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In 1977 Fela Kuti, one of Africa’s most challenging and charismatic performers, released “Unknown Soldier”, a 30 minute hypnotic song that gave the account of the destruction of his house and the subsequent trial where the Nigerian army was declared innocent despite the co-ordinated attack and the presence of senior officers.
Attacked by an estimated 1.000 soldiers, Kalakuta Republic was burnt to the ground and many of its residents, including Fela Kuti, badly beaten or otherwise physically abused. Fela’s mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, who was 78 years old at the time, was thrown from an upstairs window and suffered injuries that contributed to her early demise. The trial pointed to an “unknown soldier” as sole responsible for the crime.
Just days before the attack, Fela had staged his own counter-festival in response to FESTAC ‘77, rejecting the government’s polished version of African culture. His defiance had long made him a target, and this latest act only reinforced the authorities’ resolve to silence him.
Funmilayo was a veteran for Nigeria’s independence from British colonial rule and an early campaigner for African women’s rights. She founded the first woman´s union to avoid excessive taxation in the markets, she was a crucial voice in the obtention of the right to vote and was also the first African woman to drive a car.
Photography has long been understood as the raw material for historians to write the account of the facts and its neutrality is only starting to be seriously questioned now in the era of fake news. In this series, Cristina De Middel assigns a mission to Photography shamelessly playing with her documentary value. She writes a different version of the facts, one where justice is served and where no context is visible, only plain layers of colors that hide the background. Soldiers are now falling and women just look at the window. They also carry the weight of tradition and manhood on their heads, as the raw material for their silent fight.
New documents that do not hide their predilections and that aim at balancing the memories that are assumed as always true.
