Simeon Mpamugoh

Whether a work of art is primordial or distinctively modern in style, it should be allowed to exist side by side, if incoming generation must learn of it. In Africa, it is considered tinkering with the peoples’ beliefs and canons, whether good or bad, have its spiritual implication.

There is a conversation around this ideology in the works of six exhibiting Nigerian artists at the exhibition hall of the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos.
The exhibition, which opened last Saturday August 17, 2019, is the second in the series of such show entitled “Bad art: Primitivity.” The six exhibiting artists are Lara Boglo, Godwin Ugberebe, Bernard Oguru, Sanusi Abdullahi, Oguntimehin Ariyo, and Toni Ojisua.

Each of the artists comes to the exhibition with varied experiences, genres and creeds. The coordinator and exhibiting artist, Toni Ojisua, told this reporter at the exhibition ground that “Bad Art; Primitivity” theme of the exhibition “is an ideology, a reverse balance.” He said in the West, they talk about masterpiece, but masterpiece and primitivity are synonymous.

“What we’re saying is that African art is superior, because, if we reverse the role, we say that Picasso is a masterpiece, then who are our ancestors? We are superior to them, because they are flying, and their art are more proportional to human real life, and reality,” he added.

For him, “Bad Art: Primitivity,” verbalises the knowledge of good and bad, devil and God, and Ying and Yang in China, as same thing and part of the balance. In one of his works, Xenophobia, he exposes the negative emotions of mankind when he adduced that it didn’t start from South African.

He said the racist attitude started before we were born. “It is a racist philosophy that tends to protect the interest of colour against the darkie, because of ignorant. It is fuelled by unhealthy competitions, the evil of Babylon called capitalism,” he noted.

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Godwin Ugherebe is another seasoned exhibiting artist who works with
different medium: wood, metal and clay. He was part of the team that executed the public art on Tunji Braithwaite.

With over 24 years in practice, he speaks of his bodies of artworks in
this exhibition, “One of my works is entitled ‘Victory.’ The story around the work is: we all celebrate victory as when people are jubilating with all hands stretched up. But we forget the adage that says ‘victory has many relatives, but failure is an orphan.’ In the artwork, we find someone kneeling down, with head bowed down. The character has been busy trying to dig up insights on how to make it high.”

Bernard Oguru is both a visual and performing artist who likes all his work, yet believes that people also decide what they want or like about his works. The artist, who is exhibiting seven works at this exhibition, said he was more concerned about one of his works, Doctrine.

According to him, it connects with the theme of the exhibition: Bad Art: Primitivity. He explained, “I looked at the African religion, our culture, and beliefs, and how we pass them from one generations to another. If you travel to Benin, they have their culture which is transmuted to their children. And it keeps going on, to their younger generation. So, Doctrine is a way of life of a people and their beliefs.”

Lara Boglo is a fine artist and painter. She cuts an emotion of womanist. Also an environmental activist, her artworks are laden with issues that elicit global conversation in the society, environment and culture. One of her works on this exhibition is Initiation. “It is a dance concept, a painting about women dancing together. It is part of our culture for older women to help the younger ones with cultural absorption,” she explained.

The artist, who prefers to use her works to arouse curiosity about our
culture and the value we attach to it further, said, “When a woman gets to a certain age of maturity, she needs to be cultured: taught cooking; how to take care of the home, children, and the elderly. It is part of our culture that is being neglected. ‘Initiation strikes a conversation about a part of culture that is being lost.” The exhibition ends today.