The Crown/ Congolese Artist, Nicole Rafiki, Reveals the Secret Behind Her Latest Project

Nicole Rafiki, a Norway-based Congolese visual artist who uses symbolism to challenge stereotypes in a critical way, has, in a recent interview on Okay Africa, stated that, as an interdisciplinary artist, she uses symbolism to re-imagine and challenge the stereotypical depiction of spaces, contexts and the people who are affected by global migration.

According to the prolific artist, she views her work as a platform for dialogues about identity, fluidity, place, and belonging, adding that, as an artist with a diverse cultural, historic and artistic background, she uses art to inform, engage and heal, because it is too easy to fall into the trap of promoting idealism or clichés, and she makes it a point to be critical and analytical in her work.

Revealing the unknown and unseen details; secret behind her recent photo-series “The Crown”, the recent project came after she had been stuck in Lagos traffic for 2 hours, listening to a radio show about the role of women in the household. She explained that, amidst the conversation a middle-aged woman called in to say that a “proper woman has to be domesticated”.

According to her, submissions on the show just made it seem like, for many people, it doesn’t matter how educated, professionally accomplished or otherwise successful a woman is as long as she does not have the required domestic skills required by the African society.

The urban attire complemented by traditional African elements illustrates the double role that many young African women have in their communities. And yet, that point is made against a yellow backdrop, symbolizing the power, historical achievements, hope and optimism for the future.

However, she stated that, the core message in her art is the promotion of their personal and collective healing process. In perspective, she stated, the continent has reached a historical point where Africans from the continent and the diaspora are challenging the status quo in the art industry by creating their own platforms to discuss, share and challenge the dominating philosophical, artistic, political and cultural perspectives on art.

Nicole Rafiki disclosed that, healing the continent is only possible if Africans from the continent and diaspora understand the importance of playing their part, because natives and descendants of Africa, have the power, individually and collectively to create a different legacy for the next generation and have personally just begun exploring all the possibilities out there.

Source: gbafrica.net