Sean Jacobs's Blog, page 578

January in Cairo

On the third day of the New Year millions of Egyptians in governates outside the city voted in the third round of elections. In the capital, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has placed barbed wire barricades and walls stand around Tahrir ('Liberation') Square. Protesters have been attacked as enemies of the revolution. Western hopes invested in Egypt have been betrayed. Adam Shatz, writing in the London Review of Books, claims that 'A liberal Egypt was briefly alive among the people in Tahrir Square who desperately wanted to be a part of the modern world.' As if the fight against elite interests were modern, or the struggle over. On the BBC Eric Hobsbawm said that the 'Arab Spring' reminded him of the revolutions which swept through Europe in 1848 (though it's important to realise he wasn't actually alive then).

Mona Anis, writing in Al-Ahram, makes a clever modification: Egypt may in fact be imitating Paris in 1871, where the revolution started by radical occupiers of the capital city was betrayed by the latent conservativism of the rest of the country. As Mukhtar el-Mallah said, Egypt is not Tahrir Square. During last month's frenzied violence the makeshift hospitals set up in the square were apparently burnt by the military police. Today the square seems to have contracted into a band of ragged tents surrounded by an explosion of commercial enterprise, and the ebb and flow of demented traffic. As a first-time visiter to Cairo, it is unclear whether this is business as usual. As my host Hossam Sakr, a painter and professor of art, said "If you go to Tahrir today you will not understand anything about the revolution." This traffic island has become the most troublesome of metaphors in a country beset by problems of representation.

As you serenely descend the escalators in the arrivals lounge of Cairo airport, the words of Italian 'Prime Minister' Silvio Berlusconi appear: "There is nothing new in Egypt, Egyptians are making history as usual…" Next to this, a quote from Barack Obama: "We must educate our children to become like young Egyptian people…" For those who have dealt with the Egyptian education system this is a troubling statement. These are advertisements for the telephone company Mobinil, owned by France Telecom, run for many years by Naguib Sawiris, a member of the business dynasty allied to Mubarak. The revolution has been monetized.

And then there was the attempt by Vodafone to use the revolution to sell mobile phones. Egyptians cannot forget that Vodafone and Mobinil, like all Egypt's providers, suspended networks during last year's civil unrest. You've got to be careful who you accept praise from; the revolution will be betrayed by flattery. Think of those unspeakably gross images of Sarkozy and Cameron wringing the hands of Mustafa Abdul Jalil, leader of the Libyan Transitional Council. Talk about desperation.

Last week I spent several frantic days in Cairo, seeing as much art as possible, meeting some key supporters of Egyptian contemporary art, and trying to work out how art has survived the past year. It is clear there are Egyptian artists who for some time have been making work which expresses a rigorous disgust at these political iconographies. Over the next month, as the anniversary of Mubarak's downfall approaches, we'll be running a series of posts on how contemporary art has responded to – and intervened in – the events of the past year.

Photo Credit: Goran Tomasevic (Reuters).

#OccupyNigeria Music

Literally hot off the press (or whatever the youtube equivalent is) here is Tha Suspect's video for SUBsidy, an anti-corruption theme song offering for the ongoing 'Occupy Nigeria' protests.

h/t Siddhartha Mitter

Happy Birthday Seun Kuti

You've heard this song here before so Seun Kuti fronting demonstrations in Lagos this week shouldn't come as a surprise. In his own words: "I believe the fuel subsidy removal…is treason against the people of Nigeria." Follow Seun on twitter for updates.

Mexican dolls

How many times can you replicate an experiment before its underlying questions and possible conclusions turn banal? You'd think the conclusions of the 70 year old Kenneth and Mamie Clark doll experiment would have seeped into Latin America's public consciousness by now. Apparently not, since the Mexican anti-racist campaign doing their version of the doll experiment quickly went viral recently, as if they saw it for the first time. Of course Mexican kids are no different from the ones in Clarks' original setting. Why would they be? Some Mexicans hold views about black people that belong in the United States circa 1930. And if the makers of the video below — in an attempted parody trying to acquit Mexico as a country from the campaign's accusations — think the kids prefer the white doll over the black doll not because the black doll represents a black person but because it is black (with its what they consider typical Mexican associations of superstition, black cats, black death, i.e. "a psychology of colors"), they miss Clarks' point completely, namely that is a segregated society that breeds distrust and internalized racism. Which makes Mexico a very ordinary society. The punch line: "I'm not black, I'm a mechanic."

