James West visits Oil boom, Delta burns at the International Slavery Museum…
This small but evocative exhibition featuring the work of African
photojournalist George Osodi examines the impact of the oil industry in
the Delta region of Nigeria. Osodi’s powerful images document how oil
has shaped the everyday lives of the Delta population, and the wider
consequences of pollution and industrialisation on the Delta’s fragile
ecosystem.
The mention of oil often conjures up images of smiling Middle
Eastern autocrats with their hand on a big tap, twitchy Western leaders
and illegal wars (can.open.worms.everywhere.). However, seven of the
world’s top ten petroleum producing nations are located outside of the
region. Nigeria produces more barrels of oil annually than Iraq,
Kuwait, and any other African state, the resource accounting for 80% of
total state revenues – yet over half the Nigerian population continues
to live in absolute poverty.
The Niger Delta has for centuries formed the bedrock of the Nigerian
economy – first through its trading posts and central position on the
Slave Coast, and then as a major centre for palm oil production. Since
vast reserves of crude oil were discovered in the Delta after the
Second World War, it has been established as one of the richest sources
of petroleum in the world.
Something approaching half a trillion US dollars worth of oil has
been extracted from the Delta, but on a local level the region appears
to be stuck in a time-warp; wracked by poverty and continuing conflict
between oil multinationals, the Nigerian government and militant groups
such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and
the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF). The extreme wealth
that runs below their feet means little to many of the impoverished
Delta population. For many, ‘oil is seen as a curse rather than as a
blessing’.
The strength of this collection lies in the strong contrasts Osodi
generates – bright African prints against the monochromatic backdrop of
oil fields and destroyed farmlands, or the organic muddle of tumbledown
homes beside the metallic uniformity of the pipelines.
Bright African prints are shown against the monochromatic backdrop of oil fields and destroyed farmlands
Everywhere in Osodi’s photographs we can see the conflict between
nature and industry, or tradition and modernity, all connected by the
pervasive nature of oil extraction. In some instances this conflict is
explicitly violent. A number of intimate portraits show burns suffered
by civilians in pipeline explosions, whereas sweeping aerial shots
highlight the damage done to the landscape by oil extraction.
These two ideas are connected in Skull (2004) which depicts the
charred remains of one local killed in Abia state by a pipeline
explosion, against the backdrop of once rich farmland reduced to dust.
The finger of blame is clearly pointed at the role of major European
firms. In many of the photographs, the bright logos of Shell barrels
stand prominently amongst the wreckage of burnt out homes or villages.
Osodi also highlights the destruction caused by fighting between
government troops and Delta factions. In all cases, it is ordinary
people who are left to deal with the effects of conflict, either
between government and militants, or rival oil companies and factions.
Elsewhere this conflict is more subtle, and it is here that Osodi’s
photography really stands out. Above all, the significance of oil to
the region and its role in shaping the everyday experience of Delta
residents is emphasised – women hang washing and dry tapioca, children
watch television and do schoolwork, and men read and debate against the
continual backdrop of burning oil wells and gas flares.
Oil barrels become baths, stoves or drums. Abandoned flow stations
become playgrounds. Pipelines run like veins throughout the landscape.
In Land Pollution (2004), oil becomes blood on the hands of a local
Nigerian youth as he surveys his ruined farmland. In some cases oil is
life affirming, in others, the opposite. Osodi’s pictures capture this
dichotomy, renewal and destruction juxtaposed. But above all, it is a
constant reality to the people of the Delta, one likely to grow ever
more central to their way of life.
As with previous exhibitions at the International Slavery Museum,
such as the recent Lee Karen Stow collection 42 Women of Sierra Leone,
the Museum should be commended for offering a floor to politically
conscious artists and photojournalists. It is unfortunate though that
the exhibition has been crammed into such a small space at the back of
the museum. There are only ten mounted wall prints on display, which
are supplemented by a slideshow featuring an additional two hundred
images. However this flicks through photographs all too quickly,
affording little time to appreciate them fully. Despite this, Osodi’s
work succeeds in his aim to ‘put a human face’ on the Delta conflict,
and to document how people carry on with their lives, and their daily
routines against the odds.
Osodi’s often troubling but always intimate images capture both the
pervasive reality of mineral exploitation, and the resilient nature of
the Delta people.
James West
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