The use of stolen artefacts to explore post-colonial African Identity in Akinola Davies Jr’s first US solo exhibition - Bubblegum Club

The use of stolen artefacts to explore post-colonial African Identity in Akinola Davies Jr’s first US solo exhibition

The London situated photographer and filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr stresses identity by mapping elements of his Nigerian heritage. In 2017, he celebrated his roots with the film, Gidi Gidi Bu Ugwu Ze (“Unity is Strength”) for Kenzo. Made in Nigeria, the film was done in collaboration with photographer Ruth Ossai and stylist Ibrahim Kamara.

His first show, Bootleg was opened earlier this year and featured work depicting girls wearing fake Chanel hijabs, referencing the way in which copycat luxury is viewed within different contexts. For his first solo exhibition in the US at Washington’s Dupont Underground, HOD presented by sketchedSPACE; the artist looks at how African Identity can be reclaimed while faced with colonialism via stolen artefacts and their symbolism when removed from their birth place.

A five-screen image piece in rotation, flags covering the exhibition space – a commentary on ideas surrounding the return of African artefacts to their rightful homes. Davies places these artefacts displaced from their cultural ancestry in the context of art and in so doing touches on histories and traditions that have been spliced and tainted; scars of imperialist rule and colonialism. On the works Davies expresses that they address the need for those in the global African diaspora to reclaim their narratives through expanding on their own mythologies or to action actual reclamation.

HOD features Davies’ biggest works to date, created with the use of 35mm motion picture film as a means of enhancement, placing emphasis on the majesty of his subject matter. Prior to this, the artist’s works have been digital and displayed in linear format film. Seeking a transient experience for his viewers, HOD, marks a new frontier for the creative as he interacts with materiality (flags) vs digital manifestation (images showcased digitally) in his work for the first time. The objects of materiality in part becomes an extension of the film from screens to gallery space, all-encompassing.

The artist’s message for Africans speaks loud and clear through the exhibition, that Africans have the right to claim their colonised narratives. “HOD, in this case, is telling a story of displacement and radically alienated energies. When combined through hundreds of years of amassed metaphysical energy has summoned these custodians to arrive and reclaim what has been taken. The body of work is a metaphor for that, an interpretation through the medium of moving image of what is possible.” he expresses in an interview with Dazed.

HOD is taking place at Washington’s Dupont Underground from 27 September – 20 October 2018. Find out more here.

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