MACHINE BOYS

2024, single-channel video, color, 5.1 surround sound, 8’35”

Courtesy of the artist and Fondazione In Between Art Film

KARIMAH ASHADU

Karimah Ashadu (1985, United Kingdom) is a British-born Nigerian artist and film firector living and working between Hamburg and Lagos. Ashadu’s practice is concerned with labour, patriarchy and notions of independence pertaining to the socio-economic and socio-cultural context of Nigeria and its diaspora.

Machine Boys (2024) portrays motorcycle taxis, colloquially known as okada, in the megacity of Lagos. In 2022, due to numerous accidents involving okada and the impossibility of regulating its informal economy, a ban was enforced, making passengers and drivers liable to imprisonment. In Machine Boys, Ashadu dwells on the consequences of this ban, while portraying the daily rituals and challenges faced by okada riders. The riders embody a particular kind of masculinity through their stylish attire and self-assured, powerful behaviour. Through this exploration of Nigerian patriarchal ideals, Ashadu relates the performance of masculinity to the vulnerability of a precarious class of workers. (Sofia Gotti)