ATO ARINZE'S SCANDNAVIAN EXPERIENCE (2008)

Cultural exchange... Arinze shares Scandinavian experience

By Tajudeen Sowole
(First published in 2008)
THE recently held Europe trip of the Craft Potters Association of Nigeria (CPAN) must have taught members of the contingent a lesson about having a focused group of professionals who share common interest.
  One of the artists, Ato Arinze, while sharing his experience shortly after returning from the tour noted that it is hard for any artist to survive in Sweden without belonging to a group of gallerists.
  Six members of CPAN left Nigeria to the Scandinavia last August on a ceramic tour of Sweden and Norway, as part of the cultural exchange between the three countries. Under the theme, Clay Without Borders, other artists include Fatimah Bello and Nwokike Josephine. Four male potters Ogbonna Dennis, Owolabi Olusanya and Ayoola Ibukunoluwa.

Ato Arinze with some of his works

  It would be recalled that in November 2007, eight Scandinavian potters visited Nigeria in the first part of the cultural exchange. The visiting artists from Norway are Tulla Elieson, Sidsel Hanum
Anne Line Sund and Gunilla Maria Akesson, while Asa Jacobson, Margon Lindberg, Elisabet Svensson and Inger Sodergren are from Sweden.
  In Sweden, there is a group of co-operative consisting of artists and gallery operators that controls the art gallery scene, Arinze noted. The activities of the group, he explained make it easier for the artists and the gallery owners to forge a common front.
  He stressed that the galleries are categorised based on their diverse specialised areas. One of such galleries where the Nigerian group exhibited, Arinze said is called Burkina Faso Gallery, and had African art as its focus.
  "As part of the exchange programme, we had two shows in Sweden. One at one of the specialised galleries, Burkina Faso Gallery, which is for African art, while the other show was held at Blas and Knada Gallery which specialises on works of glass and clay."
  According to the artist, the Nigerian potters engaged their Scandinavian counterparts in a five-week ceramic activities which included exhibitions, seminars and workshops as well as visit to interesting places during the tour.
  For an artist to be well grounded in creativity, there is a structure from the secondary school level that helps aspiring artists to be better professionals, Arinze said. "In Sweden, there are vocational schools made compulsory for every secondary school leavers. It's a two-year programme that allows a student to decide a choice of career, before going into the university." He  advised that such a structure is worthy of emulation if Nigeria must attain its goal of an industrial giant in 2020.
  Earlier before their departure, the Nigerian contingent assured that the cultural exchange would go a long way in promoting Nigerian pottery and open the minds of CPAN members to new culture their immediate environment.
  Three academic and three full time studio members were among the Nigerian potters on the tour. The exchange was sponsored by the Swedish Institute in conjunction with Konstansverkscentrum K.H.V.C and the Norwegian Association of Arts and Crafts funded by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  The members will share ideas and techniques in the common profession of ceramics.
   Established in 1996, CPAN is an umbrella body for all potters in Nigeria with the primary aim of improving on the basic needs of its members. The necessity of the group, the members said arose from the fact that Nigerian potters are handicapped in terms of the availability of the much-needed raw materials with which to function effectively. 

Ato Arinze's works

   Using the period of the exchange to explain the focus of the group, members noted that there are no processing industries that produce such materials as glaze, prepared clay, machinery and tools e t c. As a result, individual potter has to provide their need with the necessary inputs from clay to glaze materials, they explained.
   Ultimately, the association, according to the group is to set up a national resource centre where potters can acquire tools and basic materials, and also an avenue for practical training, they said.

"We have also tried to encourage specialisation in the different sectors of ceramics such as tools and material production by individuals and established potteries. The resource centre will also provide a library and a conference hall. The land for this venture has been acquired in Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria and will be developed in due course.

"The invitation of potters from other countries to participate in our activities is another angle to our quest to develop and share knowledge with our counterparts on the international level. With this dimension, we will be able to keep abreast with happenings and developments globally."

