Culture

An Institute of Modern Art Touring Exhibition

Upon entering Pieter Hugo’s Nollywood, my eye was first caught by the distinguished ebony head piece of Darth Vader, mounted heroically on a blank Nigerian canvas. The billboard above beckoned, and I followed.
 
With any exhibition, I naively attempt to summarise what message the artist is trying to convey. I automatically assumed Nollywood would focus on the influence Tinseltown has upon African communities. Of course, I was wrong. Nollywood is a confronting, raw window into Nigeria’s film industry, the world’s third largest. The country produces just over a thousand films per year, more often than not for the local home video market. The films are marketed and produced within just a week, shot in less-than-picturesque conditions, using inexpensive equipment and an elementary script, and actors are cast the same day shooting begins.
 
Nollywood exposed what I previously would have thought non-existent, a third world film industry. I am unsure if Hugo intended to incorporate an element of shock value into his work, or if his camera was merely witness to this bizarre world, but Nollywood is marked by an element of surprise. Hugo asked the actors and assistants to re-create the scenes of these limited-budget, overdramatized, grim-ending films, and against a desolate, urban background mixed with a slice of traditional culture, a carousel of nightmares is born. Mummies, demons, witch doctors and zombies are awoken, wielding axes, swords, knives and guns. Most of the images are graphic, one even depicting Christ’s crucifixion, crown of thorns and all.
 
The exhibition is accessible and student-friendly (free!) and the gallery is open from 10am until 5pm daily, enabling it to attract a large audience. Nollywood is an audacious engagement with a rapidly expanding but underexposed film industry, showcasing Pieter Hugo’s flair for capturing what we all subconsciously love to see.
 
Nollywood is available for viewing at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery from May 28 until August 21, 10am until 5pm daily.