I call the Nigerian cheap knock-off copied designer street-wear aesthetic Versage because this is how it is often written. No one else calls it that; some people call it Versasse, with a hissed s, or Vers-ah-CH with a hard /ʧ/. The original Versage features the iconic motif of the golden Versace Medusa head, but completely reinvented: blown up or boiled down, twisted into swirling spirals across cheap polyester, shrunk into pointillistic designs on t-shirts, or plastic buttons lining the thick rubber straps of shower shoes. ->read more
The installation titled “赢得 – Win” a fusion of Chinese and English words, looks into the relationship between China and Africa. On one hand, the research project under the theme “ChinAfrika” buttresses the misrepresentation of the African continent in European narrative as a single entity and country. Under more scrutiny, it seems to re-affirms this thinking in the Chinese strategic approach to the continent. 赢得 – Win is my reaction and interpretation of the China-Africa affair. ->read more
Being the economic nerve point of Africa, it is no surprise that Lagos has strong ties with China and a history of bilateral trade and political relations. The economic, cultural, and political ties between China and Nigeria remain a bitter-sweet one as Chinese products imported into Nigeria are perceived as fake/sub-standard - but still meet the demands of daily life. ->read more
