WritingKJ Abudu

Building A Future From The Rubble: The Second Lagos Biennial | Frieze

WritingKJ Abudu
Building A Future From The Rubble: The Second Lagos Biennial | Frieze

In this piece, written for Frieze Magazine, I review the second edition of the Lagos Biennial (2019), paying particular attention to the historical and material relationships between the exhibited works and the haunted site (The Independence House) that contains them.

Excerpt:

“Before departing the Biennial, I passed a lush mosaic by Yusuf Grillo, one of the country’s most admired modernists. Completed in 1961, the mosaic has since fallen into disrepair, just like the building it adorns. From there, I could see the towering light poles of Tafawa Balewa Arena, the stadium that hosted the Nigerian independence celebrations and the vibrant rallies of FESTAC ’77. That bygone era of postcolonial optimism feels like a distant, utopic dream now, as the country ricochets from one crisis to another. Fortunately, the second edition of the Lagos Biennial, with its critical, historically reflexive and counter-hegemonic stance, invites us to think about what alternative futures can be built from the rubble.”

Cover Artwork: Ndidi Dike, A History of a City in a Box, 2019, installation view. Courtesy: the artist and Lagos Biennial; photograph: Kola Oshalusi