VICTORIA AGILI

‘Lagos Museum’s collaboration with Ford Foundation is a success story’

By Tajudeen Sowole

The redeployment, recently, of the curator of the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, Ms Ronke Ashaye to Abuja, has paved way for her deputy, Mrs Victoria Agili to step in, in acting capacity, as the head of the Lagos heritage house. But for the Onikan Museum that seldom organizes exhibition, it is believed that Agili’s responsibility will be loud in the areas of administration and preservation of collections in her custody. She shares her experience of over three decades as staff of the National Commission for Museum and Monuments (NCMM) and plans on how to deliver on her latest mandate. Excerpts: 

   AGILI’s experience in curatorial service

I majored in Botany with subsidiary courses in Archaeology at the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State. I have also obtained a postgraduate certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester. I joined the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in 1977 and worked mostly with the collections in the Documentation Unit, rising to become the head of the unit.

  In addition to looking after the collections, the unit also conceptualizes and curates exhibitions. By training and experience, I think I can confidently say that I have what it takes to head the curatorial services. For the record, I also hold an MBA in Management from the IESE Business School and a Postgraduate Diploma in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the University of Lagos. And for a number of years I worked in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) here in Lagos heading both the Information and Human Resources Units. For the past five years, I was heading the Monuments, Heritage and Sites Unit at the National Museum, Lagos, as well as being deputy to the curator.

How much of archaeology or botany can be related to collections and curating of art works?

   Don’t forget I have a postgraduate certificate in Museum Studies and I joined the NCMM, not as an archaeologist, but as Botanist. The idea then was to set up a museum of natural history. In fact, we have a large collection of insects, which was donated to us, which we have used for exhibitions. We have also had other natural history exhibitions showing some of the plants and animals that are found in Nigeria. I think perhaps because of shortage of resources and emphasis being placed in other areas, we were not able to set up the museum of natural history.  But the idea is that as curator of a museum, you can work with the collections that are relevant to that Museum. I have been working with the ethnographic collections at the Lagos Museum for over 22 years.

The state of the proposed museum of natural history

   The Director-General, MallamYusuf  Abdallah Usman was in Lagos recently and disclosed that it is being set up at the Jos Museum. A museum of natural history as the name implies has to do with nature: plants and animals that inhabit an environment. For instance, in a natural history museum, you can have a stuffed lion skin stimulating a real lion or someone can recreate the Savanna and put it in the museum – just anything that has to do with nature. But we must not mistake a museum of natural history for a botanical garden or zoo; they are not the same.

As a curator of Nigeria’s largest home of antiquities, what exactly do you have to make up for not having a background in Art History or Visual Arts?

   I have a theoretical background for working in museums and I have almost 22 years experience working here in the Lagos Museum! I started from the export permit unit and then the documentation unit and as I said this is the unit where you work entirely with the collections, documenting, researching on them and using them for exhibitions. So, for over two decades, I have worked closely with the collections and know them like the back of my hand. Furthermore, the importance of the sculptural art objects in our collections is not limited to art for its own sake, but lies within religious and social contexts, which has a lot to do with the way man reconciles his life with his environment – with the problems of birth, survival, well-being, longevity, death and reincarnation, indeed the whole life cycle.  

Victoria Agili, Acting Curator, National Museum, Onikan, Lagos

Her view on ‘unauthorized exportation’ of artefacts from the national museum

  The export permit unit is for exportation of non-antiquity, in other words, contemporary works of art. When you are taking such works out of the country, you must come here to take a permit so that the officials at the airport are informed on the content of exports. Concerning the allegations of exportation of antiquities, from museums, people would always allege things.  While I was here, however, and since I have returned few months ago, I have not known of any unauthorised exportation of antiquities from our museums. And to the best of my knowledge, I have not heard that any official here was dismissed because of selling or exporting antiquities.

  Last year, there was an allegation that some Benin works were stolen from the Benin Museum. But the truth was that the Benin objects were on loan to the Lagos Museum. They were used in an exhibition, which has now been dismantled here at the Lagos Museum. We looked into the stores here in Lagos and found them intact. But I can’t say about the illegal sales that go on outside the museum.

How many collections do you have in the museum? And does the museum still collect?

 I have the exact figures, but I am not authorized to release them to you except with approval. We still collect, but not as aggressively as in the past when ethnographers and archeologists go out, routinely, to look for objects. However, people still bring their works to us, which we buy if they are genuine.

Over two years after Ford Foundation announced a collaboration to help rehabilitate the national museum, how much of progress has been made?

Oh… quite a lot has been achieved, and so much is still in the pipeline. With the Ford Foundation’s assistance, we hope to build a conservation laboratory, more galleries and expand other facilities such as the collections storage facilities.

