Barrister Sikiru Ayinde

My piece on Shina Peters is a way for me to visit the nostalgia of witnessing my mother dance freely to Afro-juju, transforming that memory into the piece. The movement of her skirt reflects in the folds on my shekere installation, the width also suggests the shoulders of my mom. The installation features a painting of Shina Peter’s image from his performance in the Ace album and another image of him performing as he advanced over the years.

I want to preserve a part of our culture that addresses our superiority as Nigerians, as Yorubas and as Africans, I think that’s what led my path to the residency. It is a collective responsibility but I am playing my own parts by using my art to preserve the heritage of iconic contributions to our uniqueness. Because I fear that a day would come when a foreigner would rebrand, for example, Fuji music to our children’s children and they wouldn’t even know it’s stolen from their origin. Why? Because we do not keep our history alive!