Left Fist: Olatunde Alara
The artist Olatunde Alara uses the left fist in a film, to show that anti-blackness is a global phenomenon that everybody benefits from, underpinned by Black, intersectional, feminist research.
The artist Olatunde Alara uses the left fist in a film, to show that anti-blackness is a global phenomenon that everybody benefits from, underpinned by Black, intersectional, feminist research.
- What is your name and how would you describe what you do?
Olatunde Alara: My name is Olatunde Alara. My practice aims to subvert, challenge and critique the archetype of what it means to be a Nigeria/African/Black artist, through an approach that spans multiple mediums, including an exploration of histories pertaining to the lived experiences of Black people in relation to the rest of the world and how that affects how we perceive ourselves.
- What's your background?
OA: I was born in Lagos, Nigeria and spent some of my childhood in Benin republic. I spent my formative years in London, England and relocated back to Nigeria in 2011, where I have remained ever since. I’m a self-taught artist.
- What inspires you?
OA: I draw inspiration from crude, humorous memes, especially those made by Black Americans, those are my favourite!
- What is the ambition behind your practice?
OA: The inspiration behind my practice is to achieve the level of freedom that I can’t achieve in mainstream society through art-making.
- What did you hope to convey with your Bodies Of Knowledge film?
OA: That Anti-Blackness is a global phenomenon that everybody benefits from and why it’s important to unpack that, and hopefully to introduce serious Black, intersectional, feminist, academic texts/ideas in an accessible way and in a non-academic context, to an audience outside its intended one.
