Between Fadugba and Her Algorithms

Yinka Olatunbosun

Modupe Fadugba had a share of the pandemic lockdown while away in Washington DC in 2020. While at the National Museum of African art as a 2020 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow, she found herself locked inside the facility overnight. Walking through the rooms, she was overwhelmed by the paintings, sculptures and other artefacts tucked away to preserve histories. Eventually, she came to realise how little she knew about the African culture, prompting her to ask a self-examining question: Why do some nations win and others lose?

That’s part of the narrative that informed her on-going virtual exhibition titled ‘The Artist’s Algorithm: Why Nations Win.’ The show which kicked off on November 2 at a physical venue- Alara, Victoria Island, Lagos is an inaugural show out of Fadugba’s Algorithm series. The series include essays, talks, games, performances, mentorship programmes, murals and short video screenings to highlight the challenges in education and governance through creative collaboration and art.

One of the most intriguing pieces at the show is an interactive game installation called ‘The People’s Algorithm.’ The game invites the players to confront statistical realities faced by Nigerian students, teachers and policy makers.

Fadugba’s technique of burned canvas and paper is an ingenious way of situating the works against the overarching socio-political milieu from which they are drawn. For instance, the burned canvas in ‘Nigerian Flag’ alludes to the decay in the nation’s structure. In addition, Fadugba infuses a journaling style in creating sketches as she explained in the artist’s statement.

“In ‘Synchronised Swimmers,’ the aesthetics of orientation and alignment-or lack thereof-reflect the musings of my mind. I think of Chinua Achebe’s “Falling apart’’ of structures. The tension between order and entropy, the past and future of a nation. A Nigeria ‘reclaims’ the post-colonial, post-war narrative, I wonder, do we revert to ancestral culture or do we borrow wisdom from other countries?’’ she asks.

The works paraded in this online exhibition which runs till December 20 will be taken to Senegal in 2022 and Harlem in 2023.