Ogbazi… From runway to studio

Nigerians living abroad, whether in Hollywood, Paris, London or Milan, are breaking barriers in the movies, music, fashion industries and sports, too. Many of them have etched their names in gold. The story of Jason Ogbazi is no different. In a few years, he has transited from the art studio to the runway, along the line, becoming a famous photographer and a model for international labels. MARK EHIDIAME JOHN speaks with him.

Background
My name is Jason. Jason is actually ‘Son of God’. If you pronounce it the way it should, it becomes Jah son — the son of Jah — that is, Jesus from the Greek mythology. You know our names have a lot to do with what we are and the way we act out our destinies. I mean, look at the acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, and how he has managed to get to where he is now. He is Goodluck and he has had good luck in his political career, I’m not saying I’m Jesus Christ, I don’t even know how to pray, but because I have great belief in God, certain things just come to me naturally.

So, as a painter, how did you get into modeling?
Well, while I was in London, I used to go to the gym a lot to keep shape. So, when I was working out in the gym one day, somebody approached me, asking if I would like to model. And I answered in the affirmative, yeah! They organised a photo shoot with a major photographer called Darren Paul. So, he shot my first portfolio and sent them out to a lot of modeling agencies and eventually, I got hung up with one, BMA Models, in the outskirts of London. So, everyday they send me articles, to cast a particular product in fashion line or something; that was how I started modeling. I did a lot of fashion campaigns for companies such as London fashion, Adidas, Guess Jeans and Costa Coffee among others.

What about the photography...?
In retrospect, I think the whole photography thing just came natural to me, you know at a point I decided that I will not model anymore; I will rather be behind the cameras, that’s how my whole photography career started. With some training and advice, I started. I have worked with top photographers in England such as Paul and a whole lot of fashion photographers in London.
What is your area of specialisation?
I do creative photography. It is the kind of photography, where we pick different pieces of photographs to create something beautiful. I’m somebody, who likes to be original in what I do; I started adding my own originality, so, whenever you see my photographs, you know it’s me.
What was your experience as a student in England?
I was a normal Nigerian youth living in London and trying to make it. You know, going to school and working in some of the offices and then, somewhere along the line, this modeling thing started to happen and somehow, my life had a shift in focus. It got a major shift that took me towards art, art is all I could think of, is all I could see and everything about me became art, you know I couldn’t do anything else but art! I mean I sleep and live art, I can’t imagine a day without doing art.

Has photography been rewarding?
Of course, it’s been very rewarding, but I guess in Nigeria here, if you’re a mediocre, you won’t get anywhere. You have to do top photographs for advertising, billboards or working for large companies to make big money. But just shooting normal people won’t give you the money. Well, if it were abroad, you could make so much money with that but here, it’s not so. You cannot really sell your photographs for good money because importance are not attached to it apart from the learned and exposed ones who know the real value of photography. My customers are mostly people, who have traveled wide and see what photography is, they can pay big buck for paintings and photographs.

Art...weapon against imperialism

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
Having devoted nearly 20 years to a cause, Peju Layiwola looks forward to using Nigeria’s 50th Independence Day celebrations to showcase her ancestral link to global cultural objects.
Called Benin 1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question, the show will feature paintings and installations.
To be declared open by HRH, Edun Akenzua, the Enogie of Obazuwa, the show runs from April 8 to 30 at University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka and would continue in Ibadan and Benin till the end of the year.
Layiwola, grand-daughter of Oba Akenzua II (1933-1979) and daughter of sculptress, Princess Elizabeth Olowu, says, “they, who once enjoyed the splendour of the palace, are now trapped behind glass walls in foreign lands.”
The year 1897, she recalls, “means much to me and my people. It was the year the British invaded our land and forcefully removed thousands of our bronze and ivory works from Oba Ovonramwen’s Palace, my great grandfather.”
She may not possess the skill of Hollywood’s John Rambo to break the glass walls of the so called “universal museum” and rescue the objects, but she has got art to give the captors enough sleepless nights.

