Cowboy

Across a two-channel video installation, voice, image, and sound combine to produce a meditative exploration into the story of a man named Cowboy. His background is marked by migration and shaped by his love for the equestrian, as he recounts a lifetime spent in service to horses. On the right channel we see the leaves of a palm tree rustling against a blue sky, alternated with images of the ocean. On the left, we follow the protagonist as he tends to and rides his horse. The strength and autonomy of the animal finds a compliment in the rider - a mutual responsibility develops and each grows to intuit movements of the other. As Cowboy reaches the sea, the two screens sonically coalesce. The cargo ships in the far distance are a reminder of the global economic trade central to Nigeria’s past and its future – as well as darker histories of exploitation, undocumented migration, and the shadow of forced displacement amid the transatlantic slave trade.