Go for Art this Yuletide
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday,
December 13, 2007
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•Joe
Musa
Photos: MAURICE ARCHIBONG
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In barely three weeks, Christmas would be over, and then
comes the issue of clearing the litter. Greeting cards, no
matter how beautiful, are ephemeral gifts. So, wouldn’t
you rather give a gift of a lifetime? Put your money on art
for that perfect and more or less ever-lasting present.
Art is not another run-of-the-mill gift: An artefact is present
for all seasons, a present that lasts a lifetime and even
beyond. Art is not an ordinary present. Art connotes refined
taste, class, civilization and even longevity. And, did you
know that in developed societies, one could get a loan using
an artefact as collateral? Of course, Nigeria is not yet there,
but this situation is likely to change soon. But let’s
return to why we consider an artefact a perfect present for
all times.
Cast your mind back three years: That cute handset you bought
for a friend or family member or conversely received is probably
not that chic any more.
Even if the present was a car, it’s some crumbling junk
of metallic pieces by now, after plying our countless crater-infested
roads for three years. If it was a resilient Mercedes Benz,
BMW, Lincoln, Rover or whatever, and is still going strong,
the owner still burns money on fuel and maintenance, just
to enjoy this gift; not to talk of the lingering threat of
theft of this expensive automobile. Similarly, a gold wristwatch,
laptop, jewelry or what have you is also a target of thieves.
Interestingly, unlike an expensive automobile, laptop and
so on, which could be stolen and lose value with age, an artefact
is different: Thieves hardly go for an artefact, even though
it’s value waxes as the years go by. An artefact is
far less attractive to a thief because a popular painting
or sculpture is almost impossible to dispose of. Of course,
some clowns still steal art pieces, and find goons, who buy
them, but what’s the sense in acquiring a painting you
can’t display openly. In the end, the buyer of stolen
art has not collected a piece of art; he or she had just landed
a secret. The revelation of this secret could lead to arrest,
prosecution and disgrace of the “collector.” So,
Which is more influential, Art or Politics? Believe it or
not, Art seems more like it.
How many people think of a political leader, when they go
out to buy a car, TV, mobile phone or indeed anything? After
considering cost, the next probably most important factor
for the buyer is usually the look and packaging of the item.
The two most important factors here are sculpture and design.
And both sculpture and design fall under art. The importance
of art could be gleaned from a national flag or Coat of Arms.
These are veritable symbols of state, but artworks nonetheless.
An ID or passport and other travel documents; the currency
we spend, pieces of paper or coins bearing specific designs
are all forms of art. From the cloths we wear; hat to shoes
or head to toe, the food we eat (cuisine/gastronomy), what
we drink and what have you, everything boils down to Art.
Aside the art of preparing the food, how about the plates
in which the meal is served, and the cutlery used in eating
or the glasses from which we drink, not to talk of the dinning
table and the very chairs in which we sit.
Art truly rules the world. But while art makes everything,
not every man can make Art. This makes people with the gift
of creativity special.
The Artist is god of another kind, for like God Almighty,
the Artist can also create, even if only earthly things. Nonetheless,
Art is cardinal to growth. Irish-born literary celebrity Oscar
Wilde (Fingall O’ Flahertie Wills) rightly pointed this
out in The English Renaissance, where he stated, "The
secret of life is in art." This explains why every developed
nation grows Art. Like any society, Nigeria boasts countless
creative souls. But, unlike in the advanced world, where Art
is nurtured jealously and given a deserved role in every aspect
of human endeavour, Nigeria has not really tapped from its
Artist Community to foster advancement. Fortunately, this
attitude is on the verge of changing, given signals from the
National
Gallery of Art (NGA).
Intelligence in Art
Some people think art is a non-academic work but those who
can read between the lines see a lot of intellectualism in
some artefacts. Unlike realism or naturalism, where the viewer
is presented with the naked picture, some forms of art are
more esoteric and lend themselves to metaphors, allegories,
and what have you. Truly, every picture tells a story, but
you sometimes require high IQ to decipher some messages the
artist is trying to put across.
Take a piece of sculpture from Mr. Jerry Buhari for example.
The picture of this work by Buhari, two-time dean of ABU’s
Faculty of Art and Environmental Design, is used as one of
the illustrations on today’s Travels pages. A small
piece from a corrugated roofing sheet is affixed to a piece
of wood, and dangling like a pendulum from the piece of metal
is a small lock and two keys or so.
