The thirteenth Biennial of Lyon is now underway at three venues – La Sucrière, the “Mac Lyon” and the Musée des Confluences – as well as a number of outdoor sites with Ralph Rugoff, director of London’s Hayward Gallery, as the event’s artistic director. After the last few years when more obscure forms of storytelling tended to dominate, this year’s artists display some refreshing vitality.
With a simple title and a theme that is easy enough to treat (perhaps too easy at first glance), “Modern Life” brings together sixty or so artists of various nationalities (a fifth of them are French) to explore the paradoxical aspects of culture in different parts of the world while questioning the many legacies of the modern era.
Georges Osodi was born in 1974 in sprawling Lagos where he produces photojournalistic work with a clear artistic slant.
His work includes series such as “Zimbabweans in Joburg” and “Ghanaian gold miners” , his images have been published in the New York Times and the Guardian. He also took part in the prestigious Documenta of Kassel in 2007 and has exhibited at the Photographers’ Gallery (London), Museu da Cidade (Lisbon) and the HMKV (Dortmund).
At the Biennale de Lyon, Osodi is exhibiting a set of photographs entitled “Oil Rich Niger Delta” showing the ravages of the oil economy (Nigeria is the world’s eleventh biggest producer), but he has also chosen to include some of the portraits from his Nigerian Monarchs series.
According to the photographer, this project aims to highlight just how complex Nigeria’s history is.
The fledgling democracy, the most heavily populated in Africa, still has several dozen monarchs ruling over different ethnic groups or territories, and there are even kings in the shanty towns and in the most remote regions of the country. These leaders have retained political, economic and symbolic power despite being stripped of their constitutional role in 1963.
A few years ago, Osodi decided to cross the country, requesting visits of the local sovereigns and a tour of their palaces and throne rooms, and thus explore a parallel part of Nigeria’s history.
EVENT
13th Biennial of Lyon
« Modern Life »
From September 10th, 2015 to January 3rd, 2016
La Sucrière
47-49 Quai Rambaud
69002 Lyon
France
http://www.lasucriere-lyon.com
http://www.biennaledelyon.com
