Visual artist captures invasion of American culture in Benin village
Victor Ehikhamenor shows how young Benin people in his rural village are being influenced by Western culture.
When Victor Ehikhamenor went back to his village in 2009, he noticed that teenagers in the village looked like American teenagers.
"Seeing some of the kids now dressed as Americans, I was wondering how the culture is getting to them because there was only about maybe three or four people that have a TV in the village" wondered the artist.
In the 'American Invasion' series Ehikhamenor took photos of these teenagers against a backdrop of African print fabrics.
"It was kind of interesting to look at that cross-referencing of cultures," Ehikhamenor explained to CNN at London's 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair earlier in October.
His earlier work showed older people living in Benin, some who are parents of these teenagers. The series was called ''.
Victor Ehikhamenor was recently described as "one of Africa’s most innovative contemporary artists" by Ventures Africa.
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