Broken Shackles... Bonding Strings!

“The year 1960 marked a sea of change in most sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen countries in West Africa became free from their French colonial ruler, the Belgian Congo became Zaire, Somalia and Nigeria broke from the control of the vanishing British Empire. The new nations were following in the footsteps of Liberia, a state for freed slaves, which had become independent in 1847.

The countries which peacefully accessed independence from colonial rule in 1960 were: Cameroon, Togo, Madagascar, DR Congo, Somalia, Benin, Niger, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and Mauritania”

‘But 50 years later, despite getting rid of the oppression and injustice of colonial rule are the African people better off?’

Taking the issue in the context of the theme: On Independence and the Ambivalence of Promise, and with Nigeria as a case study, I am developing works that will be like an aesthetic manifesto pointing at:

1.   Where we are coming from.

2.   What we ought to do.

3.    Where we ought to be.

The last few weeks that I have been on residency here in Amsterdam helped me to develop a part of my major project. Some of the works that I did here will be presented on the 5th of September 2010 as I conclude the residency program. The presentation is tagged:

‘BROKEN SHACKLES

&BONDING STRINGS’