Refuge of Beings at Tafawa Balewa Square, 2024
Site-specific Installation, various dimensions and materials
Commissioned by Lagos Biennial, 2024; curated by Artistic Directors Folakunle Oshun and Kathryn Weir
Climate change reveals a lack of concern and stewardship of the land and more than human beings, as local neighborhoods always include more than humans. Through Alves’ installation our sense of community could be enlarged and opened up to a sense of society which inhabits with us a specific territory, reminding us that these beings have the same rights as us to be considered in social decision making. The process of urbanization produces beings whose daily relational complexities with other beings have been minimalized, severed or destroyed, removing the possibilities of ecosystems to function and maintain life.
Working with materials as plaster, straw and metal , Maria Thereza Alves constructed homes for beings including insects, reptiles and birds, inserted into the given architectures and spaces of Tafawa Balewa Square. These shelters encourage a more profound, interdependent and inclusive possibility of communal living.
The installation Refuge of Beings at Tafawa Balewa Square comprises the three individual works Refuge for Agama Lizards, Refuge for Grasshoppers and Termites, and Refuge for Splendid Glossy Starling.
