Sunday 31 January 2016

After Venice Biennale Glory, Anatsui Shows New Works in London


By Tajudeen Sowole

After being crowned with The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award at the 56th Venice Biennale, in Italy last year, El Anatsui will be making his next major art exhibition in Europe.

   
One of El Anatsui's works titled Warrior. Photo by Tobias Nordvik

Mostly of works produced within the last one year, the exhibition simply titled El Anatsui New Works start from February 4 to April 2, 2015 at October Gallery, London, U.K. A private viewing is scheduled to hold on February 10, 2015 at the same gallery.  

   
In a preview-statement, the gallery describes Anatsui as "one of the most exciting artists of our time." The exhibition, it adds, will present a new body of work that further explores possibilities of the artist’s iconic bottle-top sculptures. 
  Most, if not nearly all the works are done in the artist's traditional aluminium and copper wire. One of the works viewed in soft copies include Warrior, a figural impression spilling out of the border scope of the entire piece. Radiating a cubic form, that is clearly shaped by the woven-mat texture of the composite, the piece highlights combative posture of Warrior, adding quite an energy to the concept.


 Other works of obviously wall pieces include

 Breaking News, (2015, aluminium and copper wire, 276 x 260 cm.);  Focus, (2015, 284 x 320 cm); and Dzi II, (2015, 281 x 324 cm.);

   
The gallery notes that during Anatsui's distinguished 40 -year career as both sculptor and teacher at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka he addressed a vast range of social, political and historical concerns, and embraced an equally diverse range of media and processes. His installations, the statement adds have provoked wide international attention, with institutions and audiences fascinated by these sumptuous, mesmerising works made from thousands of aluminium bottle tops.


In 2014, Anstsui showed in a group exhibition at October Gallery during the its 35 years anniversary.

The event that marked three and half decades the gallery’s  of showing of artists from around the world was highlighted with exhibition titled Transvangarde. It featured works of Anatsui, Kenji Yoshida, William S. Burroughs, Laila Shawa, Romuald Hazoumè, Gerald Wilde and Aubrey Williams.


Born in Anyako, Ghana in February, 1944, Anatsui was trained a sculptor at the College of Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana from 1965 to 1968. From 1975 till date, he has been teaching sculpture at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, Enugu State, Southeast of Nigeria.

  During the Venice Biennale in 2007, Anatsui transformed the facade of the Palazzo Fortuny by draping it in a shimmering wall sculpture. In 2010, two major touring shows of his work opened on opposite sides of the world: El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You About Africa at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada (organised by the Museum for African Art, New York) and A Fateful Journey: Africa in the Works of El Anatsui at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan.


 As part of the 2012 Paris Triennale, he transformed the entire facade of Le Palais Galleria, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris with his striking work, Broken Bridge. In 2013, the Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA, exhibited the touring solo exhibition, Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, presented the artist with the prestigious Charles Wollaston Award for his work, TSIATSIA – searching for connection, 2013, which covered the entire facade of the RA building. In 2014, he was made an Honorary Royal Academician as well as elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


 Past solo his solo exhibitions of Anatsui, among others, included Earth Growing Roots, SDSU University Art Gallery, San Diego State University (2009); El Anatsui: Nyekor, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan (2006); El Anatsui: Gawu, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno (2003–2008); Hakpa, French Cultural Centre, Lagos (1997); El Anatsui, October Gallery, London (1995); Old and New: An Exhibition of Sculpture in Assorted Wood, National Museum, Lagos (1991); Venovize: Ceramic Sculptures, Faculty of Arts and Design, Cornwall College (1987); Pieces of Wood: An Exhibition of Mural Sculpture, The Franco-German Auditorium, Lagos (1987); Sculptures, Photographs, Drawings, Goethe-Institut, Lagos (1982); Wood Carvings, Community for the Arts, Cummington, Massachusetts (1980); Broken Pots: Sculpture by El Anatsui, British Council Enugu/Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka (1979); Wooden Wall Plaques, Asele Art Gallery, Nsukka (1976).

