Who could have thought that a world polluted by colonial exploitation would present such a wealth of creative expression? Well, meet Nigerian artist Wilfred Ukpong.
Utilising aspects of Afrofuturism and mysticism, this Nigerian artist creates compelling and poetic reflections on the crisis of environmental degradation and exploitation in the Niger Delta. Drawing on historical and personal archives, ecology politics and indigenous environmentalism, his work demonstrates how artmaking can be used as a tool for social empowerment and to confront continued, aggressive colonial practices.
Once a major producer of palm oil for British colonisers, the Niger Delta is considered the mainstay of the Nigerian economy for its large oil reserves and its rich biodiversity due to the presence of rivers, mangroves, freshwater forests, and marine estuaries. In recent years, the region has been at the centre of environmental and social justice campaigns, challenging the pollution caused by major spills and flares at the hands of local and international oil and gas industry giants
The works in the exhibition are all set in the Niger Delta, Ukpong’s homeland. Driven by a profound desire to effect change, the artist worked with more than two hundred young people from marginalised, oil-producing communities to collectively address the historical and environmental issues in the oil-rich region. The resulting photographs and film powerfully reference local rituals, ceremonial motifs, and symbols interwoven into a complex future cosmology.
Wilfred Ukpong, said: “Community history, ecology politics, indigenous environmentalism, extractive capitalism, and cultural evolution, these meditations on my homeland demonstrate how the art and filmmaking process can be employed to promote youth empowerment, challenge colonial narratives and disrupt systems of knowledge production.”
Professor Mark Sealy, curator and director of Autograph, said: “Wilfred Ukpong’s work gets to the heart of participatory creative practice, and how this can open up complicated conversations about environmental and colonial politics of our time. Ukpong uses metaphor and fiction to address the dire situation in the Niger Delta. Autograph has worked with the artist over several years, and I am delighted to bring this work to London for the first time.”
Through a futuristic lens, Ukpong underscores the need to understand the detrimental impact of this extreme extraction on both people and land.
More information about the exhibition at Autograph ABP here
