African Stories Reclaimed in Alabi-Hundeyin II’s Not A Country

Yinka Olatunbosun

With a renewed consciousness to reclaim the western gaze on the black body, as well as the cultural heritage of the African, a documentary photographer and documentary filmmaker, Tunde Alabi Hundeyin II, held the audience spellbound with his recent photography exhibition, Not A Country.

A showstopper, the exhibition was part of the Brighton Fringe, the largest arts festival in England. For a visual storyteller like Alabi-Hundeyin II, perspective is more than just a concept in art. It is about authenticity as well as the preservation of humanity. When he holds his camera and prepares to take a shot, he bears a responsibility to tell the story of everyday people from a place of strength, not weakness.

Though he is currently a doctoral scholar in creative and critical practice at the University of Sussex, UK, Alabi-Hundeyin II’s previous experience in documenting humanitarian projects has served as an eye-opener into the way Africans are portrayed, understood, and how their stories are told across generations. As a photographer for UNICEF, he worked on images for the organisation’s Ending Violence Against Children campaign.

Often, the vulnerability of Africans captured through the lens resounds globally. Though African arts are gaining traction in cultural spaces across continents, Africa has always been viewed through a condescending lens. Poverty, hunger, homelessness, and ravaging illness are regular tropes in images of Africa. Alabi-Hundeyin II is consciously challenging these stereotypes.

“Stereotypes themselves may not be the truth,’’ he argues. “They are ideological leanings, beliefs, and creatively curated perspectives about a thing, a person, or a place. They’re usually created by misinformed people with poor assumptions about their object of stereotype. On the flip side, a stereotype may be truthful, but a single story of a multifaceted phenomenon is equally injurious because of its element of truth, which is but a version of a bigger picture.”

In his short documentary film Towards Utopia, Alabi-Hundeyin II challenges the spectacle of pity, body commodification, and consumerism that characterise the depiction of the African under the white supremacist’s gaze. In retrospect, the photographer recalls how his work at an IDP camp changed his perspective on visual documentation.

“I don’t know if what I did in Durumi Camp has been successful or if it managed to escape the stereotypes that I tried to work against. My images aimed at empowerment; they tried to show humanity, agency, resilience, and dignity without disguising the hardship that is undeniable.”

Alabi-Hundeyin II grew up with cameras. His father, Tunde Alabi-Hundeyin (also with the same name), a renowned filmmaker of Dudu Productions fame, weaned him on film production. When he was two years old, he was on the set of Ireke Onibudo, a feature film his father directed on 35mm celluloid in the 1980s. Young Alabi-Hundeyin II grew from being in the live studio audience of a TV show to watching his dad’s crew shoot the annual Lekki Sunsplash. Many music video shots in the 1990s are credited to Alabi-Hundeyin II’s father. But he wouldn’t live in his father’s shadow.

After several years of work in the telecommunications industry, he decided to pursue documentary photography on a freelance basis. Five years later, he moved to England for a master’s degree and is now almost completing a doctorate degree in creative and critical practice. But if anything qualified him for the title of a chip of the old block, then it would be his preoccupation with the representation of the black body.

His latest show at the Brighton Fringe is in itself a cultural education to correct the misconception that Africa is popularly misconstrued as a country in western social norms. By exploring a variety of attires and textiles worn by Africans, the project interrogates the black body within the British landscape. In her body of work, Alabi-Hundeyin II explores the fabric as an element of shared identity. His photography series ‘Not A Country’ raises conversations around colonialism, capitalism, religion, and globalisation.

Alabi-Hundeyin II sought models among migrant postgraduate students while scrutinising their material culture for intricate ethnic symbolisms that reflect on the history and culture of African people. Every piece tells a story. The aso-oke robe from Nigeria is a ceremonial garment that has become a cross-generational cultural symbol. The Siziba outfit from Zambia is a reflection of the Scottish colonial influence on Zambian culture. Habesha Kemis is a shred of the pristine culture of Ethiopia, which is the only uncolonized African country. With the Maasai Shuka, the photographer recreates the African pride in the cultures of Kenya and Tanzania. Through the attire, the artist captures the rich wildlife of the subregion and the lifestyle of the Maasai—a visual reminder of the culture of the traditional households. Perhaps one of the most fascinating images at the show is that of the Igbo ethnic group, where the model wears the ceremonial wrapper, George, accessorised with coral beads known as echi ocha, a red suede cap called okpu onye Nze, and the horsetail commonly known as odu iyiya.

Not A Country has inevitably demonstrated how African attire is an essential access point into the African spirit. The flamboyance and simplicity of the subjects in the images would remain cultural indicators of the prevalent temperament of a people.he body of work may also be seen not just as an exhibit of cultural diversity and identity but as a conscious effort by an artist to document cultural transplants on British soil. Without manipulating the background, the images appear to be regular pictures, especially when the eyes long to see beyond what the camera sees. Not A Country is a testament to the African pride in the land of the coloniser, nearly obliterating memories of an imperial past.

One of his earlier works includes the television documentary titled ‘Lagos Megacity: Suffocated and Raped, a TV documentary for the Lagos State Government released in 2005. He was also one of the finalists at the Life in My City Arts Festival in Enugu in 2012, with exhibits showcased at Addis Foto Fest the same year.

In 2022, his documentary film entitled ‘100 Days in Rwanda’ was an official selection at the iRep International/Africa World Documentary Film Festival. His latest flick, a short documentary film, ‘Towards Utopia, was the official selection at the Abuja International Film Festival in 2022.