Events
Wana Udobang Tackles Sexual & Gender-Based Violence Through Art Installation Tagged “Dirty Laundry” | April 28th – 30th
The Ford Foundation, a global grant-making organization that works to end inequality in all of its forms, has partnered with writer, poet, and performer Wana Udobang to present her first mixed media installation, “Dirty Laundry.”
This installation is an immersive experience that connects personal narratives, histories, experiences, and imaginaries as a form of catharsis for both the poet and the viewer.
It will include thought-provoking performances as well as poems screen printed on canvas and hung from laundry lines that explore issues of womanhood, sexual and gender violence, feminine agency, healing, and reimagination.
The hanging poems tell many personal stories for the viewer to experience while walking through the space, a physical representation of the metaphor “hanging your dirty laundry in public.” The event will be accompanied by talks,presentations, and online discussions on the role of art in social justice movements or activism that seeks to create change.
In a statement Wana 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 utilize imagination to heal.
In our society, the phrase “to wash one’s dirty laundry in public” is often used to refer to shame. In this case, however, the poet subverts the narrative, creating a platform for difficult discussions.
At the heart of this work is the power of words to cut through the silence and shame we feel because of things that happen in society and because of the culture of silence.
Admission is Free
Day 1
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2022.
Time: 2 PM.
Day 2
Date: Friday, April 29, 2022.
Time: 12 PM [Panel talk at 3 PM]
Day 3
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Time: 12 PM [Performance at 5 PM]
For more information send an email to the curator, Naomi Edobor at [email protected]
