Hands That Steal... LIVE! - TEMITOPE OLUJOBI

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Hands that Steal from “Other” Mouths is a theatrical two-player satire about Western empire and extraction in Africa. The project combines a 3D action arcade game with electro-pop, house music, and a teach-in on current day neocolonialist traps that uphold the unequal exchange between the Global North and South.

Hands that Steal from “Other” Mouths (HTS) began as a video game commission for Meow Wolf’s “The Real Unreal” in Grapevine, Texas, the original game personifies the exploitative relationship between the Global North and South, in a thrilling match of hide and seek between an anthropomorphic mouth (representing the Global South) and hand (the Global North). Since its humble button mashing beginnings, I have transformed HTS from what was initially a 2-player arcade cabinet experience into a live performance and geopolitical history lesson.

Attendees that watch & play come prepared to cheer and jeer at the live video game action, then reflect and discuss the central questions of the performance/lesson: “Are African countries poor? If so, what factors are keeping them that way?” and “Why should we care?”

READ MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT HERE