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Careers
The equal
opportunist
A tale of check- box culture
By Josie Demuth
Babatunde was tired of the dizzy, disappointing world
of arts applications. Having graduated from Camberwell, he
had been peeved to find himself working in the supermarket,
Lindl, with just one solo show, which he had paid for at a
for-hire gallery. Out of money, he had been about to give up
and return to Nigeria, when something happened.
The government’s Arts Board was under fire. No
marginalized artists had been included in their prestigious
awards, and upon further scrutiny, the media
revealed that no funding had been made available
either. It was all a shambolic whitewash, and the government
could only respond by creating a whole new
program for those on the periphery.
A spark of hope ignited in Babatunde, and he submitted
an application to “On the Edge” and crossed
his fingers for one of the lucrative grants it offered.
To his delight, a letter arrived from the Arts Board,
and he held his breath as he opened it. Babatunde’s
heart sunk. He had not been successful. His work was
described as “unable to ignite the inspiration sought.”
But his work had been a set of classic English
portraits, embellished with Nigerian coins. It was
symbolic of the two cultures colliding to become one.
To make matters worse, Babatunde’s Lindl supermarket
branch was closed, leaving him jobless and
almost instantly in debt. He returned to his “On The
Edge” application. Could it be he was not marginalised
enough? Well then, perhaps he could change this.
He resubmitted his application, ticking the box
“ethnic minority” as before. This time, however,
he also struck the squares next to “disabled” and
“homosexual.” He clicked “send” and reclined in his
broken desk chair. He could already feel a sudden
turn of the wheel.
2.
MANY MONTHS LATER, Babatunde reclined in
his state-of-the-art wheelchair. His paintings were
being hung across the light, spacious gallery, and
curators and gallerists fussed about him like mother
hens.
“Put that one over there!” ordered Petunia, the head
of the Arts Board. “It’s the most distinctive piece. It
screams out Babatunde’s struggle.”
Babatunde stuck up his thumb at the skinny
brunette. It was an old piece from his for-hire gallery
show, squashed in transit. Petunia seemed to
be drawn to its trampled effect, her small, grey eyes
glinting upon its unveiling. It was reminiscent of his
treatment, as a multi-challenged individual, she said.
This was his fourth solo show in a high-profile
gallery. In just a year, he had become one of London’s
most celebrated artists. A symbol.
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