  In the meantime, the Foundation’s assistance has enabled us modernise and convert certain portion of our office to a computer laboratory for the training of staff on the computerised documentation of collections.

  The computer lab is for capacity building in documentation to replace the analogue system. The Ford Foundation has also funded the building of a new gallery converted from several old offices. We are planning an exhibition for that gallery, funded by the Ford Foundation. It will open before the end of this year.

  And the conservation lab in the pipeline also a Ford Foundation project will have equipment and trained staff, so that we can effectively preserve our collections, so that we don’t have to keep sending people abroad to acquire skills in that area. When the lab is ready, it is hoped that it will also serve the entire West African coast as it is going to maintain international standards, while operating as the best in Africa.”

What is the update on the rehabilitation of the Ilojo Bar (Olaiya Family House), one of the four listed national monuments in Lagos assessed early this year?

  A lot of efforts is being made to rehabilitate the Ilojo Bar national monument. The D-G, Mallam Usman led a team to the house at the Tinubu square early this year to commission and pay for a survey and condition report on the building. The restoration architect, Prof John Godwin, in his report, assured that the building is strong enough to withstand rehabilitation. However, the cost of the restoration is huge because it must be restored in such a way that it maintains the original character of the building. Restoration therefore cannot be borne by the Commission alone, so we are reaching out to a number of stakeholders including the Lagos State government. In fact, happily, I can inform you that yesterday (the interview was done few weeks ago) we met with the Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Hon Oyinlomo Danmole. The Commissioner assured us of the interest of the Lagos State Government in the preservation of monuments and historical buildings in the state.

  According to the commissioner, Lagos State Government was also very much interested in the Brazilian Quarters generally. And Ilojo Bar, one of the best examples of Brazilian style architecture is one of the buildings to be rehabilitated. The Commissioner has also set up a committee, which includes a representative from the Brazilian Embassy to deliberate on what is required to bring the monument back to its original state. I think we are moving closer to the rehabilitation of the building.

LAGOS AUCTION BEATS LONDON

Anyanwu is a world auction record for Enwonwu

 By Tajudeen Sowole

 At 28 million Naira, a bronze sculpture by Ben Enwonwu sold at ArtHouse Contemporary auction in Lagos few days ago beats the artist’s Negritude (16 million naira), sale from Bonhams, in London in 2009.

  Also, in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a debut auction recorded over 70 per cent of the lots sold at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre. The auction, a joint venture by two Lagos-based art groups, Terra Kulture and Mydrim Gallery, showed that in the next few years, the Abuja art market could be as big as that of Lagos.

  A few days after the Abuja auction, the hub of the nation’s art scene, Lagos, however, reaffirmed its high rating as ArtHouse Contemporary’s seventh edition recorded N28 million (£125, 000) sale of Anyanwu (142.2 cm., excluding the base, 1956) a masterpiece sculpture by Ben Enwonwu. 

  

Anyanwu, 142.2 cm., excluding the base, 1956

  At N28m, Anyanwu is an auction record for Enwonwu, even at the international art market. The artist’s last auction record was £66, 000 (N16 million naira) for a 1957 piece titled Negritude (acrylic and watercolour on card (120 x 75 cm), sold at Bonhams, London, U.K., in 2009.

  Anyanwu is one of the most popular works of Enwonwu. A small-scale size of the work is part of the embellishment of the National Museum Onikan, Lagos. The artist made quite a number of the works in different scales.

   In Abuja, master printmaker, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya’s ‘Sahelian Masquerade Panel 4’, etching 59 x 87 inch (1987) was the highest sold at N4 million.

  From the three days’ preview, to the auction day proper, the attitude of collectors in Abuja showed that in a city of civil servants and politicians, spending big in public has to be done with caution. And the strategy, so it appeared, was to spend without being present.

  Although absentee and representative biddings are not uncommon in art auction, however, the Abuja example seemed like a rare one as nearly all the works were sold through these two means. In fact, the bidders present were mostly women, who, according to sources, bought on behalf of some big politicians and government officials.

  The passion for art appreciation is fast gaining ground in the city, one of the bidders disclosed during a chat while responding to the issue of low art collecting in Abuja. As one of the prominent buyers of the day, she said, “I started collecting art just two years ago”.    

