Nigerian Poet Wana Udobang Interrogates Women Issues in ‘Dirty Laundry’ Exhibition

Yinka Olatunbosun

In its tradition of philanthropy, Ford Foundation has collaborated with writer, poet, and performer Wana Udobang, to present her first mixed media installation titled, ‘Dirty Laundry.’

Open to the public from April 28 to 30 April 2022, the traveling exhibition kicks off in Lagos at Whitespace Ikoyi, and subsequently be held in three cities across Nigeria to celebrate this year’s women’s month and 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

This installation is an immersive experience interconnecting personal narratives, histories, experiences, and imaginaries as a form of catharsis for the poet and the viewer. Featuring poems screen printed on canvas hanging from laundry lines, the installation will also include thought-provoking performances that explore issues around 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 talk presentations and online discussions on the role of art in social justice movements or activism that seeks to create change.

In a statement to the press, the artist 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 expression “To wash one’s dirty laundry in public” is often used concerning shame. In this case, however, the poet subverts the narrative, creating a platform for difficult discussions. At the core of this work is the power of words to cut through the silence and shame we carry from experiences that have often been inflicted by society and its inherent and harmful culture of silence.

Udobang who lives in Lagos and London recently released three spoken-word albums titled ‘Dirty Laundry, In Memory of Forgetting, and Transcendence.’ Her work as a performer has taken her across Africa, Europe, and the US, along with working on commissions for Edinburgh International Festival and Deutsches Museum in Germany, among others. In 2021 she was awarded the International Writing program residency at the University of IOWA.