How Olayode Leaped Into Masterly Texture From Cradle Of Art


By Tajudeen Sowole
 Tayo Olayode is among few contemporary Nigerian artists who emerged through the rudimentary paths of art competition and residency, in the last ten years. And having been on the ascendency in the glaring observation of art connoisseurs and promoters, Olayode has the burden of proving that indeed, his emergence from the cradle of creativity and ascending the ladder of masterly status is sustainable.
 
Streetscape painting in Vermont, U.S, by Tayo Olayode
From being a foundation member of Iponri Studios, a group that jostled Lagos art scene in 2007, to getting the membership of Africa's new face of art, the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA), Olayode keeps consolidating on the virility of his studio practice.
   
To a large extent, studio is the heartbeat of an artist's professional worth. And individual artist has peculiar ideology. As a foundation member of the Iponri Studio, managing the central ideology of the group without compromising individual artist's identity could be a challenge. But Olayode, during a chat few days ago, posited that there is nothing sacrosanct about art that is based on ideology. In fact, he argued that "not all art is based on ideology." For him, his art, he disclosed, "is based on free expression.”
  
 Group studio in Nigeria has no robust trajectory, so suggest scanty number of such existing spaces. In fact, apart from Universal Studios of Art, which has been on a fragile and borrowed space at National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, for almost 30 years, hardly there is any other known similar one.  In the area of sustaining common focus and space comes the challenge for Olayode and other members of Iponri Studios. For the Iponri art group, Olayode insisted it "was not formed based on ideology, but simply a sheared vision." He noted that, "like any vision shared by diverse professionals, there are short and long medium goals." And sustaining the vision, he argued, is not necessarily a task for the artists as a group. "As long as the vision is still kept alive by any of the members, Iponri studios will wax stronger into the future." He stressed that "being a part of the group does not shape me as an artist, rather I shape the group with my actions and inactions."
  
 Irrespective of space or ideology, the Iponri Studios, Olayode insisted "has come to stay, and is gradually making its way to becoming one of the strongest art groups in Nigeria."
  
 Still on sustainability, art spaces across Nigeria have quite a pool of talents to breed future numbers of young artists, either from under graduates or fresher leavers, who are coming out of art schools across the country. Is Iponri Studios extending its vision to young artists, particularly taking them along through internship? "Many of our members have been taking intern artists along before the group was formed, and we are still doing so till date."
   
Followers of the changing Nigerian art landscape should recall that in 2008, the Iponri artists made their first public appearance with art exhibition titled New Dawn, at National Museum, Onikan Lagos. The debut show raised the bar in emerging artists' space of Nigeria. A year after the debut, the artists returned with Isokan (Togetherness) at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, and stressed that indeed, the Nigerian art space was radiating fresh breath of creative aura.
   
Between the first outing and the last show last year, quite a number of changes have taken place among the group, including exits and new admissions. For example, Today In History, held at The Thought Pyramid Art Centre, FCT Abuja, last October, exposed how the numerical strength of Iponri artists has dropped. With the debut, New Dawn, the group featured works of 11 artists. The next show, Isokan (Togetherness), featured works by Olayode, Sanusi Abdulahi, Aimufa Osagie, Ekpo Odungede, Ade Odunfa, Bede Umeh and Kehinde Oso. During the last show, members insisted that the drop in the number of founding members would not affect the goal of the group. 
   
For Today in History, the interest had grown to accommodate non-members. The exhibition featured works by Olayode, Umeh, Oso and Abdullahi in  "alliance" with non-members such as Bimbo Adenugba, Gerald Chukwuma, Uchay Joel Chima and Bolaji Ogunwo.
   
The Abuja show came two years after Beyond Boundaries, which was organised in collaboration with Nubuke Foundation, Ghana and featured the works of Aimufia Osagie, Adenugba, Okpu Norbert, Olumide Onadipe and Damola Adepoju.

As a younger artist, Olayode had in 2006 won a residency to Ghanaian master, Ablade Glover after emerging with Titus Agbara as two winners of an art competition organised by Terra Kulture and Ford Foundation.  Also, few years ago, Olayode and Chima were on a residency to Vermont in U.S, courtesy of Arthouse Foundation's sponsorship.

