Nigerian Mystic Visa Temple
High-Life Generator Orchestra
Dimensions: 260cm x 169cm
Jacquard woven tapestries. 2022.
Edition of 5 each
Both tapestries are adaptations of two drawings from my Lagos Drawings project, in this project, I considered how the language of graphic design, advertising, and religion in the city of Lagos, Nigeria can be used to comment on contemporary realities in the city. With the tapestries, I was interested in playing with the scale of my work and engaging with new materials and textures.
The Nigerian Mystic Visa Temple is a commentary on the experiences of people from the Global South as they attempt to cross national borders. This tapestry visualizes the invisible hierarchical lines that exist between countries, which manifest themselves in the "strength" of particular passports. At the imagined Nigerian Mystic Visa Temple, dreams and desires collide with bureaucratic decisions that determine whether we stay home or find new homes, stay united, or be divided. The Temple's space is an oasis and an abyss. Its contradictions produce a state of entanglement. Everything moves and everything stops at the Visa Temple.
High-Life Generator Orchestra offers a satirical take on the heavy usage of fuel and diesel generators as a primary source of electricity in the city of Lagos and, the pollution (noise and air) they generate. It features a conductor attempting to unify a band of imported generators with names such as "Superpower “, "Fast Energy“ and, "Salvation“ to perform the daily, nightly medley of disconcerting sounds to power living and working spaces.
Developed and woven at the TextielLab, Tex tiel Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands.
Photos. Henning Rogge.