Material Memory and Visual Communication: Archival Practice in Nigerian Fabric Waste Art – The Case of Jachima Gallery

Mayowa Johnson Agbeniga

doi:10.17323/cmd.2026.31845

Mayowa Johnson Agbeniga HSE University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/cmd.2026.31845

Keywords: visual communication, material culture, postcolonial visual culture, environmental media, archival practice, Nigerian contemporary art

Abstract

This study examines how Lagos-based artist Chidinma Miracle Obi-Nwafor (Jachima Gallery) transforms discarded textiles into communicative artifacts that archive material histories typically erased through disposal. Based on fieldwork in Lagos, Nigeria (December 2025), including in-depth artist interview and visual analysis of fabric waste collages, the research reveals how waste materials function as visual media that communicate environmental consequences, postcolonial material flows, and counter-narratives to dominant consumption systems. Drawing on Hal Foster’s archival impulse theory and material culture frameworks, the analysis demonstrates how artists working with textile waste operate as visual archivists who preserve indexical evidence of consumption patterns, labor histories, and ecological crises. The study contributes to understanding how visual communication through reclaimed materials generates alternative knowledge orders that challenge institutional narratives. Findings illuminate the intersection of visual culture, material communication, and environmental media, showing how artistic practice transforms waste into communicative evidence within postcolonial contexts where oversaturation with Global North textile waste creates both material abundance and environmental crisis.

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Author Biography

Mayowa Johnson Agbeniga, HSE University

Student of the Doctoral Program “Art and Design”

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