Zina Saro-Wiwa

HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - Zina Saro-Wiwa

OR:

Zina Saro-Wiwa on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

Zina Saro-Wiwa (born 1976, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) is a Brooklyn-based video artist and filmmaker. She makes video installations, documentaries, music videos and experimental films. Saro-Wiwa is the founding filmmaker of the alt-

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

movement. A movement that uses the narrative, stylistic and visual conventions of the Nollywood film industry but for subversive, politically challenging ends. Formerly a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

journalist, her artistic practice emerged from her interest in changing the way the world sees Africa using film, art, and food. Her practice includes New West African Kitchen, a project where Saro-Wiwa re-imagines

West African cuisine West African cuisine encompasses a diverse range of foods that are split between its 16 countries. In West Africa, many families grow and raise their own food, and within each there is a division of labor. Indigenous foods consist of a number of ...

. Each feast also features African video art presentations and a mini lecture. On 22 March 2011, Saro-Wiwa was named as one of the top 25 leaders of the African Renaissance in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' newspaper.

Early life and education

Zina Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to Ken and Maria Saro-Wiwa. Her late father, the author and poet

Ken Saro-Wiwa Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerians, Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homelan ...

, became a well-known

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

environmental and human rights activist. He was executed in 1995 by the military regime in Nigeria when she was 19. She grew up in Surrey and Sussex in the UK where Saro-Wiwa's wife Maria and five children lived. She attended the private girls' school, Roedean, in Sussex, and the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

where she studied economic and social history. Her twin sister is the travel writer

Noo Saro-Wiwa Noo Saro-Wiwa is a British-Nigerian author, noted for her travel writing. She is the daughter of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Education Noo Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and grew up in Ewell, Surrey in England. She attended ...

, author of ''Looking For Transwonderland'' (published by

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

). Her older brother Ken Wiwa, is the author of the memoir ''In The Shadow of a Saint'' (published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

/Vintage).

Television and radio career

Saro-Wiwa was a BBC reporter, researcher, presenter and producer. She worked freelance all over the network on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, Radio 3, World Service Radio and BBC2. At the age of 20, she began contributing reports to BBC Radio 4's '' All in the Mind'' and ''In Living Colour'' programmes. She went on to work on a variety of

programmes including '' You & Yours'', ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...

'', ''

Home Truths ''Home Truths'' was a weekly BBC Radio 4 programme which began on 11 April 1998 and was usually hosted by the DJ John Peel until his death in October 2004. In the Saturday 910am slot, it gradually became one of Radio 4's most successful programm ...

'', ''The Long View'' and also World Service arts programme, ''The Ticket''. She has presented four Radio series: ''A Samba For Saro-Wiwa'', a two-part Radio 4 series in which she recounted her experiences in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

; ''Water Works'', a five-part series looking at water provision in the third world; ''Faith & Fashion'', a two-part series on the intersection between high fashion and religion for the World Service, and ''Hello World'', also for The World Service, where she explored Brazilian, Indian, Nigerian and British culture through the filter of their celebrity magazines. From 2004 to 2008, Saro-Wiwa was one of the presenters for BBC Two's flagship arts magazine programme, ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, t ...

''. In August 2008 she co-presented three BBC programmes (''The Edinburgh Show'') which covered the

Edinburgh festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

, alongside historian and BBC Broadcaster

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

. In 2008, Saro-Wiwa interviewed Nigerian author

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and '' magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

at his home. On 5 June 2008 BBC Radio 4 aired the resulting half-hour programme about Achebe and his seminal tome ''

Things Fall Apart ''Things Fall Apart'' is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, first published in 1958. It depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the invasion by Europeans during the late 19th century. It is seen as the ...

'' on the 50th anniversary of the book's publication.