In such works as the installation, Unpainted Calabash, an assemblage of large gourds; 1897.com, inlaid copper, brass, wood, animal horn, and paper; Long live the King, painted version of the calabash series; Layiwola adds art as a resilient medium against modern day imperialism.
And just in case you are not seeing enough of the visual art venom, “a colloquium and publication by nine scholars drawn from across the globe” is part of the tour.
Layiwola, in recent times, has added her voice to this cause at a global event, which had her ancestral subject in focus. The event was the closing ceremony of the exhibition, Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria held in Chicago, U.S. two years ago, where she delivered two lectures.
On return to Nigeria, she revealed that, in the US there were several protests against the persistent refusal to return Benin works held in foreign museums.
According to her, “the protests in Chicago brought about a decline in the number of art forms showing at the Art Institute.”
Layiwola argues that similar pressure groups can be set up in Nigeria. She notes that collaboration between Nigerian government and Benin Royal family, is all that is needed to bring the antiquities back to Nigeria.
Strengthening that cause back home is her effort to take 1897.com on tour. “After the Lagos show, is “Ibadan from August 19 to September 19 at the Museum of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Oyo State.” And at a date yet to be announced, Edo State government will be hosting the show”, she explains.
The message, she adds, is also important for the youths, as such, the show will run for about two months, to enable as many primary and secondary schools pupils and students to partake in it. Workbooks for students, she notes will be made available for free at the venue. And in the painting, Long Live the King, the young ones are not left out, because it’s child friendly.
Supporting the project are; The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Edo State government, the universities of Lagos and Ibadan, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abuja.

Mirror-ing the master in young art

Work that won the first prize at Benin Zone by Osamagbe Aiwekhoe

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
IF you are still wondering how child art influenced one of the most celebrated artists, Pablo Picasso, a five-month-long art competition and show, which ended recently in Lagos, gives a clue.
Held at the Nike Art Centre, Lekki, visitors to the show, entitled Mirror the Master, mostly adults, had opportunity to share Picasso’s thought process.
Among the visitors were two regulars: Rasheed Gbadamosi and Sammy Olagbaju; Osogbo artist, Jimoh Buraimoh; and Jerry Buhari, art teacher at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria.
A collaborative initiative between the United Kingdom-based outfit, Kambani Arts, and Access Bank, the project began in October in four cities -- Osogbo, Benin, Zaria and Nsukka.

TOP three works from the zones: Oladigbo Oladiran, 16, Babatunde Folasayo, 13, Tola Akinriola, 13 (Osogbo); Osamagbe Aiwekhoe, 16, Augustina Obi, 15, and Deinma Imabibo 9 (Benin); John Cross Omeke, 13, Oluchuku Okorie, 11, and Ifeanyi Agbo, 13 (Nsukka); Abdulhamid Aminu, 15, Abdulakim Alkasaim, 13, and Ibrahim Isa, 15 (Zaria) were on display.
Gbadamosi, a member of jury, noted that the works “are surprisingly marvelous to believe that these are from children” in the said age group.
It was a keen contest, as it took the panelists a tough time to pick Omeke as winner.
Young Omeke, according to the organizers, will visit some exclusive art galleries in London and participate in an accompanied viewing to see the works of Enwonwu and U.K-based portrait painter, Chinwe Roy.
The enthusiasm shown by these young artists indicated that there would not be a dearth of masters in the future.

At the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre, Benin zone where participants set up mini canvases of about 20 by15 inches, each, student’s work gave an insight into “inspiration drawn from the master.”
For Omeke, the confidence noticed in his painting of a mask, using acrylic on canvas, absolutely vanished, when he was announced as winner. From his smooth touch to the fragile draughtsmanship displayed in the painting, young Omeke’s work has confirmed the novelty that attracts adults in child art.
According to organisers, the thrust of the project is to help develop African art by celebrating established masters through talent and aspirations of younger and future artists.
Buraimoh said that the initiative was similar to “our early days when I joined Mbari Mbayo at a one week workshop organized by Uli Beier, which was conducted by Georgina Beier.”
Head, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Access Bank, Omobolanle Babatunde, noted that despite the enviable achievement of such masters as Enwonwu, Akinola Lasekan, Gani Odutokun, among others, “Nigerian art remains a victim of poor transfer of knowledge,” hence it was imperative to have Mirror the Master as a “modest step towards filling the gap.”
A documentary of the initiative would be produced to enhance Fine Art as a viable discipline and career for students as well as promote the legacy of the chosen master, Enwonwu, Ezeilo assured.

