Radio Kaduna 

Co-presented with the Menil Collection

Wura-Natasha Ogunji in Attendance

Saturday, February 16, 7PM
Location: The Menil Collection

Free Admission

Presented in conjunction with the Menil Collection’s exhibition, The Progress of Love, Radio Kaduna is a live performance with video that explores the meanings of true love within a Muslim-Christian household in pre-independence Nigeria.  This story emerges against the backdrop of contemporary (armed) conflicts between Muslims and Christians which often obscure histories of connection and interdependence across cultural, religious and ethnic boundaries.  Incorporating footage from Nigeria's capital of Abuja to the megacity that is Lagos, this work foregrounds ways in which moments of conflict give rise to powerful and long-lasting intimacies.  Radio Kaduna also explores the poetics and politics of uncovering family histories and how those personal truths and lies connect with narratives of nationhood. 

The Progress of Love is co-organized by Kristina Van Dyke, former curator for collections and research at the Menil Collection, and Bisi Silva, director of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos. The Progress of Love exhibition will be mounted simultaneously at both venues and also at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis. A series of web-format exchanges further links the two incarnations.

Wura-Natasha Ogunji is a visual artist and performer.  Her works include videos in which she engages her body in explorations of movement and mark-making across water, land and air.  As a recipient of the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Ogunji is currently creating a series of performance videos in the city of Lagos, Nigeria.