Before you go…

Ahọn Dudu’s epilogue

This project was created and made on the unceded Coast Salish Territories of the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Stz’uminus, šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam) nations.

To the place that I was made in- Nigeria. My first contact point for diversity and celebration of culture, the black body, and of the black self.

I am from Ogun State of the Ijebu People [Ijebu-Ode] and we are Yorùbás. It is through these lenses that I choose to see the world around me and speak to societal issues on race in the diasporic environment as it pertains to the black body.

To the story-tellers who shaped me and  taught me family legacies, moral lessons and cultural values through stories. They taught me what it means to embody stories to keep them alive and the integrity that comes along with that.

Catherine Olowo-Ake [Grandma]

Oluwatoyin Olowo-Ake [Mummy]

Adebayo Olowo-Ake [Daddy]- who also led me through a number of Yorùbá oral histories and ways of being.

Seun Olowo-Ake & Sayo Olowo-Ake [my sisters]- who also graced my stories with their voices.

To more storytellers:

Qudus Onikeku

Dimeji Onafuwa

To my collaborators:

Iberedem Etim-Inyang who produced and mastered the songs and stories.

Ariella Horvath who phographed and videographed this project.

Omolade Oni who translated my ideas and English words to Yorùbá.

To:

my supervisor, Helene Day Fraser

and to the educators that gave me feedback and guided this project: Dr Cissie Fu, Chantal Gibson, Lu Chan, Jacqueline Turner, Laura Kozak, Amber Frid-Jimenez, Garnet Hertz, Gillian Russell.

And to my ever esteemed colleagues, MDes 2021 cohort of Emily Carr University

Thank you.