Disbelonging and unruly return in the performance art of Wura-Natasha Ogunji

This article examines the theme of disbelonging via unruly return in the performance art of Nigerian American artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji. Specifically looking to Ogunji's 2012 series Mo gbo mo branch/I heard and I branched myself into the party, the essay analyzes how Ogunji uses live performance to navigate Lagos as a queer, mixed-race American national, arguing that her refusal to be denied belonging while in Lagos and “crashing the party” disrupts easy understandings of belonging, citizenship, and cultural ownership. This article contends that Ogunji embodies return as a state of ongoing disruption and (re) imagining, for black women across the diaspora.