Film

Saro-Wiwa began her career as a filmmaker with 2002's ''Bossa: The New Wave'', a documentary short about contemporary Bossa Nova music, which she directed and produced. She went on to direct and produce ''Hello Nigeria!'' (2004), a 23-minute documentary which examines Nigerian society through the Nigerian celebrity and high society magazine, ''Ovation''. ''Hello Nigeria!'' was screened at the New York African Film Festival in 2004. The film was covered by ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' newspaper and was featured on the BBC's '' Talking Movies'' programme. In 2008, after leaving the BBC's ''Culture Show'' she began to focus on film-making and directed ''This Is My Africa'' (2008/9), which explores African culture through the anecdotes and commentary of London-based Africans and Africaphiles. Interviewees include artist

Yinka Shonibare Yinka Shonibare (born 9 August 1962), is a British-Nigerian artist living in the United Kingdom. His work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. A hallmark of his art is t ...

, actor Colin Firth, filmmaker John Akomfrah,

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

anchor Jon Snow, and actor

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...

. The film was screened at numerous galleries, museums and film festivals worldwide, including the New York African Film Festival, the

Cambridge African Film Festival Cambridge African Film Festival (CAFF)is a film festival for African film in Cambridge. Founded in 2002, the festival is held annually in October or November. It is the longest running African film festival in the United Kingdom.< ...

, Real Life Film Festival Accra, Stevenson Gallery and

The Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. It won the best documentary short at the International Black Docufest 2008. ''This Is My Africa'' was licensed by HBO, showing on the channel from February 2010 to February 2012. In 2010 Saro-Wiwa went to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

Nigeria to make two films (''Phyllis'' and ''The Deliverance of Comfort'') in response to her fascination with the Nollywood film industry. The principles of the alt-Nollywood genre (low-budget films that purposely exploit Nollywood's visual conventions for subversive narrative value) were expressed in these two short films that were originally created for the exhibition ''

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

in Abuja'': ''Phyllis'' is an atmospheric portrait of a 'psychic' vampire, a woman obsessed with synthetic Nollywood dramas, that lives alone in Lagos, Nigeria. The central Nollywood-inspired device in this short experimental film is the practice and significance of wig-wearing in Nollywood film; a practice Saro-Wiwa invested with deeper psychological as well as science-fiction layers. Underpinning this central idea however is a critique of the unforgiving treatment of single women in Nollywood and Nigeria. ''The Deliverance of Comfort'' is a short satirical fable about a ' child witch' called Comfort. The film is a critical and densely layered response to the belief in child witches in some parts of rural Nigeria and Africa. The film questions the very nature of belief and comments on the complex relationship between pre-Christian pagan belief and modern day Nigerian Christianity. The relationship between Exu, the Devil, the human spirit and God. Inspired by the low-fi special effects employed in Nigerian Nollywood films especially when the supernatural is being evoked, ''The Deliverance of Comfort'' uses these same techniques but challenges the conservative and unchanging ideas about the supernatural drawing uncomfortable conclusions. ''The Deliverance of Comfort'' was shown at The Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. In April 2012, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' commissioned Saro-Wiwa to make a short documentary about the ''

Natural Hair The natural hair movement is a movement which aims to encourage women and men of African descent to embrace their natural, afro-textured hair. It originated in the United States during the 1960s, with its most recent iteration occurring in the 200 ...

'' movement amongst black women for their acclaimed Op-Doc series. The resulting 5-minute film ''Transition'' was released in May 2012 and was the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

' most watched and shared video the week of its release. The Film Society of Lincoln Center described Saro-Wiwa as one of the emerging African women directors who "challenge and question the taboo traditions of the Continent and the Black community at large."

Video art

Saro-Wiwa's video art practise seeks to map emotional landscapes, exploring their resulting physical performances and cross cultural implications. The space and relationship between reality and performance of particular interest. She began making video art in 2010 when she co-curated the exhibition ''Sharon Stone in Abuja'' which showed at Location One Gallery on Greene Street in

SoHo, New York SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its vari ...

