Abstract

This piece was prompted by the requirement that I write a “Critical Travelogue” for one of my MA classes. The assignment required every member of the class to physically make a journey before critically re-imagining it in a short essay. Beyond this, there were very few restrictions on the direction and form the piece could take. Combining my interests in art, activism, memory and Nigerian history as only a project like this would allow, I travelled to an exhibition commemorating Ken Saro-Wiwa entitled Doing Nothing is Not an Option. In order to provide structure as well as interest and humour to the project, I considered details such as mode of travel, embarkation point, and route in order to structure theme and narrative. As a result, the finished piece represents not only a spontaneous consideration of city space, diaspora, and gentrification but also an interaction (or a ‘brief encounter’) between the careful planning and inevitable spontaneity that are essential to both academia and travel, thus creating a dialogue between the disciplines.