Nigeria Imaginary – curated by Aindrea Emelife and featuring Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Ndidi Dike, Onyeka Igwe, Toyin Ojih-Odutola, Abraham Oghobase, Precious Okoyomon, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA and Fatimah Tuggar – takes inspiration from two points of departure. The exhibition explores the role of both great moments in Nigeria’s history moments of optimism; a Nigeria that could be and is yet to be. Presenting different perspectives, constructed ideas, memories, and nostalgias of Nigeria, Nigeria Imaginary leverages an intergenerational, multi-disciplinary lens to imagine a Nigeria for the future. These voices are articulated via diverse mediums, from painting, photography, and sculpture, to AR, sound, and film. Nigeria Imaginary is also a restless investigation of the past. Drawing on the model of the Mbari clubs of post-independence Nigeria, Nigeria Imaginary also presents historical artefacts and ephemera to immerse the viewer in a rich cross-section of Nigerian material culture. The Mbari were designed as a “laboratory for ideas”, serving as sites for the paradoxical entanglements of folkloric myths, experiences of colonial modernity, moral education, and utopian fantasy. Their creators considered art making a duty to a burgeoning nation and a vital public matter. It is here where Mbari and Nigeria Imaginary shake hands, passing on this duty to a new school of artists to reimagine a nation once more.
www.nigeriaimaginary.com
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