10 African Footballers to watch in 2012

There's an abundance of young African football talent plying their trade in Europe now. So much so that a player like Armaud Mendy–seen in the video scoring a spectacular goal in the FA Cup last weekend–has to play for Macclesfield Town in the English second division.  Later this month the 2012 African Cup of Nations finals will be played in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. We won't get to see Mendy–his team Guinea-Bissau did not qualify for the finals; they finished last in their group–at the ACN and he did not make our list of "10 African Footballers to Watch in 2012″ (yes, we do love lists, not just any lists) compiled by  AIAC's Elliot Ross:

Mehdi Benatia, 24, Udinese & Morocco



Dubbed the 'Moroccan Maldini' due to his silky, clean-tackling style, Benatia has emerged this season as the mainstay of Serie A's meanest defence. At 1.88 metres tall he is a powerful figure, but it is his pace, intelligence and ability to stay on his feet one-on-one that has been most impressive. All of Europe's top clubs are said to be interested after the player announced he plans to leave Udinese this summer. Cashed-up Paris Saint-Germain may well top the bidding for the former Marseille trainee.

Samuel Inkoom, 21, Dnipro & Ghana

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Already a fixture on the Black Stars team-sheet, Inkoom is Africa's most promising full-back. He joined Ukrainian side Dnipro in the summer after a couple of successful years in Switzerland with Basel, however things have not gone well for Inkoom and a move away has already been mooted, with Liverpool a possible destination. His rugged approach should make the former Asante Kotoko player ideal for the English Premier League.

Demba Ba, 26, Newcastle United & Senegal, Papiss Demba Cissé, 26, SC Freiburg & Senegal (in image immediately below) and Moussa Sow, 25, Lille & Senegal.



Right across European football, 2011 was the year of the deadly Senegalese striker. Three of them were so deadly they got their own category on this list. In France, Moussa Sow fired Lille to the 2010-11 title, top-scoring with 25 goals. In Germany, Papiss Demba Cissé broke the record for goals by an African in a Bundesliga season, his 22 eclipsing the previous record set by Tony Yeboah in the early 90s. And in England, only Robin van Persie scored more than Demba Ba, who bagged seven in twelve in half a season with relegation-bound West Ham, then moved to Newcastle United, where he has already scored 14 in 17. With Mamadou Niang still on the go, Senegal head coach Amara Traoré must be tempted to start with a terrifying four-man frontline at the upcoming African Cup of Nations. Ba, Sow and Cissé should all be at major clubs before long.

Knowledge Musona, 21, 1899 Hoffenheim & Zimbabwe

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A stellar season with the Kaizer Chiefs won Knowledge Musona the South African golden boot and a transfer to Bundesliga outfit 1899 Hoffenheim, where he is part of an all-African attack along with Chinedu Obasi and Peniel Mlapa. An elegant and economical finisher, Musona already has seven international goals and big things are expected.

Emmanuel Frimpong, 19, Arsenal & Ghana



"He's a real fighter. You would love to go to war alongside Frimpong." Arsene Wenger has known Emmanuel Frimpong since he joined Arsenal at the age of nine in 2001, and he still likes what he sees. The Kumasi-born enforcer tackles with such enthusiasm that his ball-winning attempts even have their own verb, coined after he was sent off for "Frimponging" an opponent on his debut http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYlf5-CdqLM&feature=related. He also has his own range of "Dench" t-shirts and a devoted army of Twitter followers https://twitter.com/#!/Frimpong26AFC. Recent highlights include his tiff with Piers Morgan "Come Off twitter and tone that Big Belly" (they have, unfortunately, made up since), and, in the wake of Sepp Blatter's remarks on racism in football, vowing: "If Blatter Ever Come to Arsenal am Gna Frimpong Him." He'll be playing at Wolves on loan until May.

Nicholas N'Koulou, 21, Marseille & Cameroon

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It's a bleak time to be a fan of the Indomitable Lions (at least, the male ones), but with players like N'Koulou on the rise Cameroon's slump surely can't last much longer. Marseille have assembled an impressive line-up of West African talent, including reigning Africa player of the year Dede Ayew, his little brother Jordan, and midfielder Stephane Mbia, and they were quick to snap up talented young stopper N'Koulou when Monaco were relegated last season. N'Koulou's impact has so far been limited by injury, but when he returns he'll form an impressive-looking partnership in central defence with Senegalese veteran Souleymane Diawara.

