Ishola Akpo

Les mariés de notre époque

2015 Photographic Residencies

“It was is in 2014 that I began taking an interest in the subject of dowries. I was struck by the transformations of this practice, its reappropriation by young Africans and the social change resulting from this. I started by exploring the memory of my grandmother’s marriage dowry through objects found in the house: a wooden trunk made by her future husband, loincloths, pearls, gin bottles, a mirror and more. These images also reveal the anxiety of a woman who, with age, wanted to leave a trace of her life in family memories. These rusty, worn objects grew old with this woman; they bear the marks of time just like she bears them on her beautiful craggy face with its wrinkles and grey hair.”

The series Les mariés de notre époque, produced for the Photographic Residencies, expands this exploration. A forward-looking reflection on the dowry as both an ancestral and everyday practice, this work focuses on transformation of this custom in today’s world: its reappropriation by young Africans and social changes, especially changes in the status of women. Ishola Akpo has put together photographic scenes using dowry items collected in the field and creations commissioned from local craftsmen among the Yoruba peoples of Benin and Nigeria. These contrived images — at the boundary between tokens and artifice — are a way for the artist to denounce appearances and invite viewers to consider a fresh perspective on modern-day Africa.

Series produced between 2015-2016.

Ishola Akpo : Les mariés de notre époque