Pogo Bar: Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju

March 20, 25, 8:30 p.m.

In English language
Location: Pogo Bar

"she first spoke of bloodletting in the early hours of the morning, a glass of cold milk in one hand, a fistful of vitamins in the other. the measured intricacies of her grieving process, loving process. if done thoughtlessly: filled up lungs, swollen eyes, ferocious cough, static head. so she devised another way: let a few tears come out, drop by drop, then tie up the ducts and wait for a while. when the pressure becomes too much, you can breach the dam again. but long pauses in between are crucial, to avoid being drowned. it's like bloodletting, she said; a spurt of relief eclipsed by the promise of its inevitable resumption, drop by drop."

- Excerpt from Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, BloodLetter, 2025

While Letters. A Reading, in Progress, Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju will read a compilation of new, old and unfinished texts from her book Earnestly (Archive Books, 2022) and her latest manuscript BloodLetter. While Earnestly invites us to explore the expansive social and emotional landscapes of female adolescence, body image and desire, BloodLetter forms a family archive. Personal reflections combine with larger social themes of intergenerational trauma and resilience, heritage and cultural change. The reading lasts about 60 minutes.

Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju (*1996, USA) is a Nigerian-American artist and writer based in Berlin. She is a graduate of New York University and the Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture. Through painting, writing, performance and installation, she weaves intimate experiences of connection, violence and healing with broader considerations of cultural bias and identity. She has worked extensively curatorially and editorially, including with SAVVY Contemporary and Archive Books. She is currently a participant in the BPA// Berlin program for artists. Her recent solo exhibitions include Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju: BloodLetter at Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany (2024) and BloodLetter at PSM Galerie, Berlin, Germany (2024).