Cascades of hope on canvas

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
IN Cascade, the painter Ben Osaghae taps from waterfall to get a theme for his ongoing show at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.
With works such as Battle for Survival, Black Market, Absentee Father, Prayer Warriors series, Pump Price and Prison Foods among 32 others on display, there is no mistake about the show’s focus. “The theme really represents my feelings,” he declares.
Osaghae uses what he describes as the force of waterfalls to express his thought. A depiction of mother and child surrounded by rifles and other related arms, explains how the artist sees an average Nigerian attitude to survive in life. Job Hunt, Pump Price and Pay Toilet also underscore this so-called survival instinct.
Is the average Nigerian really as resilient as Osaghae’s thoughts on canvas are? “Yes,” he argues. From Lagos to Enugu and part of the North, the artist recalls his experience, saying, “I had lived in some of these places and seen all sorts of hardship people go through to make a living. Nigerians would do anything, legitimate, to earn a living.”
Few years ago, Osaghae did something on the country’s fuel crisis, bringing out the sufferings Nigerians pass through.
“We just can’t give up as there is more potential for this country to excel,” he intones as he uses works to solicit for better society.
And this decay in value starts early with what he notes as “the young facing the rigour of education.”
The piece, Page 75, oil on canvas, says much about this real and imagined ‘rigour’ of a student, who on graduation is thrown into the labour market with little or no hope to survive.
Really, the student hardly enjoys the fun of being a youth, because “the excitement is no longer there in schools,” Osaghae argues as he compares his school days with what prevails today.

VISUAL art, naturally, is intellectual enough. But with Osaghae, it’s deeper, a potential for exclusivity in an environment that is less receptive to higher intellectual reasoning.
Perhaps, this is one subject he would rather avoid as he says, he is not conscious of any “unusual intellectuality” buried in his work.
In Prison Food and the Prayer Warrior series, among others, these intellectual depths are delineated. Treatment of prison inmates as exemplified in the quality of foods, is as divisive as the bars that separate the prison inmates and their guards. A prison system should be reformative and not “hardening the inmates.”
To survive, many cling to religion, which is fast becoming a money-spinning venture as against the spiritual lifting and direction it’s purported to serve. However, Osaghae’s Prayer Warrior has hope that the religious institution, despite the challenges, could offer “optimism and counseling.”

FOR Osaghae, being conceptual is total. He argues that the power of the artist’s imagination should not be eroded just because there are models and photo assists. He states: “If I come across a scene that fascinates me, I simply record it in my memory and go straight to the canvas.”
The best in every scene is achieved if “you experience it first”, before releasing on canvas, the former art teacher at the Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State stresses.

The auctioneer returns with megabuck

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
Works of art masters – living and departed – as well as those of some upcoming artists will be displayed for sale at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, tomorrow.
Three editions back, Kavita Chellaram, the lady behind the auction event, had through the outfit, Arthouse Contemporary, unearthed treasures of contemporary Nigerian art beyond imagination: April 2008, a total sale of N76 million; November 2008, N93 million; and April 2009, N67 million.
Against high expectation, the event failed to hold in November last year due to what Chellaram described as personal as well as other factors.
With its past impressive outings, the stake is apparently getting higher with uncommon collectors joining the list. And to avoid impersonation and art theft, she says, “we don’t just accept any work on the strength of the name of the artist; we have a team of experts, who verify the authenticity of all works.”