 For an artist with a contemporary African background, a residency in the west could have tainted his independent creative identity. "The Vermont Residency in U.S was not designed to taint me or any artist at the gathering," Olayode disagreed. "It was meant for self discovery and networking with like minds from all over the world."  The Vermont experience, he recalled, gave him quite an exposure from which "I'm still benefiting till date." 
  
 Quite a lot of changes are ongoing in the art appreciation and outlets scenes generally, of which artists are responding adequately. Perhaps not exactly in discountenance of the glaring strength and rising value of art of African origin at international stage in recent years, Olayode, however, like some contemporary and emerging artists who would not want to be bordered within a confined identity stated:  "I have a global view to my art, so the issue of Africanness does not arise when it comes to expressing myself as an artist."

Returning from Vermont, Olayode appeared to have brought a flavour of improved streetscape technique and style into his paintings, so suggest the tone and texture of some of his works. For examples, two streetscapes: a street full of high-rise buildings in Vermont with high volume of pedestrians and a contrasting, possibly Nigerian rural setting suggest Olayode's pronounced lines over the flow of colours. Indeed, his style implored complements the architectural thematic texture of the two works.
 

Tayo Olayode
Next in his future experimentation, he disclosed, "is exploring materials and methods with my well-known style." He hoped that such preparation positions him well enough "when the global market comes calling."

In 2014, Olayode was among the new professionals inducted into the GFA. And with gradual exiting of the founding members from the executive, clearly, the immediate future of the group lies in the hands of his generation. "The future of GFA is guaranteed, especially with the intake of new members which I'm part of. Our duty is to take it to the next level."

Discovering his potentials in a digital age, the artist, like most professionals of his generation is taking full advantage of the Internet in expanding appreciation of his art. In fact, he argued that the digital age has reduced art galleries to event centres.
  
 "I like us to look at the impact of social media on the declining fortune of gallery in Nigeria. Most galleries are now more like event centres." He questioned such galleries' attitude of "just renting space out all year round."
   
Olayode may not be exactly correct to suggest that traditional art gallery spaces are being rendered irrelevant with the advent of digital space. Perhaps, his thought, which indeed represent that of quite a number of artists, is exactly the alert that regular art galleries in Nigeria need to lift their trade beyond being 'event venues.'

Born in 1970, Olayode studied Fine Art at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria. He is a recipient of Terra Kulture/Ford Foundation Art Award for the Best Young Artist In Nigeria (2006) and Vermont Studio Cultural Exchange Competition (2014).

For ‘Marker’ At Art Dubai, Focus Is On Philippines

By Tajudeen Sowole
Philippines is joining the list of countries that have participated in the Marker section of Art Dubai as the country features in the 2016 edition. Two editions ago, West Africa was the focus as galleries from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali and Senegal and Cameroon exhibited artists who were largely based in Africa.
    
Face of Marker 2016 at Art Dubai
As Art Dubai’s thematic gallery programme alongside the Contemporary and Modern gallery halls at Medinat Jumeira, Dubai, Marker has proven to be a medium in exposing the diversity of creativite contents from relatively known regions. Artist, curator and researcher, Ringo Bunoan, has been announced as curator for Marker 2016. At Marker 2015, spaces from Latin America were featured and curated by Luiza Teixeira de Freitas.

 “It is timely that Art Dubai is giving focus to the Philippines. Dubai has one of the biggest Filipino migrant communities in the Middle East, and Filipinos have long contributed to the economic development in the region, serving various sectors and industries,” said Marker 2016 curator Bunoan after the announcement. “By selecting the Philippines for Marker 2016, Art Dubai highlights Filipinos for their artistry and creative talent and provides an opportunity for global cultural connections and exchange.”

  The 2016 edition, according to Art Dubai organisers, will be the first time that artists from the Philippines are showing in any major international art fair.  A press statement explains that with the influence of modern Filipino master Roberto Chabet (1937–2013), Marker 2016,  “highlights a new generation of around 20 contemporary artists actively contributing to the dynamic growth of Metro Manila’s alternative scene.”

