Ashes and Diamonds in Nollywood
Discussion with Janek Simon

Ashes and Diamonds [Popiół i diament] in the Nigerian film industry – Nollywood, as well as about the numerous contexts in which the project is inscribed: the issue of the assessment of communism in Poland, the history of Nigeria and the manner of construction of nationalism in Africa, the relations between peripheries or the history of black cinematography.

The talk is illustrated by fragments of Nollywood movies and materials shot by the author during his stays in Nigeria.

Janek Simon (born 1977) lives and works in Warsaw. Conceptual artist and occasional curator. Interested in cultural geography and, in particular, in the issue of difference and distance between places, anarchism, ethics and the DIY practices, as well as the possibilities to use the forms of science to produce meanings in art. His works were presented, among others, during Manifesta 7, the Biennale in Liverpool and individual exhibitions in the Bristol Arnolfini, Casino Luxembourg and numerous public institutions in Poland. In 2007, Simon was awarded the main prize in the “Views” contest [“Spojrzenia”] and was nominated to Polityka’s Passport [Paszport Polityki]. In the years 2008-2012, he was the head of the Goldex Poldex non-commercial artistic space in Cracow.