  Given the widely perceived low art market in Abuja, Terra Kulture and Mydrim’s announcement of taking auction to the federal capital was seen as a bold, uncertain venture. “We are aware that it’s a bold step, full of risk too,” the managing director of Terra Kulture, Bolanle Austen-Peters remarked a few days before leading the team to Abuja.  She, however, insisted that it was worth giving a trial.

  Proprietress of Mydrim Gallery, Sinmidele Ogunsanya, who addressed the bidders, disclosed that in the last few years, works bought in Nigeria had been sold at auctions in Europe and the U.S. at higher value. She argued that Abuja should not be left out of this non-oil export, and commended the bidders “for being part of the historic first art auction in Abuja”.

MD of Terra Kulture, Bolanle Austen-Peters (left) and minister of petroleum Diezani Madueke during the Abuja auction preview, November 2011

   Austen-Peters noted that “though art collecting appeared like a social passion, it is actually an investment”.

  Although it took about 10 works before the auctioneer, Yemisi Shyllon sold the first work of seven digits, his hammer thereafter continued to be in action until the audience thinned out towards the end of the last lot. “It’s a success, we sold more than 60 percent,” he declared as he stepped down from the terrace of the open hall. The next morning, he disclosed, enthusiastically that “some works were bought after the auction, increasing the total sold to 62, a figure that represents over 70 percent of the lots”.

 Supported by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Abuja auction is likely to have another edition as there was indication that the Terra Kulture-Mydrim team would continue exploring the art market scene of the federal capital. Ogunsanya said though it was too early to make a definite pronouncement on a return to Abuja, “we will decide soon on either to make it once or twice a year”.

                 Bruce Onobrakpeya's Sahelian Masquerade Panel 4, etching 59 x 87 inch (1987) N4m

  In Lagos, the build-up to the Kavita Chellaram-led ArtHouse auction started with a private preview a day after Shyllon’s last hammer fell in Abuja. At The Wheatbaker, Ikoyi, Lagos, the 107 works on display showed that the seventh edition was the richest in quality compared to the previous sales. And on Monday, at the same venue, the megabucks started rolling in as masters such as Enwonwu, Akinola Lasekan (1916-1972), Kolade Oshinowo, Ghanaian Prof. Ablade Glover, Biodun Olaku, Ben Osaghae and Duke Asidere had impressive sales; the younger artists also made their marks.

Former Director-General of National Gallery of Art (NGA), Chief Joe Musa and CEO ArtHouse Contemporary Ltd, Mrs Kavita Chellaram during the Lagos auction preview, November 2011.

   In continuation of ArtHouse’s charity sales segment, seven works were auctioned to support mixed media master, David Dale, who recently recovered from a stroke. About N1.8m was raised through the sales of seven works for the artist. Obiora Anidi’s Family Man, David Dale’s Safari, Flamingoes and Crown Cranes and Bride of Hope, Okosun Odion’s Mask, Alade Adebanji’s Portrait of A Man and Inyang Nse-Abasi’s Untitled were the works sold as charity lots.

  The charity sales was introduced into the auction of ArtHouse during the fifth edition last year when it supported an initiative of the wife of former Governor of Cross Rivers State, Onari Duke. Also at the sixth edition early this year, the auction house sold charity lots to support Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation’s (BOF) annual art event, Harmattan Workshop. 

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Koma Village (1987), oil on canvas, 122 x 152.5 cm.) byKolade Oshinowo sold at N2.5m.

  Mrs. Chellaram stated that the auction house’s sponsor of young sculptor, Richardson Ovbiebo’s solo art exhibition is an extension of the organisation’s support for artists. In fact, she assured that every year, ArtHouse would sponsor one art exhibition.

Top Five of Terra Kulture-Mydrim Abuja auction 2011

 1. Bruce Onobrakpeya

Sahelian Masquerade Panel 4, etching 59 x 87 inch (1987) N4m.

2. Kolade Oshinowo

African Woman, mixed media, 53 x 33 inch, (2011). N2m.

3. Segun Aiyesan

Coloured Race, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96, (2011) N1.5m

4. Kolade Oshinowo

Home at Sunset, oil on canvas 39 x 39 inch, (2011). N1.2m.

5. Fidelis Odogwu

Kalakuta Republic, metal, 44 x 31 inch (2010) N900, 000.

