Edinburgh Printmakers is delighted to announce a new solo exhibition from photographer and visual artist, Tayo Adekunle. Running from 27 July to 10 November as part of the 2024 Edinburgh Art Festival, Stories of the Unseen focuses on those who have been misrepresented, mistreated or ignored in history. The exhibition includes some of the artist’s previous work as well as a new body of work that is the result of a Toyobo residency at Edinburgh Printmakers. Adekunle’s practice explores issues surrounding race, gender and sexuality as well as racial and colonial history, predominantly through portraiture and self-portraiture.
Decolonising and reworking historical tropes relating to black people is central to Adekunle’s work. In a series of new works created for this exhibition, the artist explores the power that stories hold in the preservation of history, tradition and culture.
Continuing to explore how we can decolonise history, she has begun to look further at Yoruba Spiritual Tradition and the way it has been perceived and treated by the West. New works are a response to the actions of Christian missionaries whose rewriting of Yoruba spiritual tradition and demonisation of Orisha (deity) Éṣù served to undermine traditional beliefs and misrepresent Yoruba culture. Using Toyobo and digital prints, Adekunle’s work looks to counter the narratives surrounding Éṣù and Yoruba spiritual tradition as a whole, illustrating aspects of different stories of Éṣù.
Taking the The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 which contributed to the division of Africa between European powers as a starting point, Adekunle has created a textile print using maps of Africa from different periods of time - from pre-colonial to the present day. Maps show the progressive change in boundaries on the continent and illustrate the imposed changes these boundaries have brought.
Existing works featured include Reclamation of the Exposition (2020) which explores the commodification, fetishization and sexualisation of the black women’s bodies, specifically through the human displays in ethnographic expositions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using self-portraiture and digital collage whilst drawing from Prince Roland Napoleon Bonaparte’s photographic collection ‘Boshimans et Hottentots’, the works combine the contemporary with historic ways of being seen. In the larger works, Adekunle turns herself into a spectacle, recalling the use of black people’s bodies for European entertainment. The smaller Artefact (2020) works see the artist placed alongside the women photographed in Bonaparte’s collection.
An important part of Adekunle’s practice is how she can use her work to celebrate the richness of her heritage. Yemoja (2021), is a depiction of the motherly Orisha from Yoruba spiritual practice. She has associations with water and the moon and is often linked with the figure of the Virgin Mary in South America and Afro-Cuban practices. Shown with visual markers of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the work illustrates the duality of Adekunle’s practice. Yemoja acts as a negotiation of painful histories while also representing a celebration of connection with cultural history.
Speaking ahead of the exhibition artist Tayo Adekunle said:
“As with all of my work I wanted to reach into the past to reflect on the present, drawing parallels between the treatment of black people in the past and their treatment in the present day. This project looks specifically at storytelling and the impact of misrepresented histories. By providing alternate narratives to the dominant historical narrative that have been built, I want the works in this exhibition to celebrate my cultural heritage and encourage visitors to learn something new. To go and discover these histories and stories that aren’t really talked about. While on residency it has been great to be able to explore playing around with color and different ink application techniques. Printmaking has been something I have wanted to bring into my practice for a while so I have enjoyed working with the team at Edinburgh Printmakers in creating the Toyobo prints for this exhibition.”
Janet Archer, Chief Executive Edinburgh Printmakers said:
“I first came across Tayo’s work in 2020 when working with University of Edinburgh. Her research reflecting on the Phrenology holdings in the Anatomical Museum collection resulted in a thought-provoking piece that highlighted her powerful voice and we are delighted to platform her art practice at Edinburgh Printmakers. The vital support we provide for artists to develop and showcase their work is increasingly important in these challenging times. Stories of the Unseen showing alongside Ade Adesina’s INTERSECTION during this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival underlines our strong commitment to the continuation of decolonising history in our programme and wider organisational activity.”
Tayo Adekunle’s residency and exhibition are supported by the British Council. For Edinburgh Art Festival, Stories of the Unseen, runs alongside a new exhibition INTERSECTION in Gallery One by Aberdeen based Nigerian born artist Ade Adesina. Adesina will share a new body of work in his exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers. Featuring works in screenprint and lithograph for the first time alongside sculptural installations, works in linocut and woodcut the artist is embracing colour on a large scale for the first time. Adesina combines objects, places and scenes from his African heritage, British culture and those encountered whilst travelling into visually-immersive landscapes which come together with the impact of history painting.
Tayo Adekunle: Stories of the Unseen
27 July 2024 - 10 November 2024
Gallery 2 Edinburgh Printmakers
