Catalogue > At random

“Machine Boys” is a short film which explores the informal economy of motorcycle taxis; colloquially known as “Okada”, in the mega city of Lagos. Banned due to the government’s inability to regulate it, “Machine Boys” portrays a hardy group of bikers who continue this work, seeking to attain financial autonomy and independence. “Machine Boys” dwells on the consequences of this ban, meanwhile portraying the daily rituals and challenges faced by Okada riders. The riders embody though their stylish attire, and self-assured, powerful behavior, a particular branch of masculinity, and in this performance a beautiful vulnerability emerges, questioning Nigeria’s patriarchal culture. Through this exploration of Nigerian patriarchal ideals, Ashadu relates its performance of masculinity to the vulnerability of a precarious class of workers. With its innovative, cutting-edge style and sartorial references, it engages in a dialogue around post-colonial informal economy structures in Nigeria, as well as opening a window into the socio-cultural nuances of its most populated city.

Karimah Ashadu (b. London 1985) is a British-born Nigerian Artist and Film Director living and working between Hamburg and Lagos. Ashadu’s work is concerned with labour, patriarchy and notions of independence pertaining to the socio-economic and socio-cultural context of Nigeria and its diaspora. Her work has exhibited and screened at institutions internationally, including the 60th Venice Biennale, where she was awarded the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Participant in the International Exhibition. She has shown at Kunsthalle Bremen, Tate Modern, London, Secession, Vienna, Kunstverein in Hamburg, South London Gallery, London, Museum of Modern Art, New York and Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève. Ashadu is the recipient of other awards such as the Prize of the Bötterstraße in Bremen (2022) and the ars viva prize (2020). Public collections include MoMA, the City of Geneva Contemporary Art Collection and the Federal Collection of Contemporary Art, Germany. She was named Abigail R. Cohen 2021 Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, Paris. In 2020, Ashadu established her film production company Golddust by Ashadu, specialising in Artists’ films on black culture and African discourses.