Abstract
This conversation explores the performance art of Jelili Atiku, a Nigerian multimedia artist whose work critically engages with themes of human rights, social justice, and global power structures. Atiku’s practice employs symbolism, ancestral knowledge, and bodily presence to interrogate socio-political issues, particularly in relation to colonial legacies, nuclear power, and systemic violence. His performances challenge audiences to reflect on their complicity within global power systems, invoking Yoruba philosophy and performance as a means of activating consciousness and collective memory.
Atiku’s Ologbere (Oginrinringinrin II) (2014), performed at the PALS Festival in Stockholm, addressed themes of mortality, international politics, and the body’s vulnerability. By covering his body with national symbols, including the U.S. flag on his head, and engaging with imagery of death, he critiqued the destructive impact of global superpowers. The performance unfolded as an ontological exploration of presence and disappearance, emphasizing the philosophical dimensions of bodily impermanence.
Blood, whether literal or metaphorical, plays a crucial role in Atiku’s work. In Abel’s Feast, he used the blood and carcass of a slaughtered goat to confront audiences with the realities of consumption, embodiment, and ethical responsibility. Conversely, in RED DAY (2017), he replaced blood with red pigment to symbolically evoke themes of war, violence, and humanity’s fragility. Through these varied approaches, Atiku interrogates the visceral and psychological power of blood, questioning its role in both physical and metaphysical registers.
Atiku’s performances engage audiences in a participatory negotiation of meaning, urging them to confront historical traumas and their contemporary manifestations. His use of ritual, material symbolism, and performative endurance challenges dominant narratives, fostering a dialogue between the visible and the unseen, the material and the spiritual, and the personal and the political.
Atiku’s Ologbere (Oginrinringinrin II) (2014), performed at the PALS Festival in Stockholm, addressed themes of mortality, international politics, and the body’s vulnerability. By covering his body with national symbols, including the U.S. flag on his head, and engaging with imagery of death, he critiqued the destructive impact of global superpowers. The performance unfolded as an ontological exploration of presence and disappearance, emphasizing the philosophical dimensions of bodily impermanence.
Blood, whether literal or metaphorical, plays a crucial role in Atiku’s work. In Abel’s Feast, he used the blood and carcass of a slaughtered goat to confront audiences with the realities of consumption, embodiment, and ethical responsibility. Conversely, in RED DAY (2017), he replaced blood with red pigment to symbolically evoke themes of war, violence, and humanity’s fragility. Through these varied approaches, Atiku interrogates the visceral and psychological power of blood, questioning its role in both physical and metaphysical registers.
Atiku’s performances engage audiences in a participatory negotiation of meaning, urging them to confront historical traumas and their contemporary manifestations. His use of ritual, material symbolism, and performative endurance challenges dominant narratives, fostering a dialogue between the visible and the unseen, the material and the spiritual, and the personal and the political.
| Original language | English |
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| Publisher | Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Feb 2025 |