Olufela Omokeko

Olufela Omokeko (born as Olalekan Keko) is a Nigerian contemporary multimedia artist who works in performance, installation and photography. Born and based in Iwaya waterfront community in Lagos, Olufela is the artistic director of Slum Makers Art Project (X-MAP) in Makoko, and the co-cultural producer of the annual Iwaya Community Art Festival in Lagos. Quotes The son of a pepper seller” is a biographical reconnection and a reflection of the causalities of the measurements against the widespread of the pandemic. During the nationwide lockdown essential commodities, particularly groceries were spoiled due to the initiated regulatory measures that also effected street traders and the informal economic sector of the Lagos metropolitan. With the aspect of rottenness that draw attention to the fact that the coronavirus directly and indirectly affects people of all ages, creed, race and status, taking the basis of existences without the state being able to compensate these effects. The decaying process of this installation also serves as a micro analogy to the effect on the body system and the socio-economic realities of citizens. Thereby, the my installation out of still lives out of real vegetables are a memento mori – a warning of the effects of globalization that become so obvious during the pandemic, with effects leading to the wasting of resources and food scarcity. The current focus of my creative practice is to interrogate urgent sociocultural issues in our fragmented society through a multimedia approach combining performance, installation, photo-video art, and social art practice. Since transitioning to full-time practice in 2019, following my alternative art education with the Vernacular Art-space Laboratory Foundation in Lagos, I have been deeply invested in exploring the intersection of personal and collective experiences—particularly around themes such as psycho-social dynamics, mortality, food insecurity, preservation, and ecological challenges. In an interview During the residency, I will immerse myself in research, community engagement, and experimental creation to explore the cultural significance of agricultural tools and local food systems. I plan to work with farming communities, Yoruba poets, and cultural custodians to collect stories, Oriki (praise poetry), songs, and histories that reveal how tools like the hoe shape cultural identity. I will also visit woodcarving studios, welding workshops, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the National Archives in Ibadan to gather archival materials and deepen my understanding of farming traditions. In the studio, I will transform these findings into sculptural installations, adaptable farm objects, video works, and soundscapes as living archives. In an interview External links Category: living people Category:Artists from Nigeria