DESPITE criticisms from some sections of the art that the auction should strictly be for master artists, Chellaram insists on giving every artist an opportunity to showcase his or her works as a way of developing Nigerian art.
Owing to this, works of masters such as Ben Enwonwu, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Abayomi Barber, Uche Okeke, Bisi Fakeye and Kolade Oshinowo and others will be featured alongside that of younger artists in the public sale. Expected to compete for space are Peju Alatishe’ Untitled (2009, acrylic on canvas, 52 x 52 in.); Rom Isichei’s Roses (2007, oil on board 25 x 36 in.); Diseye Tantua’s Merry Go Round (2009, acrylic on canvas, 35.625 x 48 in.); Nnenna Okore’s Bark And Fiber1 (2009, clay and burlap 47 x 45 in.)
At the maiden edition, works of Richardson Ovbiebo, graduate of Yaba College of Technology, (Yabatech), Yaba, Lagos, was among those that made impressive sales.
English auctioneer, John Dabney, who conducted the last three events, is also expected to fly in for this auction.
Chellaram says, “this year’s auction is expected to generate more interest in the ‘Zaria School’ because of the works of the late Gani Odutokun, Jerry Buhari and some of their younger contemporaries, which will be prominent.”
In fact, Odutokun’s work, untitled oil on board, lot 037 is the cover of the catalogue. Also included in the list, she adds, are “celebrated groups associated with Nsukka, Osogbo and Lagos art scene during the 60s and 70s.”

Aside the megabucks, Chellaram declared last year that the sale would be a reference point in Africa. Shortly before opening of the preview on Friday, she made good that commitment by showcasing the works of artists from Ghana and Kenya. Some of the works, she explains “were either sent in by collectors or artists from these countries.” Foreign artists whose works would be among those to be sold include Ghanaians Ablade Glover, Amon Kotei, Ato Delaquis, George Hughes, Kofi Agosor; and Kenyan, Peter Elungat.

CHELLARAM’S interest in art started as a mere collector several years ago, until it grew into a bigger vision. “The public nature of the event allows for greater transparency of pricing and wider exposure of the art to a broad and global audience,” she argues.
About 100 works were on display at the venue yesterday as part of the two-day preview ahead of the actual sale.

Ebohon dines with the masters

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
AS the beauty of the canvas lies on colour projection; painter, Sam Ebohon, holds nothing back in his rendition of the rainbow. While preparing for a solo art exhibition in August, Ebohon is eagerly looking forward to feeling the pulse of the public on what he declares as “new face of my art.”
Inside his studio, in Isolo, Lagos, some of the works show a slight difference from collection in his last solo outing entitled Shades of Value, 2008. For example, Job Seekers and Princess appeared subtler in tone, compared to the human image depictions in works such as I Fine, Saharian Bride and Brain Storm Herald of Royalty, in his last outing.
“I can’t be static; I keep researching. It’s still within my identity to remain unique, not much of change, except the softness,” he explains.

GROUP exhibition projects often tend to add or subtract from an artist’s rating, but Ebohon has found like minds in the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA). “It’s the right group to belong for any full time studio artist, who wants to be counted among the best in Nigeria,” he boasts.
Perhaps serving at executive level in the guild’s inauguration and induction committee, last year has blessed Ebohon with some privileges to contribute to growth of the collective of new and aspiring Nigerian visual art masters. But at the just concluded election that ushered in the new executive, his name was missing from the list of candidates. He explains that it was necessary for him to “step down for another competent member; Kehinde Sanwo, the new secretary.”

EBOHON’s emergence as the winner of the global art competition, Caterina de’ Medici Painting Award, Italy, in 2009, he says, “confirmed that GFA is the guild of masters.” About 150 artists across the world participated in the competition themed Florence and its Province in the Eyes of the World, with Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka being on the panel of judges.
A streetscape titled Midnight on Viaguelfa – which earned him the prize – draws one’s attention to Ebohon’s cubist form.
The glory did not come without pains, as he recalls almost losing interest in the event because of lack of sponsors back home.
Ebohon’s sacrifice, however, is the nation’s gain – beyond the laurel — as the representatives of Caterina de’ Medici Painting Award in Nigeria had secured the hosting of the 2010 edition.
The competition has been included as part of the Lagos Black Heritage Festival holding in Badagry, but the irony of this development is that the corporate support is not forthcoming. This confirms the criticisms that Nigeria’s corporate sector always wait for a breakthrough in a project before coming in to tap from its harvest, rather than being part of the dream from the beginning.

