Ayodeji Adewale Yaro
Born Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria
Tori Wrånes
Born Kristiansand, Norway (1978), works and lives in Oslo, Norway
When you think you know me you have to rethink 2017
performance, sound
Courtesy of the artists
Ayodeji Adewale Yaro / Tori Wrånes featuring Kings and Queens Art Academy with great help from Sulekha Ali Omar, Aishat Onitiri, Gustav O. Gunvaldsen, Mama Yaro, and Segun Adefila.
Dancers: Ope Elugbaju, Precious Ayejuni, Bolaji Faibo, Damola Faibo, Yekinni Zainab, Quadri Rilwan, Akande Afolabi, Obi Oyinkansola, Hassan Umar, Olugbode Ayomide, Olugbode Odunayo, Nnadi Emmanuel.
Drummers: Nohim Tajudeen, Chinonzo Nnadi, Kelvin Kalu.
The troll is a mythic figure that only comes out when it is dark. In a way this is also how we humans operate. We want to show the world our best sides, and are less proud of the dark and grotesque side. In that sense we are all trolls! For us the troll is representing the whole spectre of being a human. The troll represents the faceless character that often gets bypassed. Trolls can be divided into groups depending on where they live, such as Beach Trolls, Hill Trolls, City Trolls, Suburban Trolls, Valley Trolls and a couple other categories which take on unique characteristics depending on their surroundings.
Wrånes has been touring with trolls since the Sydney Biennale. Lately she had 11 trolls playing wind instruments stuck in a chairlift in the alps of Italy and cows had 12 tone tuned bells. This time the trolls in Lagos come out in collaboration with Yaro and Kings and Queens Art Academy. For two weeks they played with improvisation and combining Nigerian and Norwegian music and dance and local braiders. In “When you think you know me you have to rethink”, the local transportation is in use. In a way the performance could be described as drawing with sound as the motorbikes were driving around in the streets moving the sound physically around chanting to the people on the way.
The work plays with fantasy and science fiction and combines movements and sounds from Kristiansand (Norway) and Lagos (Nigeria).
