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In Dirty Laundry, Udobang interrogates womanhood

By Gregory Austin Nwakunor
22 May 2022   |   2:44 am
As you open the door of Whitespace Creative Agency on Raymond Njoku, Falomo, Ikoyi this Thursday afternoon, what strikes the imagination is the white linen fabric featuring poems screen-printed

A scene from the show

As you open the door of Whitespace Creative Agency on Raymond Njoku, Falomo, Ikoyi this Thursday afternoon, what strikes the imagination is the white linen fabric featuring poems screen-printed on canvas hanging.

The hanging poems tell many personal stories for the viewer to experience, while walking through the space, which is a physical representation of the metaphor “hanging your dirty laundry in public.”

Two women are washing clothes in basins inside the hall and there is a notice on the wall inviting others to bring their dirty laundry: The sight of the hung installations —- unframed prints —- throws back to when homes had fabric calendars.

Udobang


The show, which was held from April 28 to 30, 2022, was in collaboration with Ford Foundation, the global, grant-bestowing philanthropy that works to disrupt inequality in all its forms.

The project, having survived the pandemic- comes alive, beaming light on deeply agonising stories of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

In presenting Dirty Laundry, Wana Udobang’s major expectation is that the work connects with each person, where he or she needs it the most. She puts a caveat: “To wash one’s dirty laundry in public” is often used concerning shame.

In this case, however, the poet subverts the narrative, creating a platform for difficult discussions.

“The work will hit everybody differently,” she said. “I’m asking you to sit with your discomfort.”

The travelling exhibition curated by Naomi Edobor, which was held in three cities across Nigeria, aimed at celebrating this year’s women’s month and 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

In the show, Udobang invites her guests to examine closely what is considered disgraceful, why it is so, and what is left when the notion is allowed to go.

It interweaves personal histories, familial complexities, and gender-based issues. Stories some strap to their chests or only relay in lamentable whispers are out in the open and central to the works presented.

“I like to call it a documentation of my personal history and those of others,’’ said Wana at the opening. “But I didn’t see myself as an artist. And as we grow, we always seek permission in our minds. I kept shoving the idea to the back of my mind. In 2020, I finally thought of the idea of putting that dirty laundry in public. It is a metaphor of shame; putting your business out for everyone to see.’’

The poet said: “Every day, we see how our cultures and societies repress the voices of women and girls. We continue to lose women and girls to sexual and intimate partner violence. I believe in Nina Simone’s statement that ‘an artist must reflect the times’. As an artist, I hope this exhibition is not only documenting and reflecting the insidious ways that women are violated in both our domestic and public lives but that it shows the ways we utilise imagination to heal.”

When asked if washing dirty laundry in public wouldn’t rob the survivor of personal dignity, Wana responded with rhetorical questions.

“Who determines personal dignity? Who says what is dignified and what is not? I don’t think it is by force to share things. I have always wanted to interrogate the idea of what is dignified, and what is classy. When is it dignity and when is it that we are hiding shame? Our culture is preoccupied with perfection or the appearance of perfection. We are very good performers-we perform perfect families. We cry inside,’’ she said. In her view, the culture toward gender-based violence and abuse of minors need to change – erasing stigma- before laws can be effective.

The installation will also include thought-provoking performances that explore issues around womanhood, sexual and gender violence, feminine agency, healing, and re-imagination.

To Udobang, the project is about reclamation. “Liberation is my goal,” she said. “And it’s a practice. Every day I’m practising a life that is about personal freedom. Maybe someone sees it, and they are inspired in some way or they are forced to liberate themselves.”

From Thick Skin to ‘Dorathy’ and the cringe-worthy piece, Epitaph for Girls Who Want to Stay A Little Longer, the poet interrogates abuses and the trauma, thereafter.

The poems go on to detail moments of emotional and psychological trauma. Picture this: a father who suspects his tea has been poisoned gives it to his daughter to drink so that, at least, he won’t be the one to die. It’s no wonder “families are everybody’s first war,”

“I hope that in my sharing these experiences in poetry, more people feel courage. Silence thrives in loneliness and isolation. There are a lot of things that happened to women and we are encouraged not to talk about it.

Everyone is going through the same things in their homes and they are quiet. The violence and assault continue to thrive because we are not talking. Nothing is changing. If we can all put our dirty laundry out there, then something can start to shift,’’ she said.

UDOBANG, popularly known as Wana Wana, also, spends time in London. She released three spoken-word albums titled, Dirty Laundry, In Memory of Forgetting and Transcendence.

Her work as a performer has taken her across Africa, Europe and the US, along with working on commissions for Edinburgh International Festival, Deutsches Museum in Germany and others.

In 2021, she was awarded the International Writing programme residency at the University of IOWA.

Udobang also has a background in journalism working as a freelancer with Aljazeera, CNN, and Observer as well as producing and presenting documentaries for BBC Radio4 and BBC World Service.

For over six years she worked as a popular radio host at 92.3 Inspiration FM in Lagos broadcasting to over five million listeners daily. Her work in film includes the documentaries Sensitive Skin, Warriors and Nylon.

Udobang also runs The Comfort Food poetry workshop, which uses memories around food as a conduit to create new poems. She also curates Culture Diaries; an archival project which uses multi-platform storytelling to document African artists. Added to her creative work, Wana is a speaker, teacher, workshop facilitator and creative consultant. She loves to travel, food, wine, art and adventure.

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