The contents include what has been described as “wide-ranging multidisciplinary” such as paintings, soft sculptures, works on paper, textiles, photographs and films by a diverse group of contemporary artists in their 20s and 30s. Thematically, the “exhibition presents works that address a diverse range of issues, including form, collaboration, community and economy, offering a sneak-peek into the interests and practices of this new generation of radical artists.”

The spaces include: Thousandfold presenting photographic works by Tammy David, Gino Javier, IC Jaucian, Czar Kristoff and Wawi Navarozza; Post Gallery exhibiting paintings by Jayson Oliveria and photographs by Jed Escueta; Project 20 with multidisciplinary women artists Gail Vicente and Tanya Villanueva; 98B showcasing a group exhibition including a collaboration by Issay Rodriguez and Katherine Nunez, works by multimedia artist and curator J Pacena, new media by Miguel Lope Inumerable and additional works by Mark Barredo and Julius Redillas. The participants are all showing at Art Dubai for the firt time.

 “In addition to daily tours with Marker 2016 curator Ringo Bunoan and artists’ discussions, Marker 2016 will also feature a selection of artist books, monographs, zines, and other independent publications from the Philippines. 

Running parallel to the alternative scene shown within Marker and with Philippines in the spotlight, more established artists will be exhibited throughout Art Dubai’s Contemporary gallery halls: Maria Taniguchi, recently announced as winner of the 2015 Hugo Boss Asia Art Award, has a solo show at the fair with leading Manila gallery Silverlens; Taniguchi’s work also features in a group show at Carlier Gebauer (Berlin). Athr (Jeddah) shows works by Manila-based multidisciplinary artist Poklong Anading; while Taymour Grahne Gallery (New York) includes Filipino Brooklyn-based painter Maia Cruz Palilelo in their group exhibition.





Wednesday 27 January 2016

Bold Expressions From Young Contemporaries


By Tajudeen Sowo
Dipo Doherty, Logor, Ayobola Kekere-Ekun, Eloghosa Osunde and Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu come into the New Year on a path towards adding freshness to the Lagos art scene. But the young artists, having thrown their hats in the ring of the highly competitive art scene of Lagos appear burdened to prove the worth of the opportunity lay ahead.

   
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun’s quiling portraits.

Opening the year's calendar of a relatively new Rele Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos with a group art exhibition titled Young Contemporaries 2016, which ends on January 29, 2016, the artists' works, from all indication suggest that the Nigerian art space, across medium and genres, has new texture to contend with. From Doherty's twisted human figures expressed mostly in drawing, to the monochrome photography of Logor and digitalised, but painterly miniatures by Osunde as well as relief quill sculpture portraits by Kekere-Ekun, Young Contemporaries 2016 radiates aura of appetizers.

 Doherty and Logor are not exactly new to the art scene, having shown either as solo or at group exhibitions before now. Their works represent a window into the current show at Rele as the walls complement the artists’ subtleness texture, but with enough aroma to wet art appreciation appetite.


 Doherty's drawings and paintings, as extraterrestrial being-like as the figural forms are - placed opposite the walls of Logor's captures, which include Lagos that are hardly seen - indeed energises a curatorial mix that confirms the contextuality of the theme.


  Logo’s, works, for examples, show a Third Mainland Bridge taken from low angle, almost at the water level, beneath the 11.8 km long monument; silhouette spectators on pedestrian bridge who view the burning petrol tanker at Ojuelegba, late last year; and un-kept shopping complex at Doyin, along Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

 The works, Logor states are from his series, which he started about three years ago. The depth of his work in 2013, he recalls, had no clear-cut direction, "but now I have found the craft."


  Between mysticism and abstraction, Doherty's work distils scientific elements from creative contents. As complex as the themes of his work appear, the artist insists that the line between art and science is not so thick. "With geometry, I try to bring science and spiritual perspective into drawing," says Doherty during a visit to Rele. 


 Whoever found Dr Olusegun Fayemi's works innovative in digital imaging, would most likely agree that young Osunde's post-lens manipulation thickens the painterly texture of photography. And with her choice of theme in Obalende, a note able traffic and commercial spot in Lagos Island, the images, in colour, rendered with mangled technique give an impression of paintbrush movement, stressing the painterly look of the canvas.

