Oteanankanduro

Characters In Vogue

“We share the same experiences but different stories; some have desire, some don’t. What is the relevance of characters? Where are the characters in vogue? They are in the stories and songs; these are the things that actually have weight not the empty vessel (Actor) that must be burdened with the weight.” – Ato Kwamina Hasford (Oteanankanduro)

Yellow My Window

‘Yellow My Window’ invites you into the world of an effeminate artist in residency outside his home country who describes himself and his world as yellow: a feeling of stagnation, a call to change: To progress or regress seems like it’s all in his hands- “why are you poor?”, “why are you black?” – No one chooses these in fact. The systems of colonialism that permeated his home, promising bright lights through dark tunnels are the same ones that have rejected him, forced him into cold tents under distant bright lights. An effeminate and a migrant are like the colour yellow: they’re hard to miss. But when you’re conditioned to hate femininity and poverty in all its shapes and colours, they become easy to miss or worse, hate out of ignorance: Like in Africa where we have the sun all day-it’s common to acknowledge her anger on our skin than the joy it brings through illumination- But for those who come from and live in the cold constantly, they should know better and do better. It’s the systems, not the people; our toil and strife to survive. Blame the ‘silent’ fan for making us speak loudly.

14 Paintings of a Migrant in Paris

“I made fourteen drawings on small squares of art paper. In my quest for sexual freedom, I found a man who thought it would be nice to have me still making some art regardless of ‘no allowance.’ After I made the film, it was weeks before I brought these art papers out of the gift bag. I started looking for a meaning to why my life in Paris was soon becoming the narrative of the black queer migrant. Disappointed and for the first time, with no words to describe my thoughts and feelings, I used the watercolour pens I got from an ex-resident’s giveaway bag to ink my thoughts and experiences. The image you see below is the last drawing I made:”

Characters In Vogue, Yellow My Window, 14 Paintings of a Migrant in Paris were projects I embarked on as the Winner of Visas Pour La Création 2022, a two-month residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (Marais) from September 9th to November 4th, 2022, proudly supported by Institut Français.