Zina Saro-Wiwa, daughter of the hanged environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, said it is a curse that oil was ever discovered in the Niger-Delta.

Zina, who is currently holding her first solo gallery show in London said in an interview with ArtForum: “We don’t control the oil that is extracted and exported from under our feet, and our fishing and farming have been severely disrupted as a result of extractive processes.

It’s a shame that oil was found somewhere as verdant and fecund as the Niger-Delta. It would’ve been better if this had happened somewhere unpopulated, such as in a desert. But this is where the oil is, and it is in this contested landscape that I have made an artistic intervention.

“I’d been a radio and TV journalist in the past. But when approaching the Niger-Delta, the place of my birth, the experience was so overwhelming for me that a journalistic lens wasn’t ever going to be fulfilling. That’s a large part of the reason why art attracted me.

It gave me the latitude and the space to allow the Niger- Delta speak to me and speak through me. I wasn’t willing to go there with anything fixed in mind—I wanted the place to tell me what it wanted to say.”

Her show, which is titled: The Turquoise Meat Inside, is a photographic and video work, set in the Niger-Delta and is currently on display at the Tiwani Contemporary, London until October 27, 2018.

Share your story with us: 08030891146 (Whatsapp and SMS only) Email: info@gbaramatuvoicenews.press or gbaramatuvoice@gmail.com. You can also download GbaramatuVoice news app from Google playstore.

Support Quality Journalism in the Niger Delta Region

Join us in our mission to bring development journalism, cultural preservation, and environmental awareness to the forefront. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. Donate today and be a part of the change!