THOUGH he is satisfied with the credit of inducing the hosting right, one expects the sponsor of the event, a leading telecommunication company (name withheld) to recognise Ebohon in the Lagos event tagged Lagos, The City Of A Thousand Masks, which holds in April. So far, nothing in that direction: “I don’t know if the organisers and sponsors are recognising my status as the last winner; I’m yet to hear from them,” he says.
Graduated in 1990 at Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), Yaba, Lagos, specializing in Painting; Ebohon in the same year, received the Academy Press Award for Excellence in Painting.

EVENTS
ArtHouse Contemporary’s first art auction of the year opens with preview on Saturday, February 27 and Sunday 28 at The Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, while the auction holds on Monday, March 1.

Onifade’s Araism… five outings, still counting

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
You sure will be fascinated by the technique and style of rendition of a piece of work of members of this group of artists, but don’t ask, if the araism is a style, movement, club or association?
From five ‘disciples’, which made the group’s debut exhibition in 2006, the number of artists working in Araism has increased to 14, including the proponent, Mufu Onifade.
At their last outing titled Araism Movement 5 held at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos; Oludotun Popoola, Esther Emmanuel, Abiola Mautin Akande, George Egunjobi, Jonathan Ikpoza, Stephen Oni, Abolore Awojobi, Adeleye Taiwo, Jimoh Babatunde, Kesa Babatunde and Bolarinwa Olowolabayaki had their works on display.
Onifade, who also exhibited at that outing recalls, how he “invented” Araism between 1989 and 1996 because he did not want to be counted among Art graduates that “fizzle out” of the mainstream practice soon after school. And what he describes as “constant experimentation” finally led him to Araism.
For an art that derives its name from an ambiguous Yoruba word ara (which could mean wonder, thunder, body, relation), the culture and ideology of the people appear strongly in the concept. Basically, Araism is a painstaking application of repetitive design over an entire surface of the canvas.
Onifade’s Sango’s Harem, acrylic on canvas, for example, revisits, Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning; capturing the tragic physical demise of the deity.
Matted against oceanic colour are Sango’s three favourite wives: Oba, Oya and Osun. For those, who still hold on to traditional beliefs, these characters are regarded as deities of rivers, and benevolent goddesses in Yoruba land
Popoola’s Ajo Laye (The Return) dwells on the Yoruba philosophy that the world is like a market square; a temporary abode. “The true home abounds in the realm beyond,” the artist retorts.
In Oluwambe’s Bogiri ‘O Lanu (Cracks to Harbour) -- the crack in a wall is a refuge for the lizard-- is also linked to the Yoruba thought that disunity starts with badly managed misunderstanding, no matter how small.

In a group show such as this, it appears that Araism is less appreciated compared to when it is seen among other works of diverse styles, techniques or forms. This is noticed every time the work of an Araism acolyte is featured among other works.
However, Araism, Onifade argues, could also add aesthetic values in the art of other cultures. A member, Jonathan Ikpota, who is a non-Yoruba, for example, Onifade notes, “is using it to promote his Edo-Delta culture.”
Despite the increasing number of members, Onifade stresses that Araism did not borrow from similar movements such as Onaism or Ulism in Nigeria as “I was not aware of any Nigerianism” apart from those already known in history art.
Without his disciples, Onifade has taken the concept beyond the shores of the country as one of the exhibiting artists in shows such as Dance of the Mask, U.K., 2004, and Art Expo Las Vegas, U.S., 2008. One of his earlier experiences abroad was a group show of 16 artists selected from seven countries -- Ghana, UK, USA, Trinidad, Cuba, Brazil and Nigeria --that took part in an exhibition titled 16 Pieces to commemorate Black History Month in London.

