Moyo Oyelola Presents: Dept of the People + Processing
Moyo Oyelola, a mixed media creative storyteller who has always been curious about the human endeavor, personal journeys, legends, and the “why”, is currently showing a new immersive art experience at the George Washington Carver museum until February 2023.
He moved to Austin in 1996 from Nigeria and eventually attended the University of Texas for engineering before changing to advertising. Moyo started as a freelancer before becoming an art director and creative director for multiple organizations. He visits Africa often for a creative recharge and to reconnect to home. He feels this is a great help to his creative process.
Dept of the People + Processing came from a previous idea called Passport which started during a residency with Big Medium at the Line Hotel here in Austin.
“It was based on a document that determined where and how you can show up somewhere, which also linked to our internal passports, asking where people were and where they were going or could go.”
[modula id=”52871″]When this current opportunity came, Oyelola had a recent, smaller show that he thought of using but decided to resurface Passport in a new light. The concept of Dept of the People + Processing is that there is a governing body that’s very opaque; people don’t really know what it does. We find ourselves standing in line but don’t know what we’re actually standing or waiting for. Moyo stated that this project is performance-based and changes. How you feel about it today may not be how you feel seeing it on another date.
It motivates you to listen to society and see what people are going through, regardless of status, boundaries, etc. Creative Conflict, a sub-exhibit, explores the internal conflicts of man: man vs man, man vs self, man vs nature, and man vs the supernatural.
The experience is set up to be performance-based. While Moyo won’t be there every day, attendants are encouraged to follow along with the show and find the processing dates so they themselves can be processed. Doing this will truly allow you to see the exhibit from start to finish. It can change every day. So view it more than once to get the full experience.
When asked if there were any new projects in the works, Oyelola replied, “This is the main focus for now . . . keep an eye out for something new next year, but that’s all I can say.”
You can keep up with Moyo on Instagram and learn even more about this exhibit. The exhibit runs at the Carver Museum, 1165 Angelina St., Austin, TX, and can be viewed Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-9pm; and Saturday, 10am-4pm through February 25, 2023.