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, 21, Udinese & Ghana



Like Marseille, Udinese have actively sought to recruit African players, and wily coach Francesco Guidolin has been rewarded with top quality. Along with Mehdi Benatia (above), Ghana's Kojo Asamoah is consistently outstanding. He now has a fellow Black Star sitting in the holding midfield role behind him, 21-year-old Badu (full name: Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu). A short player, Badu makes up for it with pace, power and ferocious tackling. His emergence as a regular pick this season has filled the gap left by the influential Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler, who was pinched by Napoli.

Ouwo Moussa Maazou, 23, CSKA Moscow (on loan at Zulte Waregem) & Niger



Niger stormed to their first ever African Cup of Nations tournament qualification last year, eliminating giants Egypt and South Africa along the way. Maazou scored crucial winning goals against both teams, and will be the Nigeriens main threat in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, where they will face Morocco, Tunisia and hosts Gabon in a tricky, but not impassible, Group C. Maazou came to prominence with a series of match-winning performances in the Belgian league before moving to Russian giants CSKA Moscow in 2009, where he has been farmed out on loan to various French and Belgian sides. The ACN is his big chance to make a name for himself. Tall, strong, quick and hard-working, Maazou heads the ball like Drogba and can finish with the ease of Eto'o when he's in the mood.

Manie Ngono, 28, St Etienne & Cameroon

Africa's two qualifiers for the Women's Olympic Football Tournament are Cameroon's Indomitable Lions and South Africa's Banyana Banyana. It's the Cameroonians who will go in marginally the more fancied side on the back of their confidence-boosting victory in the All Africa Games in September. Experienced captain Madeleine Ngono–we could not find a good quality image for her, though there's this video of her being interviewed after a match–scored the winner against Ghana in the final of that competition and will lead the line for Cameroon's women in their Olympic debut in London. The Indomitable Lions have been boosted by the decision of highly-rated Bayern Munich sisters Nicole and Sylvie Banecki to represent Cameroon rather than Germany.

Cheick Tioté, 25, Newcastle United & Côte d'Ivoire



After just a season and a half at Newcastle, Tioté is already considered one of the top defensive midfielders in the English Premiership and has been frequently linked with moves to Chelsea and Manchester United, with figures north of £20 million bandied about. The Ivorian's grit and dynamism have made him a Geordie favourite and his only goal for the club–a 'booming' equaliser in the chaotic 4-4 draw with Arsenal last season–will make sure he is remembered on Tyneside even if he chooses to move on.

Geographically Incorrect

For those not following us on Twitter, it is worth reposting this commercial passed on by ambrown:

This annoying, creepy Carl's Jr ad is not only offensive, but geographically incorrect. That has to be another case of "Cape Town as somewhere else," correct? Sea Point as Istanbul?

BTW, Carl Jr's ad campaigns are no strangers to misogyny.

Sending South African miners home to die

Epidemiologist Jonathan Smith is working to complete a documentary called "They Go to Die," about the lives of four former mineworkers that were sent home from the mine after contracting TB and HIV in the South African gold mines. The men–like thousands of men each year–are affected by a process known as 'sending them home to die' that occurs in the South Africa mining industry, where migrant men who become sick with TB are sent home with little or no continuation of care, follow up, or chemotherapy (despite the fact that medical care is available on the mine premises).

The film brings to mind a scene from John Pilger's 1998 documentary, "Apartheid did not Die" where at one point Pilger quotes Richard Spoor, a human rights lawyer, that by the late 1990s already 69,000 workers had died since the advent of diamond and gold mining in South Africa–mainly from lung disease and underground accidents. Wages are low and safety conditions remain parlous; care or compensation for injured and sick workers or in the case of the surviving relatives of men who die while on the job, is minimal or non-existent. In the film, Pilger goes to confront Michael Spicer, head of public affairs of Anglo-American, with this evidence. Spicer's response is that "… all mining has risks, [that] accidents are highly regrettable … [and that] compensation may not always be to the degree desired." Pilger then suggests, "… to the lay eye you're saying the figure was regrettable, is shocking." Spicer, clearly annoyed, accuses Pilger of engaging in "selective questions" and ends the interview.

