africa
Between Modernity and Modernization

Forward by Erri De Luca
in cooperation with Emergency

Africa is changing, at times it rushes forward, sometimes it recoils, but seldom plays by our rules. Though it may be viewed to be constantly torn between modernity and catastrophe, Africa refuses to be represented through the words and images of others. Raul Pantaleo is an architect who while working for Emergency has travelled extensively throughout the continent. In this book he narrates Africa's desire to build a future that may well be different from the one envisioned by humanitarian organizations. Informed by a logic that defies the linear logic of time and space, this African journey takes the reader to Sudan, Darfur, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Uganda and Libya. It narrates a non holographic reality made up of sweat and dust. The narrative is an intentionally non chronological stream of thoughts and perceptions that focuses on the issue of modernity – the true protagonist of the book – by investigating the origins of processes of modernizations that in Africa (and elsewhere) have often transformed the promise of progress into a reality of marginalization, displacement, poverty and war. For a humanitarian organization such as Emergency, building an hospital at the other end of the world is an attempt to contribute to an inclusive "soft modernity" able to restore the ethical dimension of human activity. In his pages there is the honest rendering of the Africa juorney of a useful man pursuing a life shaped by the desire to share with others the advatages and the privileges derived from being born in a more fortunate region of the Planet.

Raul Pantaleo (Milano 1962), is an architect and the founder of Tamassociati in Venezia. He is professionally involved in the development of and research on participatory bio-ecological projects. He is the author of Un Pisolo in giardino, segni, sogni, simboli alla periferia dell'abitare (2006) and Attenti all'uomo bianco, Emergency in Sudan: diario di cantiere (2007) also published by elèuthera.