What was dead was never dead
The present unfolds itself as a product of the past. It is simultaneously experienced as an event and archived as a memory. Each observation of the now forms a prayer in a landscape of re-experiences and repetition.
Neec Nonso’s ongoing project explores the universal belief in reincarnation and the posthumous existence of family members. In Nigeria, it is believed that human efforts and achievements do not end with departing the earthly plane. This cosmological belief is reflected in a multitude of different origin stories, many of which are built around individuals and archetypes in the spirit land. Like with the Yoruba people, where a child is named only after consultation with the gods about which of the ancestors may return to earth from their temporary sojourn in the underworld.
Nonso attempts to capture the living dead by exploring intimate family stories and evoking memories, popular myths and taboos surrounding death, reincarnation and the universal belief in the afterlife. Combining images of his own body with portraits of the people he encountered during his research travels, Nonso assumes an ancestral state. In doing so, he engages with family histories and places of memory.
This series also features an augmented reality layer through the Artivive app.