On the superficial level, this is not one of those artworks
that instantly fascinate the viewer. But with help or interpretation
from the artist, you immediately come to love this work, which
in turn boosts the viewer’s respect for Mr. Buhari.
Decoded: This innocuous looking piecing together of wood and
metal tells a vivid tale of the foul character, who hides
under politics to lie, swindle and loot, while pretending
to represent possible solution to society’s problem.
If you had the key to a lock, apparently, that should provide
access. Unfortunately, the politician’s key is often
the wrong one, different to the lock; and as Fela Anikulapo
Kuti would say: No solution.
You could say the piece of corrugated roofing material represents
another metaphor. The naïve electorate is likely to be
taken in by the sight of a roofing material, it easily passes
for shelter and as the politician is likely to lie to you,
a metaphor for succour: Protection from the rains and harsh
sunshine. The vote-seeker would ask you to see his roof for
housing, warmth and the world, even. But at the end of the
day, the pretender statesman offers nothing good.
And the voter ought to have seen it coming, for the size of
the roofing sheet was too small in the first place. But the
clever member of the society probably got the message earlier:
The wavy nature of the roofing material actually bespeak of
the crooked ways of the average politician, anyway. Such is
innate intelligence in some artefacts for you!
Welcome vibrancy of the Art sector
Fortunately for the wise collector, there are many opportunities
to acquire artefacts for self or as gift this season. From
Maidugri to Sokoto, the viewer can get items of calligraphic
or other forms of secular or Islamic art to buy for Sallah.
From to Calabar and Lagos, thanks to Mr. Joe Musa and the
NGA, he currently heads, a lot is also happening in the Visual
Arts industry this Yuletide. Across the nation, the NGA has
increased the number of national galleries to about 22, from
barely eight in 2004. The NGA DG said plans are afoot to take
the National Gallery to every state of the federation and
also have a befitting National Gallery in the nation’s
capital Abuja.
Travels had earlier reported the presence of a National Gallery
of Modern Islamic Art in Sokoto inside the state secretariat
complex at Giginya as well as the one in Maidugri, located
within the local Federal Secretariat complex. We had also
informed readers of the existence of a National Gallery in
Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital as well as the NGA outpost in
Igbo Ukwu, Anambra State. The NGA also maintains an active
station in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State: In short, wherever you
live in Nigeria, if the NGA is not nearby, Mr. Musa plans
to bring one to you very shortly.
In the short term, this season is replete with shows. There
is a memorial exhibition for Gani Odutokun in Lagos as well
as a one-man, sorry, one-woman show in Nigeria’s famed
Canaan City of Calabar. And almost as the year 2008 opens,
there’ll be two major exhibitions: The first, Joe Musa:
Recent works would flag off on February 2, 2008, while the
next exposition is likely to open a week after. The second
show would feature works by Kolade Oshinowo, revered painter
and art educator based at Yaba College of Technology.
But let’s start from Calabar, home of Chief Constance
Afi Ekong. Madam Afi Ekong is proprietor of Bronze Gallery
and one of Nigeria’s earliest female painters. She also
had a hand in the establishment or running of Gallery Labac
(Lagos Board for Arts and Culture), possibly the first public
gallery in Nigeria. But let’s stay our course: The Calabar
exhibition, a rare event in that part of the country, is bringing
on display the works of Mrs. Regina Okafor. Okafor is an alumna
of Yaba College of Technology, and currently works at the
NGA.
Regina Okafor, in her true colours
Few things have the ability to reveal our true colours like
painting. With painting, you can run but you can’t hide.
With pigments, vehicle, media and surface already manufactured
by nature, painting might not immediately appear difficult,
yet every serious artist knows that painting is not an easy
nut to crack. As is the case with countless other people’s
works, a few paintings by Mrs. Okafor point to where she is
coming from. Two of Okafor’s paintings, Old Currency
and Dream could easily pass for pieces of Ankara. This is
hardly surprising because this painter actually holds a Higher
National Diploma (HND) in Textiles Design.
The latest exhibition of works by Okafor is coming on view
from December 17 to 26, 2007. About 30 paintings would be
displayed at that exposition, billed to hold at the Foyer
of Cultural Centre, Calabar. Okafor’s collection also
hints at an interest in naturalism and environmental awareness.
This is portrayed in It’s Green as well as Blossom,
a beautiful bouquet of hibiscus. But there is a lot more to
Okafor’s art. Her repertoire reveals a conscious effort
at fostering national unity or integration, which is not surprising
considering her background.
