Lecture “BloodLetter” by Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju
followed by a talk with Alexander Wilmschen
The artist and author Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju combines poems, essays, letters and diary entries in her book BloodLetter. Her texts focus on questions of identity, belonging and migration. Her poetic and autobiographical reflection is connected to universal themes such as intergenerational trauma, family bonds and cultural transformation. The subsequent conversation with Alexander Wilmchen, curator of the exhibition, puts the literary text in dialogue with her visual work.
Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju is a multidisciplinary artist who works with painting, video, performance, and installation. Her work is characterized by her choice of materials: She paints on leather, wood, and birch bark. Her works combine personal and collective narratives and open up spaces where stories are told in depth. The artist's central topics are her relationships with her American-Nigerian family and her reflections on home and diaspora.
Alexander Wilmschen__ works as artistic director (interim) and curator at the Kestner Gesellschaft. He studied philosophy and art history in a global context in Düsseldorf and Berlin and has worked as a curator, author, and art historian in Hanover and Berlin.