Karimah Ashadu Plateau, 2021-2022 HD digital film, single/two channel (two versions), colour with sound Variable Dimensions
Plateau profiles a group of undocumented tin-miners in Nigeria’s Jos Plateau state and explores the socio-economic implications of their activities. Before Nigeria’s independence in the 1960s, Plateau State was central to the mining of minerals such as tin and columbite. The British colonial regime at the time enabled foreign companies to exploit the area. In the late 70’s and 80’s post-colonialism, many of these companies ceased and workers became redundant. These workers formed small communities and began digging the land for mineral deposits as a way towards their independence. They passed their skills on to future generations. Present day, mining continues with a whole host of complications. Without adequate machinery, the process is rudimentary and unmonitored, posing grave challenges to miners, inhabitants of Jos-Plateau state and the surrounding ecosystem. Plateau questions notions of independence and the detrimental impact of forgotten industries.
