Christopher Moller Gallery | Store In A Cool Dry Place

Christopher Moller Gallery is pleased to present Store In A Cool Dry Place by Azuka Muoh. 

One of our contemporary stars Azuku Muoh is back with a new collection that promises to both visually enchant and spark conversations about what matters to her. ‘Store in a Cool Dry Place’ has a deliberately nostalgic thread to it and delves into the culture and customs around seemingly ordinary and everyday foodstuffs and how these nuances are laced into Muoh’s childhood in Nigeria, much of it under the shadow of the Catholic church and its problematic partner, colonialism. There is a universalism to this body and indeed a deeply personal thread.

Growing up in Nigeria ensures many of Muoh’s reference points are distinctly West African but this collection explores how so many of the motifs and memories integral to her childhood have their origins far further afield. Many of the foodstuffs manufactured in Europe and widely distributed throughout West Africa are part and parcel of any Nigerian’s taste and memory bank and this major theme for Muoh –is rich with symbolism. The incongruousness of these expensive and imported foreign foodstuffs in a country with many on the poverty line, despite its wealth of raw materials, is something that sits uncomfortably and which she investigates beautifully in each piece.

For many Nigerians, the cost of living and the astonishing rising cost of everyday basics like rice is a worrying daily challenge and Muoh’s depictions of seemingly innocuous scenes mask the socio-economic implications of looking outwards for ‘our daily bread’ rather than tapping into resources and indeed, self-reliance. This collection is a captivating multi-layered examination of inadequacies in the African landscape be it due to its multifaceted history or present government corruption, importantly, through the lens of a millennial determined for change to be addressed before it’s too late.

Store In A Cool Dry Place is open for in-person viewing from 5 October – 10 November 2023.

The show runs from 5 October 2023 - 10 November 2023 for in-person viewing, and will further continue to run online from 5 October 2023 to February 2024.