Through his Connecting Continent series , Nigerian-born Kelani Abass insists that a response to the exhibition ’ s core question , “ Are we free to move about the world ,” requires another mode of questioning . Who gets to exercise such freedoms ? Nigerian passport pages function as the canvas for the series . However , it is the artist ’ s gesture to superimpose large-scale drawings of Black male figures , drawn from real young people living in his neighborhood , onto the passport pages that affords them their potency . In doing so , Abass hints at a younger generation ’ s dream deferred — a desire to experience the world . Utilizing pages from his own Nigerian passport as well as those borrowed from Nigerian-born friends and family members , he selects pages with prominent Nigerian cultural scenes ( the Dhaba Festival and Zuma Rock in Abuja ) marked with stamps in English and Arabic . They indicate the passport holders ’ entry into the United States , United Arab Emirates , Austria , and ultimately , their returns to Nigeria . For Abass , the prominence of the various stamps conjures for him the ways in which Black peoples have historically been and continue to be objects of transportation , movement , migration , and labor .
Framed within a white border , a Black Man takes up the majority of space on the paper . A sense of comfortability and confidence seeps out of the artwork ; he is powerful . However , his ability to travel is framed within whiteness . No matter where he has been and the experiences gained , whiteness lingers and encroaches . He is bound by the required documentation created by the
privileged to roam the world .
— Brittney Pieper Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies , Art History
Kelani Abass , Connecting Continent 3 , 4 , and 5 , 2022 , digital prints , color pencil , charcoal on paper , one at 51 x 73 cm and two at 60 x 90 cm . Courtesy of the artist . Photo credit : Ivan Peñafiel .
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