Revolving Art Incubator is proud to announce the opening of “Power Show II: The God-Fathers Are Not To Blame”, a solo exhibition of multimedia works by Ayò Akínwándé. The exhibition is curated by Njideka Iroh

Power Show II: The God-Fathers Are Not To Blame

Opening on the 1st of October 2018, amidst celebrations of the country’s 58th anniversary of independence and the 2019 election campaign period, the exhibition becomes an invitation for critical discourse on the current state of governance and aims to stimulate political consciousness amongst the citizenry in a period laden with political campaigns and electioneering.

“The God-Fathers Are Not To Blame” is a multi-layered exhibition of sculpture, sound, video, and digital archives, as a means to address the vexed relationship between leadership and citizenship in Nigeria. The project focuses on the “voice of the people” through the ongoing registry Ayò Akínwándé has taken as a form of digital activism, from the sound installation made from audio recordings at newspaper stands in areas on the mainland and island in Lagos, to screenshots of opinion, commentary and statements made by individuals on social media concerning the state of Nigeria.

The title of the exhibition draws from The Gods Are Not To Blame, the 1968 adaptation of the Greek classic, Oedipus Rex by Nigerian playwright and novelist, Ola Rotimi. The works presented in this show, span multiple media and build on Akínwándé ongoing interrogation of contemporary life in Nigeria as he continues to delve into issues of corruption, governance and the reality of daily life.

Ayò Akínwándé

Ayò Akínwándé is a multi-disciplinary artist whose growing practice involves experimentation with lens based media, installation, performance and sound in exploring concepts of identity, duality and the multi-faceted layers of the human reality. His artistic process involves constant monologues and dialogues on socio-political realities in his environment, while the subsequent presentations incorporate architectural processes in a spatial detailing and sectioning of these ideas and thoughts to evoke both intimacy and the monumental

Akínwándé co-curated the 2017 Lagos Biennial and was also a participating artist at the exhibition held at the Nigerian Railway Museum. He was selected for the 2nd Changjiang International Photography and Video Biennial and was part of the “ChinAfrika-under construction” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Leipzig. He has exhibited in solo and group shows across Africa and beyond.

His works have been featured in Art Africa, Dienacht Magazine, PoetsArtists, Contemporary&, The Sole Adventurer and SomethingWeAfricansGot.

Njideka Iroh

Njideka Iroh is a cultural producer, writer and spoken word artist based in Vienna and Lagos. In her artistic work and lectures she deals with topics such as language and power relations, decolonisation, Afro-futures and the embodiment of knowledge. Her approach is fostered by her involvement within the African community in Vienna and by her correspondence with transnational Black, POC and migrant initiatives. She seeks collaborations which tell stories against the grain and create spaces for marginalized narratives to shift to the centre. Her writings have appeared in several publications, most recently: “A Diva’s Dish Darling and You wish You had It” in “Border Thinking. Disassembling Histories of Racialized Violence” (Sternberg Press, Vienna 2018). She has lectured and performed in various artistic and educational settings in Austria, Germany, the UK and the USA. In 2015-16 she co-curated the project “Bodies of Knowledge - Multiplying Marginalised Subjectivities of Utopia through Art and Storytelling” in Vienna.

The Four Women exhibition showcased Adejoke Tugbiyele, Olubunmi Oyesanya Ayaoge, Stacey Ravvero and Kehinde Awofeso artists born across three very significant decades in the history of the Nigeria Post Civil War 70’s, Military Rule 80s and the return to civilian rule 90’s, and have them reflect on agency, gender norms, bodily integrity, entitlement and local custom as it affects the contemporary art discourse, through fine art, photography and performance,

Women across the world are undergoing a reconsideration of their place in the larger context of the global socio political landscape, re-evaluating systems reinforcing patriarchy and local customs, which directly engages other forms of oppression such as colonization , gender in-equality, cultural domination through religious structures and otherness all part of the ongoing critical discourse on decolonization theories.

The exhibition generated significant discourse on the notions of prejudice and how these artists are resisting through their work.