While mining accidents do get media attention when they occur, the deaths of miners from TB is far more hidden–particularly when the men are sent home to die, dispersed across the entire region. In Smith's film, he aims not only to highlight this issue, but to give the miners themselves a voice. He says, "I think it will bring out the life and joy that these four men share with their families. We all know that diseases cause morbidity and mortality, right? We don't need to be told that again. That's what we learn in school. But what is often overlooked is the life that this disease affects – the way it affects an organic, ever-changing infrastructure of family and community that plays a role in how an individual copes with disease. I am working as hard as I can to turn this human rights violation – all of this human suffering that goes on in this issue – into a positively cathartic experience. Not to just show the face of those 'sent home to die', but to show why it is important that it is resolved – because there are common threads of humanity to which we are all connected." Here's the film's fundraising trailer:

I put some questions to Smith about his film and how he plans to use it to help end this widespread abuse of basic human rights:

What is your background and how did you end up making a documentary about this issue?

I'm an epidemiologist – not a filmmaker. I actually chuckle when people refer to me as the 'director,' or 'producer.' I don't know what the hell a producer even does. Alongside this film, I am concurrently doing a research project that defines potential contextual factors that increase TB and HIV vulnerability in male migrant populations in South Africa, specifically gold miners. I love research – but this film is important for a few reasons. First, the research showing that this is a problem is already there. We know what's happening. We know what's causing it. We know what to do. We know how to stop it. This is an issue that needs very little further information to solve it. To me, given the body of research that exists, doing more research borders the line of unethical as a researcher. As far back as the 1903 the South African Presidential Commission, we see this problem: "The extent to which miner's phthisis [TB] prevails at the present time is so great that preventative measures are an urgent necessity, and that the number of sufferers in our midst is a matter of keen regret." That was over 107 years ago. In 1995, Judge Ramon Leon's commission issued a damning report on health in South African mines and said "radical" steps needed to be taken to address this. 17 years later, his findings still hold true. So those in decision-making power – the government, union, and industry itself – know the issues, and know how to solve it. It is a matter of accountability; the historical narrative over the past century has been one of diffused accountability between these groups. They continue to pass the ball of responsibility. So the purpose of the film is to raise awareness and education in both the research/global health community and in civil society, placing outside accountability on the issue as a whole.

It is such a huge issue and a strong story – why do you think the problem does not get much media coverage, even within the region?

This is a problem is out of sight, out of mind. When a physical collapse in a mine occurs, you hear about it immediately. Its there, its in your face as a tangible, discreet occurrence. But with disease, it is behind the curtain, and much harder to pinpoint. TB deaths far outweigh the casualties of a physical injury, but if the miner has been sent home, his death is not in the spotlight – it falls in the cracks and crevices of the African continent. Coupled with this diffused accountability, certainly no one notices. And certainly, no one cares.

This is a frightful situation. We have seen amped up rhetoric: on paper, everyone is greatly concerned about health and safety on the mines. I mentioned the two reports earlier, and those were just two examples of fiery rhetoric that rhythmically becomes extinguished by apathy. In reality, few people with decision-making power seem to be concerned at all. The most recent audit report (2008) could not be more blunt: "There is a pervasive culture of non-compliance to legislative requirements (on health and safety). Inquiry after inquiry makes findings to the effect that risk assessments are not conducted, training is not done, early-morning examinations are not done, equipment is not maintained and the list goes on and on." The commission's own words were "the list goes on and on." What a sad state of affairs.

Given the existence of effective treatment for TB and mining companies' huge resources, it should be easy to dramatically reduce the number of TB deaths among miners. Why do you think this has not happened?

50 years ago, our barriers to surmounting disease were biological – we didn't know how to treat diseases, what proper methods were, etc. Today, our barriers are man made – they are caused by human rights violations such as this. This isn't rocket science. There is no reason why we cannot have zero TB cases in the mines. There is some movement: the Chamber of Mines has set forth goals to reduce silica, TB, and other diseases over the course of several years, but this issue is something that can be stopped now – goals and deadlines are frivolous and allow for complacency. We need to stop the BS – this can be stopped. We know what to do. In the 1930s – which predates TB chemotherapy – the granite mines in Virginia had a terrible scourge of TB and silicosis, but they used the technology at the time, engaged the community, and actively sought to surmount the issue. And they did – with no TB medication and actually using South Africa's silico-TB reports as the gold standard for what to do. The difference between Virginia in the 1930s and South Africa in 2012 is that South Africa has an endless pool of labor to draw from. If the Virginia mines lost a worker, they lost productivity. If South Africa loses a miner, they can easily replace him with one of the many desperate for a job. It is easier to release the sick man and hire a healthy worker. This effectively shifts the burden of disease back to the home of the man. This is a human rights violation of considerable dimension.

