Akinbode Akinbiyi at Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin
/By Sara Bellini
In The Language of Cities Deyan Sudjic writes“A city is made by its people, within the bounds of the possibilities that it can offer them: it has a distinctive identity that makes it much more than an agglomeration of buildings”. Akinbode Akinbiyi’s pictures are portraits of a street, a corner, a moment. He captures the soul of a place through its inhabitants and the social texture that binds them to their cityscape.
“What I’m doing is observing, taking part in this urban phenomenon and trying to record documents. It is a kind of fine sensibility of understanding the passageways within the city.” In his psychogeography of the image on film Akinbode Akinbiyi explores the particular and the everyday, achieving a universal representation of what makes up collective life and how people experience their shared environment.
Akinbiyi is a photographer and artist that has walked and documented the streets of cities and coastlines of Europe, Africa and America. He has lived in England, Nigeria and Germany and is now based in Berlin. His collection of works reflects his wanderings and includes series like African Quarter (Berlin 1990s–today) and Lagos: All Roads (1980s–today). Selected pieces from his long-term projects will be on display at the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin from today until 17 May. The exhibition is called Six Songs, Swirling Gracefully in the Taut Air and is curated by Natasha Ginwala.
Akinbode Akinbiyi: Six Songs, Swirling Gracefully in the Taut Air
Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin
07th February 2020 - 17th May 2020
