Dilomprizulike

Presenting the un-presentable; valuing the worthless; appreciating the depreciated; taking the outcasts inside; embracing the untouchable: this is the Junkyard Museum of Awkward Things as described by its creator, the self-styled ‘Junkman From Afrika’. As Dilomprizulike, he was named by the Independent newspaper as one of the fifty greatest cultural figures shaping his native continent. Junkman he will spend three months in residence at Mostyn, constructing the Junkyard Museum at the Mostyn, the first time it will have been seen outside Nigeria.

This unique ‘museum’ has been described as a ‘kind of artistic hospital’ in which the discarded object is resuscitated and brought back to a second life as art. As well as touching on ecological issues, the Junkyard Museum of Awkward Things is a reflection on people’s sense of rejection by and isolation in a consumer society which values disposability. The use of discarded materials has particular artistic resonance in Africa, and Dilomprizulike is among the most inventive of those who make their art out of the continent’s detritus.

Using materials which he will find locally, and working with educational groups and the public, the artist will build the Junkyard Museum during a three-month residency starting in early May before Mostyn reopens. The installation will take shape in a new gallery space close to Mostyn’s noted shop, a juxtaposition with the commercial that will give it additional poignancy and will underline differing cultural attitudes towards consumption and the possession of objects.

Following completion and the end of the Junkman from Afrika’s residency, the work will remain on display until 16th October.