This is not entirely the fault of the industry itself  – yes the mining industry does have a finger pointed at it, but there is legislation that allows this to go on. Miners, legally under statutes in South African legislation, are a population apart. Their rights are under separate jurisdiction than any other type of occupation (such as agriculture or construction). This legislation is outdated and inadequate. In terms of legislation for compensation, one mining physician wrote an op-ed titled, "Miner's Compensation: Who Cares?" which lambasts the complicated legislation that makes receiving compensation virtually impossible (a Deloitte audit showed only 400 out of 28,000 men – 1.4% – received compensation when they were sent home). But technically the legislation is there, right? So they can say, "well Mr. Mkoko is entitled to compensation." But he will never get it. There are masks such as this that each decision-making body hides behind.

This is not just a film – you see it as part of a larger campaign to bring an end to the problem – what else are you doing, besides trying to complete the documentary?

Primarily, the film is hopefully going to be used as a tool in three discreet ways. First, using it in a broader academic discussion of the issue will seek to spark future research on the issue to fill what gaps in the research remain. Secondly, showing it in this setting will also seek to promote dialogue and discussion on the issue among 'outside' decision makers: those organizations that play a role in global health as a whole. These two goals will hopefully forward the discussion on solving the issue in a concrete manner and place accountability on the inner circle of decision makers that can actually make change (the industry, South African Government, and union). Lastly, the film will hope to be aesthetically stimulating and approachable by a wide audience, educating and motivating civil society to place accountability on all powers involved. The goal is to have the film be a unifying thread between organizations in these categories. Then we will have one large push – a unifying push to solve this issue.

Here's what I mean in 'threading interested organizations together.'

  You're still trying to complete the film. How can people support you in your project?

This project is taking a different approach to what most films do. The ultimate goal of most filmmakers is to, obviously, create a film. Thus the call-to-action is after the film is made: you watch the film, and they tell you how to follow up. But like I said, I am not a filmmaker, and my ultimate goal is solving this issue. I am simply using the film as a tool to do so. So I am taking a bit more of a proactive approach, using parts of the rough-cut I have as a means to augment a discussion of the issue. There is no reason I should wait until the film is completed to raise this issue in the academic and global health arena. So instead of pulling the issue, I am pushing it, hoping to seed awareness that leads to development down the line.

So support could come in many ways. Global health and human rights organizations could come on board to support the film's goals, Universities could host a pre-screening, and individuals could sign up on the website. Like I said, the film will hope to be a nexus of all of all interested organizations and individuals. At the moment, the major holdup is funding – which has primarily come from grassroots efforts where we have accepted donations on the website. All the filming is completed, so the barrier now is funding funds to finish the film, promotion, and entering it into festivals.

Like I said, this is a proactive approach, so as we develop goals and initiatives that will afford individuals to take action, we will release them – that's why signing up is so important. It's not signing up to get a newsletter or something, but its signing up to be on call, so when we say, "we're pushing for X or Y," it wont just be me screaming in the wind, but rather backed by numerous individuals.

Music Break. Gary Clark Jnr

I first heard this guy play at Okayplayer's Christmas Party at the Brooklyn Bowl in December. This is his breakout single. (This is from a 2011 performance at a festival in Chicago; here's the official music video. I prefer the live version.)

Indexing Misery

There are good lists (from which we learn), there are bad lists (from which we refrain, like Foreign Policy making a list of everything) and there are offensive lists: Take for example The Huffington Post's Gadling blog which lines up "The World's Worst Places: Top 10 places you do not want to visit in 2012."

We've included the offensive descriptions.

10. "The once acceptable city" Harare, Zimbabwe, "probably the safest place on this list to visit with flights direct from London."

9. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where "even riding in cars is a dangerous activity."

8. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. "It has come a long way from the time of Mr. Kurtz, but the heart of Africa is still an exceptionally complicated place."

