Mon 21.10.19
- AMO Writer
- Oct 14, 2019
- 1 min read
Kelani Abass | EXHIBITION
Colonial Indexicality
₦200-300 per person
Sep – 21st Oct 2019
Kelani has partnered with the National Museum and the [Re:]Entanglements project led by Paul Basu, a Professor of Anthropology at SOAS University of London. This exhibition is designed to spark and examine modern dialogue around the colonial-era photographic archives of government anthropologist, Northcote W. Thomas which are housed at The National Museum.
This is the first exhibition at the National Museum that focuses on its archival collections – marrying contemporary art with colonial archives. As part of this exploration, Kelani conveys the fragile state of archival material through the employment of certain materials and artistic methods. For instance, he replicated the look of the album of photos taken by Thomas on his tour of Edo State; in this, he captures the denigration of the photographic images through the subtle tones of his paint.
This could allude to the failings of African institutions to properly conserve archival material, as highlighted in a write up on omenka.com. If so, this seems a strange dig at oneself - in the case of the National Museum – they’ve essentially collaborated with Kelani to highlight their own incompetency. That’s either incongruous or enlightened…a Nigerian institution actually owning up to their own shortcomings? You can read more detail about the exhibition over on omenka.com. Better still, get your ass down there and explore for yourself.
Today's the last day!
National Museum
Onikan Rd – Ikoyi – Lagos
Mon – Sat 09:30 – 15:30
+234 1 263 6005
Gate fee: ₦200-300 per person
© Kelani Abass
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