photo credit: Tabita Rezaire
Courtesy of the artist
Born Paris, France (1989), lives and works in Cayenne, French Guiana
Omi Elu 2024
metal structure, blue paint, 7 indigo-dyed textiles
240cm x 360cm (metal structure); 200cm x 140cm (each textile)
Courtesy of the artist
The production of this work was supported by IFN / Embassy of France in Nigeria and the Alliance Française, Lagos.
Commissioned by Lagos Biennial 2024.
Omo elu is an offering to Yemoja. Mother of the water, mother of the orishas, Yemoja is also the patron of indigo dying. It is this facet of the orisha that the artist is embodying here. Indigo has been used throughout the ages and across the world as pigment to dye textile, ornate objects or the body, and as medicine.
Omo elu is an ode to nuances of blue echoing the many paths of Yemoja: Yemoja the mother, the warrior, the creator, the healer, the ruler, the dancer…
Tabita Rezaire’s work is included in Gregarious architectures.
