l'abe pata

l'abe pata uses the sokoto to explore and re-understand the sexual politics of the body with respect to autonomy and freedom, examining the Yoruba culture and the bordered region called Nigeria today, as a product of colonial imagination. The sokoto are made of different length and shape but generally resembles a pair of trousers and are held around the waist by a fabric cord. Using wood as a transformative medium, this sculpture illuminates this process of “determining who is more human” encouraged by the existence of laws like the “Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act,” (SSMPA)*  in Nigeria and other similar inhuman laws throughout the world, to produce a binary definition of humanity and further compound on the OTHER-ification of minority bodies and voices- in this case, enforcing heteronormativity and the gender-sex binary.

The visual imagery embedded in the front view of this sculpture is specifically targeted at this law- as a remembrance of the inhumanity suffered by those affected. The front view conveys this feeling of being “different” and the social recognition of inhumanity attached to the queerness that was imposed upon Nigerians in 2014. As the coral beads stand out in the sea of black, also is the condemnation and monopolization of queer bodies loudly illuminated. This sculpture addresses the social culture of homophobia, patriarchal masculinity, and body policing that currently exists in Nigeria. The “african” coral beads also metaphorically represent the adoption and then essentialization of western ideations of gender into the Yoruba culture and broader Nigeria, while similarly personifying the physical adoption of the Sardinian coral gem jewelry acquired through trade, to a level of secular permanence often mistaken with indegenity. 

l'abe pata recontextualizes the concept of sexual expression in Nigeria that is rooted in this Western ideology of Scientia Sexualis by focusing mainly on the crotch-groin region of the sokoto. The framing also centers the gaze in a way that is reminiscent of the obsession with the sexual anatomy and its utility that is innate in Western idealism, a condemnation of the speculative narratives surrounding queer bodies. The overwhelming black pigment references the social and cultural hegemony of Western culture that seeks to define absolute good and absolute evil thereby generating binary oppositions like white/black, savior/savage, primitive/colonized, and normal/taboo. This framing intentionally parallels the obsession with the body - both what is seen and unseen. This constant deliberation is truly a measure of humanity- to determine who is more human and who is less human. 

Therefore, this piece channels a physical space for re-understanding and re-evaluating how we view the body. How is the body policed? When obligatorily confessing the truth of sex/sexual anatomy/sexual orientation becomes the norm, then what are the implications in relation to our understanding and practice of autonomy and freedom? How does that translate to our deliberation/understanding of humanity? 

*In 2014, the Nigerian government passed the "Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act,” (SSMPA) which not only bans the marriage and civil unions between same-sex couples but also criminalized public displays of affection of queer nature. This was also the year after I immigrated from Nigeria to the US.*