In Glitter IX

Egbiameje Omole performs Pankere in Glitter, a work confronting the traumatic and emotional stakes faced by non-binary and queer people in Nigeria under hostile legal and social regimes. In Yoruba, pankere refers to the cane once used by guarantors to discipline children, a symbol of the violence and regulation imposed on queer bodies from childhood through adulthood. Omole’s performance reclaims this memory, transforming it into a spectacle of resilience. By drawing on the legacy of cross-dressing and queer icons of the past, the work resists erasure and insists on presence. Captured on a mist-covered hill, their red, glittering outfit vibrates against the muted landscape. The movement appears frantic, almost ritualistic, an act of defiance against invisibility, a demand for recognition. This image embodies the weight of law on queer lives in Nigeria while celebrating the persistence of joy, survival, and visibility against the forces that seek to constrain them.

Uploaded on 23 October 2025.