7. Rocinha favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "Its view of Rio is truly breathtaking."

6. Sana'a, Yemen, "a time machine to the modern edge of the Islamic dark ages." Isn't there a revolution going on there?

5. West Point, Monrovia, Liberia. "Delta flies from Atlanta to Monrovia, Liberia."

4. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. "Flying to Juarez from a number of cities is easy, but don't do it. Go to Cancun and fist pump instead."

3. Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. "One of the mast damned places on the planet."

2. Kandahar, Afghanistan. "It has an Armani Hotel, though it is not licensed by Giorgio."

1. Mogadishu, Somalia. "A soulless place at the edge of Africa… Oddly enough, several supermodels were born in Mogadishu."

No word from the cities' citizens. Foreign Policy, take a bow.

Then there's The Economist. They're on a list roll too. "Feeling Gloomy" ranked the world's most miserable countries (Misery Index: adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate). South Africa, you rank fourth, just behind Iran.

Serious, what's the use?

H/T: John Edwin Mason

New Nigerian art in London

Tiwani Contemporary is the latest art space in London devoted to contemporary African art. Affiliated with the non-profit Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Lagos, Tiwani promises to connect artists in Nigeria with buyers in London. "The Tie That Binds Us," a group show which collects five artists, opened in December 2011. These artists, all Nigerian and Nigerian-British, work across a range of different media. Lawson Okeyan's plaster ceramic eggs are intriguing and pleasing, though placed too close to the floor for inspection. Adolphus Opara's Shrinking Shorelines series (above: 'Shrinking Shorelines No. 5'), poised between art photography and photojournalism, draw wrecked machines against the clear lines of beach, sea and sky. The oil-black ink of these elegant monochrome images is a dark reminder of the industrial contamination threatening the Nigerian landscape. The exhibition also features Mary Evans' works on paper and a video piece and a Lagos soundscape by Emeka Ogbod.

Ben Osaghae's paintings of modern life in Lagos demand further attention. Pictures such as 'Endurance March' document social realities (the orientation day of the National Youth Service) with an eye-catching colour scheme. Much lies beyond the obvious attractiveness. 'Blackout!' moves towards the explicitly political territory of electricity supply, ironically confronting the problems with furious energy, evoking the awkward dance of figures moving through an unlit space. It is an angry and playful scene, poised between the celebration of the smallnesses of shared experience (you break something, stub your toe, light candles, make do) against the humiliating fact of hospitals' reliance on generators in a country where international energy companies make their fortunes.

Osaghae's 'Vernacular Class' sketches students at a class, quick and attentive as a Degas, moving between abstraction and representation, marks on the flat surface of the canvas and suggestions of three-dimensional space, mapping the interplay of inner and outer worlds. The painting configures the students' mental geography: they inhabit the painting dilligently, bent over their work. The dark blue bodies take on a certain weight against the turquoise background, they appear suspended heavily in space. There is no motion in this picture, in the studied poses of these studious children. No time ever passes; this picture is inhabited by boredom. The objects placed above their heads may be the objects of knowledge or distraction. The scribbling on the surface of the canvas is unfinished, inconclusive. Heidegger claimed that boredom is, in its most essential form, the experience in which being and time unite, the critical experience which makes philosophy possible. Osaghae's images are open to the question of being in the world, and responsive to the shifting boundaries of individual life. The gallery description of the work foregrounds its socio-political content:

The importance of education is underpinned here. The composition assesses the level of intellectual interest of the pupils – from the very enthusiastic to the lackadaisical. To the very serious amongst them, 'education is costly, but lack of it is costlier'.

It would be interesting to know more about the vernacular class, but this well-intentioned description does not do the work justice. Perhaps this art feels it necessary to emphasise its own political content in order to sell itself within an international aesthetic community. The artist's careful observations of shared and individual experience make this work rare and precious.

To return to the promise of the title: what is the tie that binds these artists together? Nigeria is surely too large and its artists too various for any claims for representativeness to be sincere. As always, I am curious to know the economics of the venture: where the money comes from and how it has influenced the selection of artists and works. Art spaces such as this have great obligations to the regions they propose to represent. With the range of work exhibited in this first show, and the ambition of their programme of talks and exhibitions, Tiwani promises to be energetic in their engagement with the challenges of this role, and this is an exciting prospect for contemporary art in London.

* "The Tie That Binds Us" at Tiwani Contemporary in London, till 21 January.