Top Ten for ArtHouse Contemporary Lagos auction

1.   Ben Enwonwu’s Anyanwu (142.2 cm., excluding the base, 1956) N28m

2.    Ben Enwonwu’s Untitled (1980, oil on board, 109.2 x 43.2 cm), N8m.

3.    Ben Enwonwu’s Untitled (1980, cold cast resin, 112 cm), N5.5m

4.    Ben enwonwu’s Untitled ( 1972, oil on canvas, 61 x 51 cm), N4.5m.

5.   Chidi Kwubiri’s Town Crier (2011, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 250 cm. was next at N2.6m.

6.    Kolade Oshinowo’s Koma Village (1987), oil on canvas, 122 x 152.5 cm.) N2.5m.

7.    Akinola Lasekan’s Portrait Of A Man (1956), oil on board, 122 x 85.4 cm. N2m.

8.    Sokari Douglas Camp’s
Bucket Heads, (2010), steel, 73 cm., N1.7m.

      9.    Ghanaian master Ablade Glover’s Untitled, (2004), oil         on canvas, 101.5 x 152.5 cm., N1.7m and Ben Osawe  Untitled, (Wood, 93 Cm. 1998)

10. Abiodun Olaku’s Eyo Adimu (1993), oil on canvas, 90 x 68 cm., N1.6m.

LABAF 2011 ART EXHIBITION

Do Not Resuscitate… An inclusive converge for motherland

By Tajudeen Sowole

 Stepping out of the regular or commercial art into issue-based theme should not be an expression confined within certain genres under conceptual art, so suggests Do Not Resuscitate, the art exhibition segment of Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) 2011.

  Curated by Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo through the Media Red Studio, Do Not Resuscitate offered the visual artists space to address the socio-economic and political challenges facing Nigeria. Bringing performance, video and installation art in the same space with painting, the show portrayed an all-inclusive and democratic approach to conceptual art.

   Installation artist, Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo and performance/video artist Jelili Atiku, although shared the same space with painters such as Bob-Nosa Uwagboe, Tolu Aliki and filmmaker, photo artist Aderemi Adegbite in the inclusive gathering, each artist’s identity still manifested. And then came a word spice from performance poet, Iquo Eke, who lent her vocal prowess to the exhibition. 

Installation, Oily Bride (wrapping paper, ribbon, wire and glass) by Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo.

  In a reflective moment of a people in search of direction, Atiku, in his performance installation, Rawson’s Boat attempted a re-enactment of the Benin punitive expedition of 1897 led by British colonial naval officer, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson. Atiku states: “Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson and his team looted and destroyed monuments and houses of many high-ranking chiefs, particularly the palace of Benin king. In order to defray the costs of the expedition, the British Admiralty confiscated and auctioned off more than 3,000 Benin artifacts as war booty”.

Atiku notes that though it happened over a century ago, “the memories, mnemonics and healing associated with this looting are lingering.”

Adegbite’s video work, Ghetto Games, reflects on the joy and excitement of people living in environment, representing a typical living moment in most slums of developing countries.

  From his pop art-like rendition, which makes his painting a breath of fresh air in Nigeria’s art landscape, Aliki contributed works that dwelt on tolerance and forgiveness. This much he depicted in acrylic on canvas, Let Bygone Be Bygone, We Are A Patient People and Hopeful.

  Stylised-impressionism painter, Uwagboe, whose expressions in distorted figures challenge the rules of art, joined the search for a better world with his body of work, Occupy Nigeria. In Peaceful Protest for Global Peace (acrylic on canvas), the artist highlighted economic and political imbalance pervading the world.

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Jelili Atiku in the performance, Rawson’s Boat.

  According to the curator of the exhibition, Do Not 

Resuscitate serves as a creative gathering that explores “how artistic interventions can be used to reform or be the catalyst needed to take decisions about finally moving our society forward, especially with the recent security threats and continuous economic conditions”.

  She noted that at 51, Nigeria stands between the choice of prolonging its end artificially, or die a natural death. 

  On the concept of the exhibition, Nwosu-Igbo explained that it was to bring individual projects of the artists under a “site-specific” situation. Freedom Park, Lagos Island as the venue of the 2011 LABAF, she argued, has a link to political and cultural history of the country; “It reflects on history, memory, and identity through video art, found objects, installations, poetry, paintings, performances, and open air discussions.”

