2018
Plaster of paris, plaster mesh, medical gauze, new tech board, wall paint
500 x 350 cm

Liona R. Nyariri‘s artwork, The Pidgin (coming from within), revolves around the study of pidgin languages that emerged in Africa during European colonization. Sometimes named creole or patois, pidgin represents the coming together of several languages into a new, hybrid linguistic.

Nyariri investigates the use of pidgin to recount mythologies and histories about the African continent. This character represents the physical manifestation of pidgin languages and acts as a reminder that the movement of people also implies the movement of languages from their original geographic sites to new locations and meanings.