Mikael Owunna, a Pittsburgh native with Nigerian-Swedish heritage, creates work that focuses on the intersections of identity and nationality. His skills are also intersectional: he is an artist, a photographer, a Fulbright Scholar, and an engineer. Owunna graduated from Duke University in 2012, with dual degrees in Biomedical Engineering and History. Wasting no time out of college, he spent his Fulbright scholarship in Taiwan from 2012-13, teaching photography to aboriginal Taiwanese youth. In 2014, the students’ works won an exhibition at the National Taiwan Museum. From 2013 to 2017, he embarked on a major project called Limit(less), photographing and telling the stories of 50 LGBTQ African immigrants in North America and Europe. This project is currently culminating in a book called Limitless Africans, releasing on October 11, 2019.
Davidson College currently has nine giclée prints of photographs from Limitless Africans on loan, in display in the E. Craig Wall Jr. Academic Center. These personal photographs reject the notion that homosexuality is “un-African” and reflect Owunna’s personal experience as a gay African immigrant. When American society alienated him as an immigrant and African circles alienated him for his sexuality, Owunna found his voice in artistry and photography. Now, he uses those media to fight the erasure LGBTQ Africans by telling the stories of such individuals. Limitless Africans explores historical and contemporary notions of African sexuality. Each print demands recognition and challenges traditional conceptions of nationality and identity.
These engaging prints will only be on display until November 10. If you haven’t had a chance to enjoy Owunna’s work yet, be sure to make your way to the beautiful Wall Academic Center Atrium in the next two weeks!