Chinasa Vivian Ezugha: Because of Hair

Multiple Os

Artist Chinasa Vivian Ezugha discusses the performance piece Because of Hair, which was a springboard to her career as a performance artist and an activist. The piece entailed covering her face with a hair mask she had constructed as a sculptural object that, when worn, functioned as a catalyst for interpersonal and affective exchange, prompting myriad and often disturbingly violent reactions. Because of Hair reflects Ezugha's understanding of the politics of hair from her perspective as an Igbo woman living in Britain and also prompted her to make new work about the Biafran war, which deeply impacted her family. In other words, the interview explores how self-exposing performance art not only overlaps the personal with the political but also fosters the artist's confidence to have a political voice.
This interview was carried out in 2017 as part of Oriana's research for her Phd on risky self-disclosure in performance art. Recently, Oriana has done a follow-up interview with Ezugha which will drop in two weeks.
Chinasa Vivian Ezugha is a Nigerian-born, British performance artist, scholar and PhD candidate at University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Currently, she is the Assistant Professor of Live Art/Art as Social Practice at New York University, Abu Dhabi. Her current research focuses on the voice of glossolalia and aims to expand this vocal practice beyond the walls of a church.

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.
Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Background music loop by Teddybeast6
Special Thanks to Gavin Butt, Lara Perry, Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson and Janak Patel

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