by Joel Pett, Ted Loos, December 4, 2018
For Zina Saro-Wiwa, Food Carries Meaning and Metaphor
But for the artist Zina Saro-Wiwa, the wellspring of her art is brutally straightforward: Her father, the Nigerian writer and anti-oil activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed in 1995 by Nigeria’s military dictatorship for his work fighting environmental degradation and corruption in Ogoniland, the home of the country’s Ogoni people.
Eventually it emerged in a way that she couldn’t have predicted. This week at Art Basel Miami Beach, her London gallery, Tiwani Contemporary, will display her video series “Table Manners” in the Nova sector.
The ongoing series, which began in 2014, shows people from the Niger Delta while they are eating. Just eating. The titles of the works are taken from the name of the performer and the food: “Felix Eats Garri and Egusi Soup,” for instance. As it has gone on, the series has taken a somewhat darker turn, with the subjects eating snake and other animals that appear in local folk tales.
“It’s a great leveler,” Mr. Schoonmaker said. “We all have to do it to survive.” Although Ms. Saro-Wiwa said that she is addressing “autonomy, creativity and environmentalism,” she said she doesn’t consider herself an activist, and she doesn’t directly tackle policies or governments in her work. Her website says that her specialty is “mapping emotional landscapes.”
Analysis: The work of Zina Saro-Wiwa is a great reminder that eating is necessary for all, and no matter what you eat, it’s sustenance and culture. It’s both practical, yet an emotional part of our everyday lives.
