Beyond the Sweet and Obvious at the Iwalewahaus: Experience African Feminisms

Beyond the Sweet and Obvious: African Feminisms Refracted

At the Iwalewahaus of the University of Bayreuth, the exhibition Beyond the Sweet and Obvious: African Feminisms Refracted opens a multifaceted view on African and Black feminisms, artistic self-determination, and the history of modern art in Nigeria. The title refers to the manifesto of Nigerian artist Colette Omogbai from 1965, which radically questioned established notions of beauty, femininity, and artistic authority.

A Manifesto as a Starting Point

Colette Oluwabamise Omogbai studied painting at the then Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology and developed an expressive, surrealistically influenced visual language. Her paintings resisted academic realism and combined tense figures, intense colors, and formal simplification. In response to criticism that her art lacked the expected feminine grace, she answered in 1965 with the manifesto Man Loves What Is Sweet and Obvious.

This manifesto forms the intellectual resonance space of the exhibition. It represents the claim to understand art not as a pleasing affirmation of predetermined norms but as a self-confident form of contradiction, insight, and aesthetic experience.

African Feminisms in Dialogue

The exhibition, curated by Natasha A. Kelly, connects historical positions with contemporary perspectives on African feminisms. At the center are questions of memory, representation, diaspora, archives, and institutional responsibility. The presentation relates the collections of the Iwalewahaus to Black German histories and the university context.

Visitors can expect an exhibition where art, research, and cultural education closely intertwine. Painting, archival material, discursive formats, and contemporary artistic positions open up different approaches to feminist forms of knowledge and the political conditions of seeing.

Work Examination and Historical Depth

A particularly notable reference point is Colette Omogbai's painting Agony from the collection of the Iwalewahaus. The expressive visual language of the work refuses a clear readability and leads into a zone filled with tension between figuration, abstraction, and emotional condensation. Omogbai's art is regarded as an important contribution to the development of postcolonial modernism in Nigeria.

Her position is also connected to the Zaria Art Society, which since the late 1950s has sought an independent synthesis of indigenous African art forms and Western modernity. The exhibition makes visible how closely artistic form, social power, and the question of cultural self-determination are intertwined.

Exhibition Atmosphere at Iwalewahaus

The Iwalewahaus creates a focused framework for engaging with the works and themes. The exhibition atmosphere invites careful attention to forms, colors, materials, and historical voices. Between archive, contemporary art, and art historical classification, an artistic experience emerges that shifts familiar viewing habits and opens new perspectives on African art history.

Conclusion: An Exhibition for New Perspectives

Beyond the Sweet and Obvious connects art historical research with current feminist debate. The exhibition shows how a manifesto from 1965 still raises questions of freedom, visibility, and artistic authority today. Art enthusiasts should experience this unique art experience live at the Iwalewahaus and take time for open, focused examination of the works.

Official Channels of Colette Omogbai:

• Instagram: no official profile found
• Facebook: no official profile found
• YouTube: no official profile found
• Website: no official profile found

Sources:

• Iwalewahaus – Visit, Exhibition and Admission
• Iwalewahaus – Events
• AWARE – Colette Omogbai
• Niepodległe Museum – Colette Omogbai
• Poiésis – Colette Omogbai's Manifesto from 1965