What position do people of the African Diaspora find themselves in current Germany/Europe? The Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh explores this question in his first major solo exhibition in Germany: If Found Please Return to Lagos. He has transformed the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden into a body of sound. At the start, ten loudspeakers play “The Song of the Germans” – the words, however, are not sung in German as usual, but in Douala, Igbo, Ewondo and other African languages – the respective mother tongues of the singers of the Berlin-based choir Bona Deus. The opening of the exhibition took place on the 10th of November and it will run until 4th February 2018.

Emeka Ogboh deals intensively with the theme of immigration in his work. He also incorporates his own lived experiences in the cities of Lagos and Berlin. For his exhibition at the Kunsthalle, he also produced numerous site-specific works that concentrate on taste. He brewed a version of the now legendary “Sufferhead Original” beer for Baden-Baden.

 

 

He asked people with an African background about their taste experiences. How does Baden-Baden taste and what tastes are missing? From this, he developed the recipe for the dark beer and initiated a critical questioning of concepts such as identity and nationality. The artist also shot an advertising spot for the beer in the magnificent rooms of the Baden-Baden casino. The protagonists are all people of African heritage who live in the city of Baden-Baden or elsewhere in Germany. In the film, they jointly create the image of a cosmopolitan society that deals self-confidently with topics like identity, roots, influences and intersections.

 

 

Video Credits:
Photography: Berthold Steinhilber
Styling: Beatrace Angut Oola, Fashion Africa Now
Make Up: Rima Sium und Semy Teklesembet
Designers: CABO by MILKA, Samson Soboye, NOH NEE, Buki Akomolafe, Braima Sori Ba