MODELS OR PRISONERS?

Behind your camera
You saw us
At the heart of your lens
We are imprisoned

Our nudity, our ensemble
Our demeanour, our charisma
Our physiognomy, our nerd
Immortalized by you

Time will change
Moments will pass
We will exist
As objects of immortality

Are we the products of art?
Or the producers?
Or objects of possession?
Are we models or prisoners?

Photo credit: Foto Afrik

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The palette of Uzoma Samuel

By: Mathew B. Oyedele His studio walls were barely empty except for a painting that drapes a corner of the studio. He was working on a portrait of two women who wore bright expressions on their faces. I was about to ask him why his works were not on display when he delved into a corner of his studio and took me on a voyage of ankara interaction. I could not refuse the captivating rhythm that encapsulated my mind from his artistic oeuvre. I came across his works through the social media and I was attracted by his intricate use of Ankara as a medium of expression. I studied his works as he uploaded them at intervals and made an appointment to visit him in his studio. “My use of ankara is something that came from the blood. It was a gift from my mother. I think she passed that gift to me indirectly. Instead of me becoming a tailor, I see myself sewing those clothes on canvas”; this was his response when I asked him about his discovery of the medium. Uzoma is not a social co...

Tobenna Okwuosa's "From Historical Facts to Poetic Truths" at the African Culture and Design Festival.

Tobenna Okwuosa. Mathew B. Oyedele Three books by Nigerian writers - The Man Died by Wole Soyinka, There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe and Labyrinths by Christopher Okigbo inspired the recent works of Tobenna Okwuosa that were exhibited at the African Culture and Design Festival, in November 2017. These books offer a profound archive for the artist to delve into the past and create an oeuvre that confronts the viewer with guilt-ridden contents. 2017 was the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra, and 50 years after the death of Christopher Okigbo on war front, fighting for Biafra. Okwuosa’s exhibits show the historical facts of the Biafran War and the poetic truths of Christopher Okigbo. The Biafran War is a vital and sensitive aspect of Nigerian history that should be known to all Nigerians so that we may, to borrow an expression, transform yesterday’s action into tomorrow’s wisdom. The provocation of conversations in the coll...

NO HOME

My beloved house has treated me thus It has led me on the back of the wheels Ocean from my eyes Farewell, I bid. They exist in my head The slaughtering, killing, butchering, Murder. Heads assembled on the mattress Wrappers, west Scarfs, east Breast, dangled. Ahead is a lion Behind is a crocodile Where do I go? Where do I stay? There is no home Just a space to occupy For today I exist Tomorrow I know not.

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