Nigeria Imaginary is an ambitious and multifaceted exhibition that brings together a group of eight Nigerian artists from different generations, both from the country and the diaspora.
The 60th Venice Art Biennale – Foreigners Everywhere is a unique opportunity to explore the fields of cultural intersectionality, migration, and globalization, which resonate particularly well with the African experience. Several African nations participated in the current Biennale for the first time, or are back to show their talent to the world. Nigeria is at its second participation with its own National Pavilion. The exhibition, called Nigeria Imaginary, is curated by the Museum of West African Art’s curator Aindrea Emelife and unites eight Nigerian artists of different generations, both living in Nigeria and elsewhere. Nigeria Imaginary evokes the spirit of the trailblazing Mbari Club, a cultural centre funded shortly after the country’s independence on the premise that artmaking is a duty to one’s own country. Decolonization is debated in Yinka Shonibare’s installation, questioning the status of African artworks taken away during colonization. Monument to the Restitution of Mind and Soul seems to replay the spiritual dimension of this art. The Pavilion also includes art related to current events, in particular the police brutality occurrences of 2020. Blackwood: A Living Archive by Ndidi Dike is an installation of batons labelled with the names, dates of birth, and dates of death of the young Nigerians who succumbed to brutality.