--> Tolu Aliki’s Let Bygones Be Bygones

  The challenge of Nigerians putting the country first, appeared to be the focus of Nwosu-Igbo’s I Am Still Nkechi. In the installation, she urged Nigerians to “ponder on the flexibility of identities” in the context of national interest.

  Also, Eke, in her poetry performance dwelt on collective effort to build the nation. She charged the people to “arise from the vermin in the glimpse of dusk,

before the embrace of dawn.” She warned: “Let us not resuscitate, lest our vision be benighted, for time is the appealing distance between the pain of becoming and the joy of our prime.”

   Uwagboe was born on November 26, 1974 in Benin City, Edo State. He specialises in painting and mixed media after graduating from Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State. He had further training at Enebeli Arts Studio, Benin City. He is a full time studio artist in Lagos. Some of his recent shows included The Last Pictures Show, a tour and group exhibition in Lagos, Douala (Cameroun) and Paris, France, two solos, Homme Libre at African Artists Foundation (AAF) and MGallery Hotel, (formerly Sofitel), Ikoyi, Lagos.

  Atiku, also a sculptor, has, since 2009, been involved in performance art projects, home and abroad in such works as In the Red, Victim of Political Assassination at Rencontres Internationales in Paris, Berlin and Madrid. He also featured at the Geisai 12 Contemporary Art Fair, Tokyo, Japan, 16th Festival International D’Art Video de Casablanca, Morocco, Old News #6, Malmo, Lagos and Freedom to Create Prize, Singapore.

  Adegbite was born on February 28, 1982. He is a young filmmaker and a photographer.

 Aderemi’s second short film, Ghetto Games won In My Backyard category at the One-Minute Africa Video competition in Egypt. His exhibitions include Lagos on a Sane-day, AAF/Etisalat Amateur Photography at Civic Center, in 2011; Youthful Useful at Creative Wall Voices – Inter-cultural Online; Lagos Photo Festival, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. 

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Bob-Nosa Uwagboe’s Occupy Nigeria.

  Aliki, a self-taught painter was born on February 7, 1976. He has B.A in Mass Communication from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ogun State. His work was on sale at the 2011 auction of Terra Kulture. His solo exhibitions include Intimate Moments at Nike Art Gallery, Lekki, Lagos (the 2001), Evolution, at Colorida Art Gallery, Lisbon Portugal ((2010), Colours of Passion, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos (the 2009)  

  Eke was born on January 22, 1980. She has a BSc in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. She is married with children. Iquo is a writer, actress and performance poet who renders her words to the accompaniment of instruments such as traditional drums, flute and/or strings.

CHIKE ONUORAH (2011)

D’Artist’s art, Passion inseparable

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE

WHOSOEVER believes in luck and spiritual powers as important factors to human success needs to see Chike Onuorah (a.k.a D’Artist’s) new works. Commitment, the artist stresses, is key to success and not luck, hence the title of his show, The Passion.

  And it’s not about an artist who creates and leaves his work to laze away; details and attachment to his work continues even after he drops the palette. In fact, D’Artist seems to have joined others, whose work have narrowed the gap between the medium and the message.

     Passion, he argues, “is the wing through which ideas fly to manifestation, the prerequisite for success and a potent force.”

  It is widely accepted that artists are not obliged to live or behave their themes in the pattern of the late Spanish surrealist, Salvador Dali or Nigeria’s Dilomprizulike (a.k.a Junkman). 

Stronger Than Yesterday by Chike Onuorah

   Though The Passion was not intended to address the link between an artist’s attitude and the themes of his work, but D’Artist, perhaps, sub-consciously, behaved his theme, within and outside his work, particularly during a tour round the 25 paintings, inside the Terra Kulture Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos. The boldness of nearly half of the works in large canvas seemed not to be enough for Onuorah’s expression as each of the work was accompanied by a poem. For example, in Stronger Than Yesterday — a close-up view of a face — the emphasis on the eyes, mouth and nose, speaks so much about passion.

  However, complementary lines such as “maybe I am just a woman, completely passive, weakened and mistaken for so long,” adds to this commitment. And as the subject of the work dwells on gender equality, boldness and passion find a meeting point.

  Onuorah declares: “Maybe I am now the woman, completely seasoned, now so strong; I am now the woman.”

