“I can't be a pessimist because I am alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter. So, I am forced to be an optimist. I am forced to believe that we can survive, whatever we must survive.” — James Baldwin
Gindin Mangoro: Under the Mango Tree
Written by Azu Nwabogu
It is a curious thing to reflect on the nature of human existence and within this, its diversity. There is a lot of talk about diversity with regards to skin colour, gender, religion and so forth but the cruellest and most perverse form of diversity as human construct is that which we are most reluctant to speak of: the diversity of living conditions from one street to the next and one neighbouring country to another.
In this first solo exhibition Obijiaku presents a selection of paintings with titles like “Passports”, and to his favourite “Gindin Mangoro” “Under the Mango Tree” this, a radical departure from his previous work based on social commentary. Obijiaku presents a new body of work as a celebration of his own lived experiences and struggles as well as those of his friends and acquaintances.
Obijiaku (b. 1995) was born in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria but has spent the last twenty years living in Suleja, a small town famous for its proximity to Abuja. His creative ascent has been nothing short of meteoric.