Turtle 1, Building A Car In Africa
Melle Smets and Joost Van Onna
Paradox
Co-Published by Verlag Kettler
English
Photography by Teun Vonk.
Softcover
238 Pages
170 x 235 mm
2016
ISBN 9783862065820
The car once was a symbol of freedom. Auto makers still want us to believe in that dream. In reality we are addicted to systems that have locked us out completely: we do not even know how to change a tyre anymore.
And yet, the majority of the world lives in a Do-It-Yourself environment. Artist Melle Smets and sociologist Joost van Onna travelled to Suame Magazine (Ghana) to learn how an informal economy works. They collaborated with some of the ca 200,000 artisans and 12,000 workshops there to build a truly African car in only 12 weeks. The design grew out of analysis of the local circumstances, as well as the accessible infrastructure. The concept was based on flexibility: the car was constructed with parts from different brands that happened to be available.
Turtle 1 became the first Ghanaian car to be exported to the West. It toured motor shows, where it flanked the fully electric Tesla S. Early 2015 Turtle 1 returned home. Yet, expectations turned out to have diversified: whereas the initiators opted for a low-tech small Turtle 2 production line, the Ghanaian partners started negotiating for a large robotised manufacturing plant. We never stop to learn from one another…
(source: https://www.paradox.nl/project/turtle1/#:~:text=Building%20a%20car%20in%20Africa&text=The%20design%20grew%20out%20of,be%20exported%20to%20the%20West.)
About the Authors
Melle Smets (1975) is active as a researcher, artist and critic, and is specialized in issues related to public space. Smets visualizes traces from the past and present to explore the relationship between man and his environment. He works as a consultant, lecturer and speaker at universities in the Netherlands. His aim is to create a broad public awareness to reflect on the contemporary landscape. After finishing a study Art and Public Space (OK 5) at the art academy in Arnhem in 1999, he co-founded the artists collective GANG. The group organized city dwelling tours, exhibitions for airports, harbours and highways. In 2005 he moved to Rotterdam where he set up shop. He founded a Dutch Highway museum, wrote a book about his experiences living in a car for 30 days and participated in a number of landart projects.
mellesmets.nl
Joost van Onna (b. 1976) studied social psychology and criminology. He is currently working on his PhD thesis (at the VU University of Amsterdam) about factors contributing to (non-)compliance to laws. Through his work, thesis and his long-term stay in South America, he is fascinated by the functioning and strength of informal self-regulating (economic) systems.
(source: https://www.paradox.nl/project/turtle1/#:~:text=Building%20a%20car%20in%20Africa&text=The%20design%20grew%20out%20of,be%20exported%20to%20the%20West.)
About the Publishers
Paradox is a nonprofit organisation founded in 1993. We develop projects on contemporary issues with documentary authors: photographers, filmmakers, visual artists, writers and researchers.
paradox.nl
(source https://www.paradox.nl/about-paradox/)
Verlag Kettler are a German publishing house, who pride themselves in combining first-rate, high-quality production with custom design.
verlag-kettler.de
(source: https://www.verlag-kettler.de/en/)