 Some rewards do come to people who are passionate about nearly everything. This is what Hall of Fame, a masks-filled canvas piece, seems to say. “This is the hall of fame, for all those who excelled in the game. This is the recognition for that extra contribution. This is where you belong,” the monologue explains.

Missing You by Chike Onuorah

  Having assembled the body of works, spiced with poetry, further explanation of his theme was the last thing on his mind. And when provoked into a conversation on the theme, the theatrics in him left no one in doubt that indeed the artist behaves his art.

  “Those who have passion control the world; passion rules, it’s everything,” he says in almost a melodramatic tone.

  Part of this passion is his consistency in showing his work every year. And the similarity in themes of his last exhibition and The Passion confirms his sincerity of concept.

Chike Onuorah

  AT the same venue last year, it was titled Commitment. With about 30 works, which included paintings and what he described as his new experiment in charcoal, Onuorah engaged art collectors and historians, particularly observers of his work on the issue of man’s application of mental resources. However, from one show to another, the artist has brought something new to his art: from cracking the canvas in what he describes as Crackilino, Splashillino, Plastillino and Grassillino in Timeless, he informs that his new experiment is now on charcoal.   ONUORAH graduated from the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Benin (UNIBEN) and has been having shows almost every year since he started full time studio practice.

LAGOS NATIONAL MUSEUM'S ICONIC CAR OF MURTALA MUHAMMED

           

'Missing' archival object sparks debate on museum decadence
By Tajudeen Sowole

(First published Tuesday, October 07, 2008)
 ONE of the relics and symbols of the nation's post-independence history was missing in action during the 48th independence anniversary last week.
  That symbol of an evolution of a fragile nation and the bullet riddled official car of the late Head of State, Brigadier General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, who was assassinated during the botched military coup of 1976, was conspicuously unavailable at its usual spot, inside the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos.
  Several hundreds of visitors to the museum were disappointed that on a day as crucial as the Independence Day, the historic car and other symbols of the Nigeria nationhood, which usually refresh visitors' memories of the nation's past, were locked up somewhere.
    The car, a museum display of many years, was removed about two months earlier. For several years, the dilapidated state of the detached gallery, which houses exhibits about Nigerian governments – including the historic car – was not just a concern for observers, but an embarrassment to the nation.
   Few months ago, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, during his visit to the museum ordered the demolition of the gallery and other huts in the premises. Shortly after the demolition, the curator of the museum, Ms Ronke Ashaye must have articulated the consequence of the non-availability of the car and other exhibits when she made a public statement to that effect. She said: "The vehicle has been relocated to a temporary and secured location on the Lagos museum campus. Don't worry, it will soon return to public viewing."
  While noting that the car, for many years, had been a source of knowledge for visitors, particularly school children, Ashaye explained government's redevelopment plans for the museum.
"We have been busy looking for ways to make the museum more appealing, from the outside as well as the inside. You will notice several of the small huts near the Museum Kitchen have been removed and we recently were given permission to remove the gallery that held exhibits about Nigerian Governments," Ashaye explained. 

