‘
Eko Moves‘ is the latest exhibition of photographs by the Germany-trained photographer Yetunde Ayeni Babaeko, which she shot in different public spaces in the ever busy city of Lagos. She collaborated with the Society for the Performing Arts of Nigeria, working with some of their dancers to bring alive a body of work that redefines the city of Lagos and build a bridge between dance and photography.
She gives more insight on Eko Moves in this exclusive interview with
Connect Nigeria.
CN: Why did you decide to create this new body of work ‘Eko Moves’ and why did you choose dance?
YAB: I came about the idea for this project when my two sons wanted to learn how to dance Hip Hop, so I took them to a Hip Hop class. When we got there, I was amazed by the dance moves of the dance class instructor. Since I just finished my other exhibition ‘Itan’ and I was looking for another project, this really inspired me to take this one up as my next project. So, I contacted SPAN, and they loved the idea of doing collaboration between photography and dance and it was almost immediately that we started taking pictures, going to different locations in Lagos mostly on a monthly basis to shoot.
CN: How many photographs do you have on exhibition?
YAB: 27
CN: What inspired you to take these pictures?
YAB: First of all, I knew I didn’t want to shoot these dancers in my studio and I also didn’t want them in front of a plain background. I wanted a bit more action and we started with the sand filled area around Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi because I thought we would have enough space there and from there we moved to more congested areas, from Makoko to National stadium. From there we moved to Balogun market and it was highly congested there, with a lot of passersby and we discovered that this brought more life to the images. There was a lot of excitement, but we also had some negative experiences; nevertheless it was fun most of the time.
CN: What is all the message about the project?
YAB: All the message about the project is more about taking dance as an art form into your everyday life and also what I’m seeing in my images is hope for Nigeria, hope for Lagos, which the dancers elevating and floating in the images depict. We’ve been to many rough areas, in some places where people are living literally on litter, like in Makoko where people are struggling to survive every day and we danced there, so the images are about hope. Also the images about education in the body of work, tells of abundance and helplessness in our educational system as shown in untidiness of the empty classroom.
CN: What were some of the challenges you encountered in the course of shooting the project and in some of the locations you photographed?
YAB: Actually, to my greatest surprise, everybody was really supportive. Nobody asked for a dime, that also gave me hope for the country that even the market women and the ordinary man on the street were supportive and appreciated the work we were doing. Balogun market was really great and supportive. But of course everybody knows that Lagos could be a difficult place to work as a photographer, especially when you are with your equipment, people can just frustrate you. The preparation for shoots too was also challenging, but after the first and second shoot I knew how to handle them. Apart from that it has been really exciting and fun-filled.
CN: What informed your use of the different public spaces, like the market area, the beach, the National Stadium, and so on?
YAB: I have been in Lagos now for ten years, and I’ve been operating as a photographer, so I have known all these areas before I decided to take the dancers there. For me the idea was to have places that are distinct, so that when people see the images they will be able to say that this dancer was at Balogun market or at this dancer was at National Stadium that was first and foremost why I wanted those areas. As I said earlier we started with the quiet areas and we moved to lively and congested places like Ajegunle, where usually no photographer would want to go there to shoot. Actually I was scared too, initially. But when I got there the Ajegunle that I saw just looked like other areas, and I wondered what all the noise was about. And then Dustbin Estate got me inspired too because it’s a project that SPAN has been working on. SPAN donates a lot of efforts into that Dustbin Estate, so they have been helping them a lot to get donations from other people, so when Sarah Boulos told me about it, I decided to integrate it into the ‘Eko Moves’ project.
CN: Would you say Nigeria’s photography industry has really developed?
YAB: Nigeria has not fully developed, but I think no country has fully developed. We keep developing, and we have been getting better. I came back to Nigeria in 2003 and I discovered that Nigerians are generally very curious, you just need somebody to start, and you just need somebody to give you a push. I could have done this exhibition in 2001 or even in 1900, but it’s just that the idea or mind set was not there yet but this is a beautiful exhibition and it means a lot, it is going to go far in terms of collaboration because this is something new in Nigeria. We are looking forward to more collaboration. We should focus more on collaboration and not always on how to make money instantly on projects. This project has been on collaboration for two years, none of us have made a dime out of it, but that’s not the point, the point is to create something that will last for a long time. Of course in the long run there will be some benefits for everybody and not really about money but more about the recognition of your work. And that’s why I’m very happy I came across someone like Sarah Boulos, who is more about doing something good first and the rest will come later. The dancers too were very amazing, whenever I had an idea, they were always ready to do, no matter how difficult the circumstance. Anyway I think that’s the good thing collaborating with artists.
CN: Was this project dance-focused or was it focused on creating a change?
YAB: Like we said this is collaboration and it’s for a greater cause definitely but one topic doesn’t have to outshine the other. If you say this is about dance, it doesn’t mean we should take it away from photography or charity project because they are all actually of the same importance and that’s what we need in this country, that we all work together coming from different perspectives and form something that can mean different things to everybody. A dancer will look at the images and would think as a dancer, figuring things like foot not properly bent, while a photographer friend of mine may come and look at the images and would say, very good lighting or oh very poor light and someone from an NGO would be more interested in the poor kids in the background, so these images have something for everybody and that’s the beauty about it. That’s the reason why this exhibition will go so far because there’s something to share with everyone through these images.
CN: Is there any plan to carry amateur photographers and dancers along in the course of this project?
YAB: Definitely, the focus of SPAN is to groom dancers and teach dance to those who are less privileged. In my own capacity I’ve had workshops in the past, where I trained female photographers. This project will not be an exception; definitely this project will create a platform for young and talented photographers and dancers to express their creativity in that line. Actually, it’s a movement for everyone.
CN: What are the future projects you are looking forward to in relation to ‘Eko Moves’?
YAB: Now that this collaboration worked out so well, I really do hope that I can contact others engaged in other art forms like music, painting, sculpture, craft, literature, and so on, we can do so many things if we put our minds to it. If I can get to collaborate with all these people, I’m quite sure the next project will be bigger. This project is ongoing. To be on the safer side we decided to start with Lagos. Later on, we’ll move to some other places in Nigeria and even out of Nigeria, maybe within Africa.