  From the thematic translation of Obalende as 'King Pursued Me Here' to quite a number of other titles, Osunde adds hilarious contents to her artistic expression. Having "started street photography four years ago," Obalende as a subject comes as a natural progression for Osunde. 


  Very fresh on the art scene, Ukoha-Kalu brings simplicity into painting with her miniatures.  Collectively titled All Of The Things, the paintings summarise what the artist describes as the "feel of the environment."


  Kekere-Ekun's relief sculpture of wall pieces, framed in thicker style adds to the growing contemporary concept that are collapsing the line between art and craft. She brings quilling; using waste textile pieces, largely, to express what appears to me as fashion themes.
 
    Painterly digital photograph Obalende by  Eloghosa Osunde


  Basically, her quilling is profoundly fresh in relief sculpture. Her journey into the unique relief technique, she discloses, started during her final year as student of Fine Art at University of Lagos when "the paints were disobedient." So, she settled for other medium to express colours, producing explicitly great blend of art and craft.


 For Rele, the exhibition confirms "its aim to trigger a newfound appreciation of the arts and help nurture a new generation of visual artists.” The gallery recalls that it has in the past year been observing, collecting and supporting young talents whom it believes have the right balance of potential, work ethic and drive to occupy a new roster of accomplished artists, in the future.

  Last year, Rele opened with My Street Economics and added Lagos Hustle & Hope. The gallery followed it up with Strip, showing the works of painters Ayoola Gbolahan, Ibeabuchi Anababa and Isaac Emokpae as well as photographers Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Reza Bonna, Toyosi Faridah Kekere Ekun and Logor Oluwamuyiwa Adeyemi.


  Joe Amenechi was next in a solo, revisiting traditional art with a blend of ‘natural synthesis’ and flavour of modernism.

  And few months ago, printmaker Tayo Quaye's adventure into painting brought into art space intimate female hygiene, perhaps too bold for a conservative environment.

   
On Young Contemporaries, Rele writes: “The common thread that runs through this exhibition is youth and potential. In terms of artistic work, each artist was chosen to shine, each had liberty to present a individualistic body of work that did not bend to a group theme. 


  “Each artist possesses a unique voice, eye and message and have created conversational work that addresses urgent, topical issues, showing that contrary to popular opinion, the young (and yes, the artistic ones) show a commitment to engage the space around them and contribute to pressing matters arising…” 

Sunday 24 January 2016

Documenting Ancient Ilaro Town With Same Boundary Artists


By Tajudeen Sowole
Less than one year old in public space, a group of artists who go by the name Same Boundary has been making bold statements in documentation of culture and tourism-related contents. Latest of such strides happened with the artists' plein air painting and photography of ancient Ilaro town, Ogun State, South-west.

  
Artists of Same Boundary during plein air in Ilaro, Ogun State.

 Interestingly, the artists' choice, Ilaro, is not just a town of ancient history, but also of modern identity. Though currently a border town with neighbouring Republic of Benin, Ilaro had quite a historic role in Trans Atlantic Trade in slave during the obnoxious period of man's inhuman treatment against man. Secondly, in modern context, Ilaro and its people have dumped the name Egbado and adopted Yewa, a move aimed at gaining political autonomy from over a century old influence of the Egba people of Abeokuta, an ancient local powerhouse.

 For the artists, the culture and architecture of Yewa was the focus, captured in various themes across styles and techniques. The plein air involved Ariyo Oguntimehin, Nathan Ajibola, Ajibade Akinyemi, Godfrey Afebuame, B.B.Babatunde, Odunmbaku Jabary, Agohor Clement and Lagos-based Reconnect Art Gallery.
 "We decided to document our culture, architectural design of ancient buildings, which are almost going into extinction," stated Oguntimehin Ariyo, coordinator of Same Boundary. "In the future most of the stories and myths surrounding our culture, architecture and masquerades may disappear." 

