Rofo Rofo Fight by Burns Effiom

Burns Effiom, Rofo Rofo Fight, 2014. Acrylic on Acid Free Paper, 36”x 24 inches

Rofo Rofo Fight is an allegory on Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s depictions of street fighters in Lagos Nigeria Lagos is a very populous commercial hub in West Africa. The communities in the innards of the city struggle for space and recognition. These territorial fights are so banal that it becomes a thing of empty threats. The fighters are more verbose in the duel. Than the actual exchange of blows. The fighters are depicted in caricature akin to their empty threats. Like Fela insists in a song “I no wan die”, “I no wan quench”

Burns Effiom is a designer, visual and performance artist, and curator. He represented Nigeria at the DAK’ART Biennale 2010 in Dakar, Senegal. He was a participant of the Nigeria|Korea Navitour with National Gallery of Art Nigeria 2013, held at the Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea. An Alumni of Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation’s Harmattan workshop, he collaborated with the United States of America Department of Information (USIS) and Bronx Museum on an Art and Diplomacy program titled “The Smartpower Initiative”. He is also the Nigerian representative of ‘AFIRIPERFORMA’ – a collective of performance artists of Africa. He has collaborated with the Goethe Institut for the National Pop-Up Theatre Lagos 2013, and was co-curator for the International Art Expo in Lagos 2008 – 2012. He has exhibited at the Africa Regional Summit of Arts (ARESUVA) 2009.