‘What Lies Beneath’: Of 4 artists, 19 photos at Aké

Aké Arts and Book Festival’s 7th edition took place from October 24 to 27 2019, and it had a lot to offer. Besides the book chats, panel discussions, film screenings and more, there was the arts exhibition. The gallery at Mike Adenuga Centre in Lagos had something fresh to offer recently, after all it was […]

Aké Arts and Book Festival’s 7th edition took place from October 24 to 27 2019, and it had a lot to offer. Besides the book chats, panel discussions, film screenings and more, there was the arts exhibition.

The gallery at Mike Adenuga Centre in Lagos had something fresh to offer recently, after all it was Aké Arts and Book Festival. ‘Black Bodies, Grey Matter’ was the theme, and the exhibition, tagged ‘What Lies Between’, curated by Byenyan Jessica Bitrus and Roli O’tsemaye Afinotan, aligned with this.

Four photographers, Hakeem Salaam, Niyi Okeowo, Etinosa Yvonne, and Halima Abubakar showcased a variety of photographs the curators said “aspires to bring to fore issues crucial to our existence as Africans, to create room for dialogue and collectively share our vision for the black body, a body that is unapologetic, a body that is kind to itself, and a body that gives itself the courage to bloom.”

Body in Hues

Salaam, who showed his vitiligo portraits at Aké, started capturing images in 1989 when he bought his first camera, a Pentax point-and-shoot Obscura. He made private photographs until 2001. Today, his interest is in documentary, travel and landscape, portrait and fashion photography.

Once, Salaam got into a discussion where people living with vitiligo skin condition were mistaken for bomb victims. This moved him to do a project he calls ‘Body in Hues’, that would help create awareness. Here, he explores the rare skin condition and captures the differences in his subjects: a man and a woman in five shoots.

A widely travelled photographer, Salaam has been involved in various photography projects like the Coffee-Table Book on Abuja, the ongoing ‘Beautiful Nigeria’, Foreigners on Long Street, and so on.

In Sight of Self

Niyi Okeowo said he aims to unbiasedly observe people and attain insight into their personal worldview, with the intent and curiosity to understand their true essence.

This is what he does with ‘In Sight of Self’, where he observes the connection between non-conformity and personal identity. In doing this, he strives to identify “the bond between who we are and what we project to a society based on our perception of self. To uncover how it shapes us and guides our decisions and interactions. In the end, to feel beautiful is to see yourself without any judgement from self or society.”

An art director, digital artist and photographer, Okeowo focuses on finding the connections between human experiences, colours and spaces, and how they can co-exist together.

Kwalliya

The facial marks topic has always been personal to Halima Abubakar. She grew up seeing people close to her, like her dad, grandad, uncle, and some aunts, with it. This made her curious. Growing up in Lagos and Port Harcourt, she saw people with marks in different shapes and wondered what it meant. She started asking questions and was told stories about the civil war and about identity. Then it got to a point where she tried to give herself one.

Today Halima is a photographer, researcher, archivist and artist with an interest in preserving history and cultural heritage. She started her photography journey exhibiting in Lagos Photo Festival in 2012. By 2013, she co-won the prize for outstanding concept at the National Art Competition themed ‘Identity’. Her work is an interrogation of her environment with the aim of depicting her life experiences.

In Halima’s ‘Kwalliya’ project she takes shots of her family members, which includes her grandmother, to reconstruct history. “The marks were given to them in their youth, probably designed to fade over time,” Halima said. “They are called ‘Kwalliya’ in Hausa, which means adornment. At the time, they weren’t curious about the meaning behind the marks, which were etched by local barbers, called ‘Wanzamai’, who presented various designs to the ladies to choose from.

“These usually repeated patterns, mainly worn with  adornments and beautification in mind, in actuality, had meanings. Some were meant to dispel evil, some others functioned as a symbol of identity to a particular family or tribe.”

It’s All in My Head

An ongoing multimedia project, Yvonne’s ‘It’s All in My Head’ explores the coping mechanisms of terrorism and violent conflict survivors. It aims to advocate for increased and long-term access to psychosocial support for the survivors, which in turn will improve their mental health.

A documentary photographer, Yvonne considers photography to be a medium of expression and a tool to drive social change. She leverages on the power of visual storytelling to create awareness, educate and inform people about causes and issues she is passionate about.

Yvonne’s work is timely. Nigeria has witnessed varying degrees of terrorism and violent conflicts where some survivors have witnessed violent acts against them and their loved ones.

“I am exploring how these survivors struggle to move on by using layered portraits of the survivors, and the things that they do to help them move forward or otherwise,” she said.

The stories Yvonne’s works tell are heart-breaking. Written below each work, the words of her subjects give one a deeper connection to her art. Adamu Gola, 79, for example, was in Gembu town in Taraba State when he was informed that his village had been attacked by suspected herdsmen. At the time, his children and some people in his community were prepping to till their farmlands. He narrated that some herdsmen tried to stop them from using the land, but they insisted that it was their land and they had every right to farm on it.

The herdsmen left briefly, and as soon as they returned, they shot at the people on the farm. His son was among those shot and was hospitalised for months. Gola said he hasn’t farmed since then and struggles to feed his family.

There are other stories. Like that of Hajara Abubakar, 24, who had lived in the same village with the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram, for months in Borno State. Now in Abuja, she described the experience as a hell she couldn’t get out of her mind.

The Aké Arts and Book Festival has come and gone, but the stories these four artists have given the world through their photographs stays.