2021
Roxane Mbanga
  • SUMMARY
graduate of Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam

Naked underneath or, How to use clothing to assert oneself? as a part of the multimedia installation NOIRES.

Roxane Mbanga is a storyteller, a multimedia artist fascinated by the socio-political black female body. Naked, covered by facial jewelry, embodied by objects, in movement on the crowded streets of Lagos, dressed to reveal strength or staying still in the silence of oppression, the body speaks. Between invisibilization and hypervisibilization, she questiones the place of black women in public spaces and offers the audience tools for reflection on this matter. In her immersive installation NOIRES, Roxane challenges the prejudices of the viewers and highlights black female bodies. NOIRES is a multimedia conversation that combines a book, videos, sound, tapestries, garments, sculptures and prints. As a part of this installation, Naked underneath or, How to use clothing to assert oneself? is a series of videos suggesting women from different countries to reappropriate their bodies through the sensation of nudity within public space. Naked underneath For this roaming project, Roxane Mbanga revisits a traditional unisex garment from West and Central Africa: the Boubou. In collaboration with local tailors and artisans, she designs a series of four Boubous. Thanks to its loose fit, the boubou allows a unique experience of intimacy. Freely, the air runs over the body and the soft fabric caresses the bare skin. By wearing the Boubou without wearing anything underneath the woman is making the experience of the self. The first two videos took place in Lagos (Nigeria) and Dakar (Senegal).