ASHAWO : Who says you're a hoe??

Curated by Amaechina David SNIPES

Elfrida Grey, Hope in chaos, 2024
  • Online: 
    starting June 29, 2024
    Opening: Sat, Jun 29, 18:00

    On view at
    Oworoshoki Youth Sport Centre (Papa) Prince kb Oloworo street, Lagos, Nigeria 
    June 29 - July 27, 2024
"Get promoted at work...Ashawo
Go for a night stroll alone....Ashawo
Be a single mom...Ashawo
Buy a car....Ashawo
Tell a trader in the market not to touch you..Ashawo
Me, Ashawo! You, Ashawo! Everybody, Ashawo"

The exhibition title "Ashawo," is a Nigerian slang used in reference to a sex worker / prostitute.

With patriarchy and misogyny deeply rooted in the Nigerian system, the word has transcended from a derogatory term to a full-blown prejudice against Nigerian women. The average Nigerian woman faces the harsh reality of getting attacked with this word almost anywhere and every day.

This group exhibition features works by young female creatives from Lagos, Nigeria. Through the mediums of fashion, documentary, and interdisciplinary visual and performing arts, these women speak on this stigma faced by the Nigerian woman : their coping mechanisms, responses, and a general overview of the situation in order to create an in-depth awareness of this issue; while exploring potential solutions for extirpating this prejudice.

Changing the narrative cannot happen from the side of the victims only. The exhibition intends to challenge Nigerian men, who are the main perpetrators of this predicament, to join hands in assuring support and involvement in creating a safe, comfortable, and free environment for the Nigerian woman to thrive.
 

  • artists:
    Janet Adenike Adebayo
    Blessing Offiong Ekpenyong
    Elfrida Grey
    Oluwabukunmi Olukitibi
David Amaechina also known as SNIPES is a multifaceted performing artist, choreographer and community organizer based in Lagos, Nigeria. His work revolves around situational dynamism in an African context; which includes, but not limited to performances which are mined recreation from memory, contemporary folklore and appropriated global culture as experienced by him.



Installation Images

apexart’s program supporters past and present include the National Endowment for the Arts, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Kettering Family Foundation, the Buhl Foundation, The Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Spencer Brownstone, the Kenneth A. Cowin Foundation, Epstein Teicher Philanthropies, The Greenwich Collection Ltd., William Talbott Hillman Foundation/Affirmation Arts Fund, the Fifth Floor Foundation, the Consulate General of Israel in New York, The Puffin Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and administered by LMCC, funds from NYSCA Electronic Media/Film in Partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.