Unpacking The Suitcase

About

Backstory: In 1967, Prince Adewale Emmanuel Oyenuga enrolled as a student at the art school Escuala Massana in Barcelona. Three years later he and his wife Elizabeth decided to leave Barcelona for London. Prince Oyenuga left a suitcase with his archive with his close friend Luisa Guadayol in Barcelona but was never heard from him again. In 2016, Luisa passed away and her daughter Ana Briongos is resolute in her quest to return the suitcase to Emmanuel Adewale Oyenuga and or his family in Nigeria.

The material found in the suitcase points to different social and cultural moments in the history of Nigeria and beyond: the Nigerian Civil War, the cultural ties between two countries, Nigeria and Spain, the legacy of the artist, the story of emigration, Nigerian studio photography of the 70’s and first and foremost, to restitution.

Presented with thanks to Azu Nwagbogu, Ana Briongos and Lagos Photo.