Sufferhead Original is a conceptual craft beer project inspired by the experiences and food tastes of Africans living in Europe. It communicates some of the perceived stereotypes, politics of difference...
Sufferhead Original is a conceptual craft beer project inspired by the experiences and food tastes of Africans living in Europe. It communicates some of the perceived stereotypes, politics of difference and integration associated with their expatriate fate through the brewing and branding of the beer. The project allegorically utilizes the characteristics of beer and other beer-related notions to explore migration, race issues, and stereotypes about Africans in contemporary Europe.
The name ‘Sufferhead’ was inspired by the 1981 track by Fela Kuti, ‘Original Suffer Head’, in which Fela sings about the deplorable political and economic situation in Nigeria at that time. The ’80s was a decade of mass emigration by Nigerians due to the harsh economic and political situation in the country.
Each new iteration of the Sufferhead beer is developed based on feedback gathered from interacting with African communities in Europe, with the resultant data inspiring the development of the beer recipe. In addition to brewing, the project explores the African expatriate experiences with the branding of the product; channeling labels, clichés, and occurrences into designing the brand's visual identity, and creating advertisements. Advertisement is an integral part of the Sufferhead project, incorporating different media including photography, TV commercials, infomercials and billboards.
The still ongoing project debuted in Berlin in 2015 and continued with the Kassel edition as a documenta14 artwork in 2017. The Munich edition of the project was created for an exhibition at the NS-Dokumentationszentrum München, and drew on the 1930s history of the city. The artist changed the Sufferhead jingle to 1930s swing music, and commissioned a fashion designer to create 1930s-style costumes with Ankara wax textiles. The video was shot at the Bazargebäude, where Hitler exhibited the degenerate art show. The catalogue on the floor at the opening of the video is the same used for Hitler's exhibition.