  For three days, the artists' palette and camera lenses captured places such as Igoro junction, Igbo Aje, Araromi Ajekunle Street, Orita, Dosumu and Oke Ela. Shortly after returning from Yewaland, Oguntimehin stressed the need  "to educate the public on the importance of our culture, which should be preserved for the unborn children." He argued that the people's "culture is being relegated almost to the state of endangered, simply because of low encouragement from parents and government.". For example, the artist noted that "some Nigerians cannot speak their dialect."
  The artists of Same Boundary, the coordinator also added, worried about the state of art in Nigeria. "How do you encourage art in school when some schools do not even have art teachers?" He disclosed that during the plein air in Ilaro, "some students were seeing artists for the first time, painting and doing photo-documentation."   

 For the "success" of the plein air, Oguntimehin thanked the monarch, HRM, Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Obigbenlen, King of Yewaland.
   
Two years ago, three of the artists, Stella Ubigho, Oguntimehin and Okoro Nathan subconsciously started what would later become Same Boundary. The journey started from a gathering of artists in Lambe, Ogun State, where art was rarely patronized.
  
A year later, the artists Luke Iorah and Chigioke Noga joined the group for a maiden exhibition titled Same Boundary, at Quintessence Gallery, Parkview, ikoyi, Lagos. The theme of the exhibition, according to painter Ubigho, was aimed at "creating awareness about the environment we live in."

 During the exhibition, Nathan explained the bond that got the artists together  "The African identity binds us together, either in traditional, modern and contemporary artistic expression." In one of his works, Over Crowded Society, Nathan takes a critical perspective into urbanization and argues that the state of over-concentration of people in small spaces in urban slums isnt exactly African, adding, "Africans inherited urbanization from colonial rule."

Strokes of Equal Right in Omoighe's alarming narratives



By Tajudeen Sowole

Three years after Mike Omoighe dragged his canvas into the issues of managing a complex country like Nigeria, the artist takes his narrative a step further, focusing equity. In a mix of core abstraction and representational forms, Omoighe raises alarm over Nigeria's sliding to the era of military recklessness. 
 
Igene Nedan I, Middle Age wrestlers, charcoal on paper,    2015 by Mike OMOIGHE


An artist, whose palette, quietly though, has been against state impunity since 20 years ago, is now exposed in  Equal Right, Omoighe's new body of work, which, opens tomorrow and  showing till March 20, 2016 at Wheatbakers Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. Comparatively, Omoighe's current effort, sponsored by the Wheatbaker & Veuve Clic quot is less adventurous, in presentation, showing at a single venue and not multiple spaces as the last exhibition titled Portrait Of A Nation.


 The consistency of Omoighe, perhaps, as an artist in quiet activism is further confirm with the fact that some of the works were actually produced as response to the state of siege of Nigeria under the tyrant, General Sanni Abacha during the 1990s' 'June 12' struggle. Returning to his archive to exhume some of his old pieces, interestingly, also provides art historians and connoisseurs opportunity of appropriating Omoighe's representational and abstraction periods within the context of contemporary texture.

 However, given the state and mood of the Nigerian nation, currently, and salient choice of the exhibition's title as Equal Right, the philosphy or activism content gets a better part of one's focus over the form of expression implored. The exhibition, Omoighe tells a select guests during preview "is inspired by Eshan philosophy of co-existence: Unule, Unuile, Ozese:" With the ongoing unprecedented revelation of looting of Nigeria's commonwealth, the artist suggests that "perhaps Abacha era was better than what we have now."


Among the over 30 paintings and drawings on display is an abstraction titled Philosophy of Eki, a piece inspired by the artist's native perspective of world as a market place "full of intriques and drama."  

 For an artist whose contribution has broadened the scope of art at Yaba College of Technology where he has been a lecturer for over two decades, Omoighe's drawings in Equal Right should be of interest to historians. Largely of representational forms, the works, perhaps, offers much for comparative critique within the context of imploring visual narrative as a medium for activism. But Omoighe appears more protective of his abstraction form, even in a clime such as Nigeria where art appreciation - across classes of the society - leans towards populist expression. 
 

Philosophy of the Market by Mike Omoighe


"Every art requires study, like literature, to make the right impact,"  argues Omoighe whose career spaned both administrative and technical postings at Yabatech.

  
As much as it comes as a relief, once in a generation, to see visual artists in Nigerian art space making strong statement on issues concerning how the country is being governed, the energy requires to strengthen such activism is usually weakened by the sharp line between the artist and his/ her art. The artist as the same as his art is a complex position to take, Omoighe says.


