Beyond the Chrysalis

Beyond The Chrysalis was curated by Nneoma Angela Okorie in 2023. Nneoma is a Nigerian curator and researcher. She was the ARAK Collection second 2023 Curatorial Residency Fellowship Recipient. To forge a personal visual language is to interrogate the world unrestrained by the boundaries of what is customary, a crucial signifier, and of real consequence to the rally for the representation of pluralities. Beyond The Chrysalis marks the non-linear paths, the detours, and the overlapping phases of an artist's practice. To enter this space is also to be aware of the three accomplices relevant to this inquiry: the artistic language, the approach to making, and the trails that meander through the recesses of an artist's imagination. The exhibition presents thirty-two works by three artists; Gor Soudan, Maliza Kiasuwa, and Khalid Abdel Rahman. What is critical is the interrogation of each artist's approach, dwelling on a framework indicative of a changing climate that situate art from the continent within broader frameworks, relevant to our time (post-colonial) rather than isolating it as a static object of study. The artists have developed distinct vocabularies which present a counter-narrative rooted in their lived experiences and identity to assert their agency