Museum of Edible Earth goes to Nigeria 2019
The project is carried out with help and support of Creative Industries Fund NL, African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) and Ene Keze Arts And Advocacy Foundation (EKAAF). With special thanks to Tyna Adebowale.
The tradition of eating earth and the importance of touching earth is present in Nigeria. However, nowdays geophagy is marginalised and associated with a psychological disorder, as well as connected to vulnerable groups of society, such as (pregnant) women and children. The Museum of Edible Earth investigates various aspects of this phenomenon, in particular connected to empowerment and emancipation.
Museum of Edible Earth at AAF was a whole experience of tasting, reading and talking. The exhibition contained more than 150 types of edible earth and clay from 22 countries (Belarus, Congo, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Slovenia, Suriname, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan), along with edible ceramics, designed by Masha Ru Studio. The set-up of the presentation had the framework of a dialogue and suggested sharing knowledge and experience among its participants. The visitors were invited to taste any earth sample and ceramics at their own risk. The table in the middle containing samples of edible earth resembled a dinner table, which created a living room feeling.
Exhibition and public programme with earth tastings took place in Lagos in March 2019, to communicate the results of the research and its perspectives as well as to exchange the knowledge and thoughts with different participants.
On the 16th of March the opening of the exhibition took place at AAF. Museum of Edible Earth has been exhibited as a part of a larger exhibition programme – YANGA, which expresses a kind of sentiment within the Nigerian culture that encompasses self presentation and performance. It involved four local artists and designers: Neec Nonso, Jumoke Adeyanju, Ruby Okoro and Abeeb Amobi.
The activities were hosted by African Artist’s Foundation (AAF) African Artisits Foundation African Artists Foundation aims to encourage, nurture and promote the development of contemporary art and artists in Africa.
On the 20th of March we organised a public programme with a special guest – Nneca Celine. Nneca is a woman from Nigeria who we met through the facebook group ‘Clay Worldwide’. She sells Nigerian edible clay on an international market. During the night with the visitors we were sitting around the large table with clay in the middle of the exhibition space. Nneca shared her knowledge. We were surprised to discover that a lot of visitors were not aware of the presence of earth eating tradition in Nigeria. We showed the video’s of clay eaters on instagram (#eatingclay), which was controversial and shocking for the audience. The conversation was long and inspiring. At the same time it was revealing for Nneca to see how the visitors reacted and how much they were intrigued.
During the talk everybody was trying out earth and could pick up their favourites. Audience was asking questions and sharing their thoughts and experiences about eating earth and its implications in contemporary society, art, design and creative practices.
All Photography by Mila Blok, Nigeria, March 2019
More information: African Artist Foundation