Bullet-riddled official car Murtala Muhammed

  But the response of members of the public who visited the museum during the Independence Day celebration showed that the government's information, particularly on the "temporary" relocation of the historic car did not get to the people.
  Among the disappointed visitors were the Olaoja family; a group of four, including a man and his three children and a lady who raised another issue over the location of the car.
   Mr. Olaoja, a civil engineer, could not hide his anger as he argued that the place of the car in the nation's history is so crucial that on a day like the Independence anniversary, it should still be made available to visitors wherever it is.
  Olaoja chided the museum for what he described as lack of planning, saying that "the timing of removal is wrong, and yet, government could not inform the public about this development; what insensitivity!"
   And when told that, the museum, in its last newsletter informed the public about the relocation, Olaoja argued that the fact that a lot of people came to the museum to see the car and other related objects proved that such medium was not effective.
  The lady whose emotive reaction would not allow her to give her name punctured the museum's explanation that the car is relocated within the premises.
   "I don't believe that the car is still within the compound here. I am sure they are deceiving the public. If the car is still here as the security men said, what is the big deal in allowing visitors see it wherever it is kept while the new house is being constructed?" she asked with rage.
  All efforts to convince the lady that the car was still within the museum failed as she instantly won more converts of pessimists, among the visitors, to her position.
   If there was any agency of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation that has suffered much neglect over the years, the Onikan edifice would top the list.
   In her response to the disappointment of the public as regards non-access to view the car during the Independence Day, Ashaye stressed that the importance of the car to the visiting public was never lost to the management. Every effort, she argued, was being done to fast track return of the gallery.
  On the possibility of making the car and other exhibits of importance available while the rehabilitation is going on, the curator said the temporary location of the object is not the best place to allow for such viewing by the public due to what she described as "not conducive." The car, she emphasised is still within the Onikan museum.
   The ongoing rehabilitation, apparently, is not unconnected with the partnership the management currently enjoy with Ford Foundation to make the museum a befitting edifice.
  Coincidentally, a team of volunteers working on the rehabilitation of the museum took a tour of the premises just about the period of the nation's Independence anniversary. The team, under the Developmental Initiative Network (DIN), included representatives from South Africa, Tanzania, Benin Republic, Ghana and the United Kingdom.
  One of the members of that team, Prof. Perkins Foss of the Yale University, U.S., who spoke at a separate occasion, few days ago, stressed the importance of an international standard museum.
  The current state of the nation's national museums, Foss noted, places the country in an awkward situation before the international community, particularly, on the issue of restitution of its controversial cultural objects in museums across Europe and in the U.S.
   The development at Onikan on the Independence Day leads to a revisit of factors responsible for the general decadence at the edifice, over the years. The place of museum in the life of a people transcends a single occasion like the Independence Day Anniversary.
  Nigeria is a member of the International Council of Museums, ICOM. The global body states: "A museum is a non-profit making, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment."
   Domesticating that definition led to the creation of the agency, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to ensure that Nigeria is not left out of the global community.
  Perhaps the most relevant forum, in recent times where the ministry had the opportunity to defend its activities in the last one year was the ministerial briefing held in Lagos last June.
   Among other objectives of NCMM, the minister stated: "To raise the standard of all the existing National Museums in the country through provision of funds and adequate facilities; use tangible and intangible heritage of Nigeria to promote and propagate national consciousness, pride and cultural unity in lieu of diversity and heterogeneity."

   From a its dilapidated structure which was recently deodorized with paint; poor preservation facilities for various antiquities; to inadequate library; poor information centre, the current rehabilitation exercise by the management, though long over due, is a welcome development.

At N28m, Enwonwu’s Anyanwu is Nigeria’s most prized art piece

 It’s a new art auction record for Nigeria, set in Lagos when bronze sculpture, Anyanwu, by Ben Enwonwu (1921-1994) was sold at N28 million naira.

In May this year, the same artist’s ink on paper work, Untitled held the record at N13.5m, beating the previous holder, Bruce Onobrakpeya’s panel etching, Greater Nigeria, which was sold at N9.2m in 2008.

Anyanwu (Beam of light), produced in 1956
(142.2 cm., excluding the base) was sold at the seventh edition of ArtHouse Contemporary’s auction held at The Wheatbaker, Ikoyi, Lagos Island, two days ago. The same auction house sold Greater Nigeria, but Terra Kulture, another Lagos-based art group sold the same artist’s ink on paper, Untitled.

   

Top Ten for ArtHouse Contemporary Lagos auction

1.      Ben Enwonwu’s Anyanwu (1956, 142.2 cm., excluding the base) N28m

2.       Ben Enwonwu’s Untitled (1980, oil on board, 109.2 x 43.2 cm), N8m.

3.       Ben Enwonwu’s Untitled (1980, cold cast resin, 112 cm), N5.5m

4.       Ben enwonwu’s Untitled ( 1972, oil on canvas, 61 x 51 cm), N4.5m.

5.      Chidi Kwubiri’s Town Crier (2011, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 250 cm. was next at N2.6m.

6.       Kolade Oshinowo’s Koma Village (1987), oil on canvas, 122 x 152.5 cm.) N2.5m.

7.       Akinola Lasekan’s Portrait Of A Man (1956), oil on board, 122 x 85.4 cm. N2m.

8.       Sokari Douglas Camp’s Bucket Heads, (2010), steel, 73 cm., N1.7m.

9.       Ghanaian master Ablade Glover’s Untitled, (2004), oil on canvas, 101.5 x 152.5 cm., N1.7m.

10.  Abiodun Olaku’s Eyo Adimu (1993), oil on canvas, 90 x 68 cm., N1.6m.

Full details on this site soon.