Invisible Borders has opened its first exhibition in Lagos courtesy of a grant received from Apex Art, New York. Venue of the exhibition is the Nigerian Railway Corporation Yard, Yaba, Lagos.
A statement by the organisation’s Head of Communications/Assistant to Artistic Director, Marie-Laure Kamatali, said the exhibition, which opened to the public on February 9, will run for a month, closing on March 9, 2019.
“It will also future two public conversations that are designed to ensure that the exhibition has a fuller and rounder narrative while also educating and stimulating the audience on their understanding of and relationship with Nigeria,” the statement explained.
Titled, ‘Re-Imaging Futures: A Trans-Nigerian Conversation’ the exhibition features works created during the “Borders Within” Trans-Nigerian road trip projects of 2016 and 2017.
“Assembled by the Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers Organisation, 12 Nigerian photographers, writers and filmmakers travelled in two groups for a total of 81 days. An Initiative of the Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers Organisation, registered as a corporate body under the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” said the statement.
The trip had the ambitious goal to decipher if ever it was possible to escape what one has been
named, in this case, Nigeria, a mishmash of over 250 distinct ethnic groups. Thus, through the mediums of photography, prose and film, each artist created an exhaustive body of work on what it means to be Nigerian.
The exhibition, the organisers said, will also serve as the background for two public conversations held.
Today, February 13, at the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MoCA), Lagos the second panel titled ‘Re-Imaging Futures: Future Images’ will interrogate art and Nigerianness by way of discussions regarding contemporary issues seen through the experiences of artists and administrators active in the art world today with considerable international and local following.
Anchored by the public discussions, the exhibition hopes to achieve a fuller and rounder narrative while also educating and stimulating the audience on their understanding of and relationship with Nigeria.
Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers Organisation is an artist-led initiative founded by Emeka Okereke, based in Lagos. The exhibition and the public programmes are organised by Yinka Elujoba and Innocent Ekejiuba following an open call by Apex Art, a New York-based non-profit arts organisation.