And when curator of Equal Right, Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago in her introductory speech describes Omoighe as "very influential in the Nigerian art space," she confirms the artist's strides within the academic and mainstream art gallery. "In Equal Rights, Omoighe flexes his activist muscles by taking his viewers on a bold visual journey that starts with a nostalgic exploration of Nigeria’s political journey away from military rule. His journey  also reveals a  multi-layered multi-textured  documentation of the Igbabonelimi masquerade culture through complex visual poetry and subtle metaphors," Mbanefo-Obiago explains. 


Still on the background to his choice of theme, the artist writes in his statement: "History is constantly being made on a moment by moment basis through thoughts, words and actions.  Images in time and space capture the moment in every chosen medium of communication. When such images are viewed years after, the incidents they represent often appear as serious imaginative perception. In this exhibition, I am presenting two viewpoints from my sketches and jotting diary.


 "First is the implication of military rule in Nigeria which didn’t initially matter much to me until, when recently, I looked back at my reactions in jottings, sketches and paintings exhibited in 2005 in Survival Romance. Also, the cultural object of Ukpo-Esan-Fibre art in the Igbabonelimi masquerader’s costumes is being recreated and documented in a contemporary medium of paintings on canvas to communicate a visual poetry and metaphor as an activist’s social commentary."

Drop Charges Against Atiku, Creative Industry Group Cries Out


A group of practitioners in Nigeria’s creative industry has petitioned Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the Atorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, Mr. Kazeem Adeniji and Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Fatai Owoseni to intervene and free lagos-based performance artist, Mr. Jelili Atiku, from illegal detention. The petitioners include foremost journalist and Chairperson, CORA/Arterial Network Nigeria (Country Representative Arterial Network), Mr. Jahman Anikulapo, National Coordinator, CORA/Arterial Network Nigeria, Mr. Ayodele Ganiu and President, Society of Nigerian Artists, Mr. Oliver Enwonwu.
 



Atiku, a citizen of Lagos State from Ejigbo and a prominent member of the Lagos art community, was unlawfully arrested on Monday, January 18, 2016 by the police. He was arraigned and subsequently remanded in prison for allegedly conspiring with four other persons to commit felony, to wit, public disturbance with his artistic performance on Thursday, January 14 2016 at about 5.40pm along Ifoshi Road, Ejigbo, Lagos.


Atiku is an imaginative performance artist whose provocative spectacles use striking attire, unsettling body language and unusual props to open up dialogue and influence popular attitudes. He drops himself right into the heart of Lagos, into the realities of the streets, of densely populated areas and entices people to interact and respond to his visual presentations.

   
Rooted in Yoruba performance traditions, Atiku brings local elements to international performance practice, creating an extraordinary mix of action, symbolism, storytelling, disguise, costume, colour coding and theatricality. A rigorous researcher, his subjects include commentary on Nigerian human rights in the Assassination of a Political Prisoner; politically charged critiques of the ruling class and Boko Haram; site-specific interventions on climate change, e-waste and fuel subsidies, and Araferaku (loosely translated as A Part of Me is Missing), a moving personal eulogy to his father.

   
Atiku was the only Nigerian awarded Prince Claus Laurel, a prestigious global award recognizing accomplishments in arts and culture, held in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) in December 2015 for creating a new artistic language combining Yoruba traditional art forms with international performance practice; for his thought-provoking performances that challenge assumptions and stimulate dialogue in an unconventional and dynamic form of community education; for taking personal and artistic risks in order to open new possibilities and reach wider audiences, and for his pioneering dedication to establishing space for contemporary performance art in Nigeria.

   
It was in pursuance of these aspirations that he presented his latest work Aragamagooo on Thursday, January 14, 2016 in Ejigbo community area of Lagos. It is disheartening to note that rather than celebrate this artist who has brought honour to Lagos State and Nigeria, the accusers are using the police and courts to maliciously prosecute him.

  
 In the light of the above, we the undersigned hereby declare that the arrest, arraignment and the ongoing prosecution of Jelili Atiku is a clear disregard for creativity and extreme hostility to artistic expression.