Emo de Medeiros’ practice spans across video, sculpture and found materials. While his artistic position is in dialogue with the existing forms of transcultural or pan-African aesthetics, Emo de Medeiros’ work is marked by a unique ability to interweave visual textures and information. His Surtentures are textile-based artworks that he began in 2015, based on the ancient tradition of the Abomey appliqué textiles where master artisans sew cut-out figures and motifs originally produced to celebrate the Voodoo religion and the exploits of Benin’s kings. The fabrics are also embedded with invisible information in the form of NFC chips, carrying messages that can be read through an Android mobile phone and allowing the work to further reveal another layer of meaning.
Emo de Medeiros recently presented )U(, a mixed-media installation at Dak’Art—Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain (2018). In 2017, he exhibited at Pinakothek Museum of Architecture (TUM), Pinakothek der Moderne and Museum Fünf Kontinente, Munich.