On 11 June, Andrew Esiebo and Dr Laurent Fourchard will present a visual ethnography work they have been carrying out together since 2024 on the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos as part of our methodological seminar series. Through a mixed methodology of photography and ethnography, they explore the visible hand of an organization whose main functions are unseen, hidden, difficult to grasp or stigmatized. They aim to shed light on the front stage of the union and to expose the nature of public authority in spaces abandoned by the state. The seminar will explore at what conditions do collaborative work make it possible to overcome the clichés and stereotypical stories about this union and how, the practices of one modify the practices of the other.
Practical information:
Date & Time: 11 June, 2-4pm
Location: IFRA-Nigeria Resource Centre, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan
Sign-up here (deadline 5 June): https://forms.gle/CNvna2ZsnRqFtP2c8
Biographies
Andrew Esiebo is a Nigerian visual artist working across photography, video, and sound. His practice is rooted in long-term engagement with people and places, exploring everyday life, social systems, and the ways power operates within them. His work moves between documentary and artistic approaches, shaped by presence, trust, and collaboration. His solo exhibition are Pneuma-City, In-situ, Lagos (2023) Goal Diggers, Rele Gallery, Lagos (2018) Nigeria Now, The Loft, Washington DC (2016) Pride, Tiwani Contemporary, London (2014).
Laurent Fourchard, historian and political scientist, is a Research Professor at the Centre for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po Paris. Laurent Fourchard works at the intersection of history, political sociology and comparative urban studies. He focuses on policing, state at work, criminal organizations, trade unions, the political uses of public space. He is currently working on a book on NURTW one the larger trade unions in Nigeria, a central player in electoral politics and the main organization in transport regulation in the cities of Lagos and Ibadan.