ART X CINEMA
ART X Cinema premiered at the 8th edition of ART X Lagos, with a screening program of artists' films and documentaries inspired by Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène's vision of cinema as a transformative medium.
The selected video essays explore how artists disrupt and reinvent storytelling.
Featured artist-filmmakers: John Akomfrah and Black Audio Film Collective, Kader Attia, Sammy Baloji, Meriem Bennani, Jessica Beattie, Jihan El-Tahri, Binelde Hyrcan, Onyeka Igwe, Goddy Leye, Ibrahim Mahama, Betehlem Makonnen, Zen Marie, Qudus Onikeku, Fatimah Tuggar, and Ezra Wube.
The selected video essays explore how artists disrupt and reinvent storytelling.
Featured artist-filmmakers: John Akomfrah and Black Audio Film Collective, Kader Attia, Sammy Baloji, Meriem Bennani, Jessica Beattie, Jihan El-Tahri, Binelde Hyrcan, Onyeka Igwe, Goddy Leye, Ibrahim Mahama, Betehlem Makonnen, Zen Marie, Qudus Onikeku, Fatimah Tuggar, and Ezra Wube.
HANDSWORTH SONGS, 1986
John Akomfrah
Handsworth Songs by John Akomfrah & Lina Gopaul explores Black history, focusing on the 1985 riots in Handsworth and London. It uses innovative techniques, blending newsreels, photos, and sound to create a multi-layered narrative. Commissioned by Channel 4, it has won awards for its unique insight into the Black experience during the riots.
FUSION CUISINE, 2000
Fatimah Tuggar
Nigerian-born artist Fatimah Tuggar, based in the US, challenges gender, race, and technology narratives through collage and digital art. In "Fusion Cuisine", she combines vintage American ads and Nigerian women in a thought-provoking video installation, exploring technology, culture, and post-colonial identity with nuanced depth, avoiding simplistic cross-cultural comparisons.
CAMBECK, 2011
Binelde Hyrcan
Binelde Hyrcan's "Cambeck" depicts children playing in a sand-made candongueiro on Luanda Island, Angola. Their playful actions convey social and economic challenges, addressing issues such as inequality, housing, and education. This powerful video employs irony to juxtapose childhood innocence with harsh Angolan realities, including poverty and migration.
MISSION TEENS: FRENCH SCHOOL IN MOROCCO, 2019Meriem Bennani
An portrayal of Lycée Descartes students in Rabat, inspired by teen movies and reality TV. This fictional documentary follows their daily lives, collecting their thoughts on the French education system in Morocco, now limited to the local elite. The artist, represented by her animated avatar, delves into the erasure of Moroccan identity through the students' questioning, reflections, and aspirations.
UNA FAVOLA VERA, 2020
Ezra Wube
An exploration of intention, extension, and failed romanticism using images and texts from mass-produced materials during the WWII invasion of Ethiopia by Fascist Italy. These materials included propaganda like postcards, packaging, and educational tools. Mussolini's desire for Ethiopia, referred to as "a place in the sun," drove the invasion for revenge and resources during the Great Depression.
MEMOIRE, 2006
Sammy Baloji
"Mémoire" by artist Sammy Baloji captures politicians, governors, and workers in the ruins of DRC's former economic hub. Born in Lubumbashi in 1978, Baloji's photography and video blend past and present, delving into the colonial history, postcolonial decline, and modern exploitation of the DRC's mining region. His work reveals cultural tensions through architecture and the human body as symbols of power and history.
FLAG MOMENTS, 2013
Jihan El-Tahr
"Flag Moments" captures African independence celebrations in the 1960s, featuring political figures like Nkrumah, Senghor, Lumumba, Nyerere, and Ben Bella. It showcases parades and flag-raising ceremonies. The film shifts from the 1970s to 1990s, reflecting the continent's armed conflicts. The discussion with Jesse Duarte recalls a 1994 state dinner, marking the end of apartheid.
MIRROR EFFECT, 2017
Qudus Onikeku
"Mirror Effect" by choreographer Qudus Onikeku is a performance film where he confronts his clothing, symbolizing the tension between appearance and reality. The montage of gestures reveals a complex figure, oscillating between a liberating superhero and a judged monster. This performance prompts reflection on the duality of power and our struggle to reconcile charisma with the darker side of reality.
PERFECT LEADER, 2009
Zen Marie and Jessica Gregory
"The Perfect Leader" is a thought-provoking short film that questions political leadership, drawing inspiration from Jorgen Leth's "The Perfect Human." It explores the complex nature of leaders, blurring the lines between the private and public aspects of leadership.
HOW TO BUILD A PARLIAMENT WITH A LITERAL POOL OF IDEAS, 2020
Ibrahim Mahama
Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama's latest film, "The Parliament of Ghosts," explores Ghana's recent history and the construction of the Parliament of Ghosts at the new Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in Tamale. The film questions the relationship between ghosts, crisis, failed revolutions, labor's influence on form, and the gift economy in uncertain times. It introduces play as a potential revolutionary concept for the 21st century.
SPECIALISED TECHNIQUE, 2018
Onyeka Igwe
William Sellers and the Colonial Film Unit developed a framework for colonial cinema, slow edits and minimal camera movement, no camera tricks. In an effort to recuperate black dance from this colonial project, Specialised Technique, attempts to transform this material from studied spectacle to livingness.
REFLECTING MEMORY, 2016
Kader Attia
"Reflecting Memory" by artist Kader Attia explores the concept of absence, particularly in relation to phantom limbs, using personal testimonies and mysterious imagery. The film connects silence, grief, colonialism, and broader themes while using mirrors to symbolize potential within emptiness. It encourages viewers to embrace unresolved mysteries and connect with our shared human experience.
YOUS HERE, 2016
Betelhem Makonnen
Betelhem Makonnen, originally from Addis Abeba, explores the intersections of perception, presence, and place in the context of time and change. Her work takes shape through experimental play, (re)search, and (re)configurations. She challenges the camera's legacy of misrepresenting raced bodies, aiming to reorient our ways of seeing for new possibilities in perception and existence.
SEMBENE!, 2015
Samba Gadjigo & Jason Silverman
"Sembène!" is a documentary celebrating Ousmane Sembène, the father of African cinema, known for groundbreaking films like "Borom Sarret" and "Black Girl." The film explores his life and work, championing African cinema's role in speaking to African audiences. It's
NIGERIAN ART-KINDRED SPIRITS, 1990
Smithsonian Institution
Nigerian artist El Anatsui transforms wood with a chainsaw and fire, symbolizing colonialism. This documentary surveys contemporary art in Nigeria, with diverse threads but a shared heritage. It features textile artist Nike, sculptor Ben Enwonwu inspired by masquerades and the supernatural, Sokari Douglas Kamp's motorized scrap metal art, and Ono Brakpeya's paintings addressing environmental issues.
WE ARE THE WORLD
Goddy Leye
In the piece "We Are The World," the late Cameroonian artist Goddy Leye (1965-2011) juxtaposes individual determination with the grandstanding associated with world peace ideology. The video presents Leye haloed by stars and fruit, as he satirically gives a karaoke-style performance of the 1985 charity song from the work is titled after. “We are saving our own lives," he provocatively sings.