The title of her forthcoming show even tells a lot about this
artist, who settled on Ukaba di isua. In an environment, where
the title of many exhibitions sounds cliché, Ukaba
di usua certainly comes across as vernal. The Efik phrase,
Ukaba di usua translates as New Year and alludes to the Yuletide,
a period of great festivities, which take on exemplary dimensions
in Calabar.
Just as Art is everywhere, everywhere is also in the art of
Regina Okafor. This could be put down to her cosmopolitan
orientation. Born of Efik parents, Regina, nee Oku Ekpeyong,
entered this world in Calabar. However, Mrs. Okafor is also
Igbo by marriage. Having lived, studied and worked in the
Nigerian capital Abuja for some years, it would have been
surprising had Central Nigeria not rubbed off on her. Consequently,
though she studied in the famous Yaba School, Okafor’s
works feature motifs from virtually everywhere. The Fulani
milk maiden, the Yoruba hair stylist, Efik women, Igbo dancers,
Hausa drummer; you’d find them all in this artist’s
paintings. Like most contemporary artists, Okafor even looked
beyond Nigeria for inspiration. As a result, her paintings
also feature elements of Adinkra, a pictographic literary
form, devised by the people of the ancient Akan Empire.
However, much as the artist tries to be a rallying point around
which everything else revolves, there isn’t much room
given to the male folk in her work. I counted 22 paintings
but only one of the lots, an acrylic on canvas painting titled
Calabash Melody, deliberately features men: Two instrumentalists,
one clad in Hausa-Fulani attire is strumming a form of chordophone,
while the other man, dressed in Yoruba Agbada, is pounding
away on his talking drum. Thoughtful use of colours in this
painting, where sepia, ochre, black, red and various hues
of these are in perfect harmony. However, some aspects of
the drawing reveal draughting flaws. A member of Association
of Female Artists of Nigeria (AFAN), Society of Nigerian Artists
(SNA), Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN)
and so on, Okafor has shown her works in the Ugandan capital
Kampala as well as Berlin, Germany, among other foreign cities.
Although Okafor is deeply committed to painting, she has not
abandoned textile design, her certified area of specialization.
As a result, cloths, bags and other items of clothing made
from fabrics produced by this artist would be part of Ukaba
di usua.
Whatever her shortcomings in drawing, Okafor shows a promising
mastery in her use of colours. Whether the base is green,
brown or whatever, Okafor has a way of imbuing each work with
harmony. This is vividly brought to the fore in Stepping out,
Dream, Feminism, Ediwak iso Spain, Unek-unek (Dance-dance)
and Antiquarian worship. It is perhaps noteworthy that these
six works were all executed in 2006. Whether they are pointers
to Okafor’s emerging ferment as a painter, only time
will tell, but this is one reason to collect her works now
before the prices begin to spiral upwards.
Gani Odutokun: In Memoriam
Although Gani Odutokun died a dozen years ago, the former
head of the department (HoD) of Fine Arts at Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU), Zaria lives on. The deceased lives on in
the memory of art students, art collectors, gallery operators
and the countless professionals he helped to groom. In fact,
the man most of us simply called Gani remains famous not only
in Nigeria but in various countries of the world. Art ensured
that Gani was not an ordinary mortal. As is the fortune of
many a dedicated artist, Gani has been immortalized by art.
In fact, a dirge I wrote lamenting Gani’s transition
in a ghastly accident, which was published by Glendora Review
in 1995, is now in the archives of the Michigan State University
in America.
Fortunately, it is not only in a foreign country that Gani
lives on, going by the memorial exhibition for Gani put together
by the National Gallery. This exposition opens on December
17 at the Aina Onabolu Gallery within the National Theatre
Complex in Iganmu, Lagos. According to Mr. Joe Musa, Director
General of the NGA, the memorial exhibition, titled Gani Odutokun
(1946-1995): A legend of Nigerian Art, would run well into
2008.
Mr. Musa says the Gani Odutokun exhibition is a befitting
show to cap a successful year. Based on the many achievements
recorded by the NGA, not only in 2007, but since Musa’s
appointment as NGA helmsman, it would be difficult to argue
with this director general on that score. Aside the National
Galleries, the collector could also explore private art marts
for artefacts as the perfect gift of this, and every, season.
Whatever you give, add a painting or sculpture and your gift
is complete.
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