. The exhibition explored the visual and narrative conventions of the Nollywood film industry. The exhibition featured artists: Pieter Hugo,

Wangechi Mutu Wangechi Mutu (born 1972) is a Kenyan-born American visual artist, known primarily for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work.Mickalene Thomas Mickalene Thomas (born January 28, 1971) is a contemporary African-American visual artist best known as a painter of complex works using rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel.

(with whom Saro-Wiwa created a Nollywood Living Room inside the gallery). For the show Saro-Wiwa also presented ''Mourning Class: Nollywood'' her first video installation and also her two alt-Nollywood films ''Phyllis'' and ''The Deliverance of Comfort''. The exhibition was covered by

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

and reviewed by '' Art in America'' magazine. ''Mourning Class: Nollywood'' is the first in an ongoing video installation series in which Saro-Wiwa explores the practise and performance of mourning and grieving. For ''Mourning Class: Nollywood'' she asked five Nigerian actresses to cry on cue for the camera, breaking their performance with a smile. The piece has been shown at Location One Gallery, at

The New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New S ...

as part of ''

Transition Magazine ''Transition Magazine'' was established in 1961 by Rajat Neogy as ''Transition Magazine: An International Review''. It was published from 1961 to 1976 in various countries on the African continent, and since 1991 in the United States. In recent y ...

s 50th anniversary birthday showcase and at The Pulitzer Foundation in

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. The work has been shown as both a single channel and multi-channel piece. In 2011, Saro-Wiwa went on to make ''Sarogua Mourning'', a video installation that confronted her own inability to mourn her father's public death. For ''Sarogua Mourning'' Saro-Wiwa shaved her head and attempted a mourning performance for her camera. The piece was first shown at Stevenson Gallery,

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and is currently on show at The Pulitzer Foundation in St Louis as part of ''The Progress of Love'' exhibition. In 2012, Saro-Wiwa was commissioned by The Menil Collection to make a piece of work addressing the issue of love in Africa for the exhibition ''The Progress of Love''. Saro-Wiwa created the project ''Eaten by the Heart'', a video installation and documentary project exploring love performances and heartbreak among Africans and African Diasporans. The first stage of this project features three online documentary shorts and a 62-minute video installation featuring twelve pairs of African/African diasporic couples kissing for between four and seven minutes each. The installation is currently on display at the

Menil Collection The Menil Collection, located in Houston, Texas, refers either to a museum that houses the art collection of founders John de Menil and Dominique de Menil, or to the collection itself of approximately 17,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawing ...

Music video

In 2012 Saro-Wiwa shot and edited her first music video. "Dindi", a bossa nova and jazz classic written by

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

, was performed by the São Paulo-based American jazz singer Alissa Sanders.

Writing

In 2008 Saro-Wiwa was commissioned to write an essay about the Nollywood industry, titled "No Turning Back", for South African photographer Pieter Hugo's monograph ''Nollywood'' (published by

Prestel Prestel (abbrev. from press telephone), the brand name for the UK Post Office Telecommunications's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. It achieved a maxim ...

). Her short story "Lola of the Red Oil", based loosely on Saro-Wiwa's experiences as a lone teen traveller in Bahia, Brazil, was excerpted in a book for Riflemaker Gallery's 2008 "Voodoo" exhibition. Saro-Wiwa's short story "His Eyes Were Shining Like a Child" was published by Sable LitMag in 2009.

References

External links

zinasarowiwa.com
(artist's website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saro-Wiwa, Zina 1976 births Alumni of the University of Bristol BBC radio presenters BBC television presenters British radio presenters British television presenters British women television presenters Film directors from Port Harcourt Living people Media people from Rivers State Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Nigerian film directors Nigerian women film directors Nigerian women television presenters Nigerian video artists Ogoni people People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex Nigerian twins Wiwa family Women documentary filmmakers American women radio presenters Nigerian documentary filmmakers