Reminisces of the Nigerian Jazz Club

BY BENSON IDONIJE
I RECEIVED a phone call, followed by an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from Naiwu Osahon, expressing a strong desire to resuscitate the defunct Jazz Club of Nigeria of which he was Secretary General.
He did not say which the club would come back into existence, neither did he discuss the logistics of its resurrection. Information was scanty.
However, knowing Naiwu as a man of action––with the success of Roots Festival as proven ability, we can be sure that a Jazz Club will soon launch into action. But while we wait for this to happen, it is pertinent to flash back to the genesis of the club its remarkable activities of the 80s–– in remembrance of Taiwo Okupe, the club’s indefatigable President who was a also a jazz musician. His death in 1999, at the age of 65 robbed the Nigerian jazz scene of one of its prime movers especially in terms of promotion.
He was not a practitioner of the art form as such, not in the sense of professional accomplishment. But he played the alto saxophone as an instrument of pleasure–– to the best of his ability. He carried the instrument everywhere he went and was ready to blow at the slightest opportunity –– even though, by profession, he was an automobile engineer.
He devoted all his energy to the promotion of jazz through selfless service, which cost him money and time. The evolution and development of jazz in Nigeria benefited from Taiwo as a moving spirit and driving force.
Chief Okupe earned himself the nickname Awo, which means plate in Yoruba–– a popular reference by the Yoruba speaking people to the musical disc of the 33-vinyl type.
And because he had a good sense of humour, and an imaginative turn of mind, he often generally referred to good music as Awo. He was very sensitive to the quality of music, for which he had good ear.
The genesis of this nickname is traceable to 1963 when, in company of Austin Emordi, a jazz devotee and an insurance manager at the time with African Alliance, Broad Street, Lagos; the late Kunle Maja; Fela Anikulapo Kuti (then Fela Ransome Kuti); we listened to Blue Note records together for the finest in jazz.
Whenever he heard a good jazz number, especially by Jimmy Smith, Dexter Gordon, Jackie Mclean, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, and all the early Blue Note recording stars, he reacted by shouting Awo! And that was how he began to earn himself that name.
Okupe was always around to give the Fela Ransome-Kuti quintet moral support on inception in 1963 and l964 at Kool Cats Inn, Apapa Road, Lagos, where the band played. He was always on hand to play the alto saxophone, especially on Charlie Parker’s blues compositions such as Billie’s Bounce and Now’s the time, which were in the medium tempo; and the slow, soulful blues standards such as Parker’s Mood and Funky Blues
And because of the admiration he had for Parker and his revolutionary style of improvisation, Okupe often did not only attempt to adopt the virtuoso’s approach, he also tried to play note for note, phrase for phrase Parker’s solos –– on a brand new expensive alto, which he treasured highly.

WHEN Fela’s jazz quintet eventually transformed to the Koola Lobitos in 1965, Okupe still tagged along and embraced the bands highlife because it still retained jazz as a mainstay in terms of structure, arrangement and improvisation.
Consequently, he was always a member of the scanty audience to which the band p1ayed in, those early years of its development. He gave the Koola Lobitos support and encouragement even helping to transport the musicians home whenever they were stranded.
As a measure of his support for jazz and his commitment to the artform, he undertook to service and repair the band’s early vehicles of Opel Kadett LH 2600 and LK 402, which Fela always overflogged as they were on the road 24 hours day.
Fe1a loved adventure; he was a fantastic driver. But Okupe’s workshop at Aje Street, Yaba, often took care of the cars; and the bills most of the time, were written off.
Okupe was the brain behind the inauguration in 1980 of the Jazz Club of Nigeria, of which he naturally became president He took care of registration processes and fees; and even when the club lacked funds because members were not forthcoming with their monthly and membership dues; Okupe bankrolled the activities to put it on sound footing.
Attempts were made to divide the club in order to destroy it, but because of Okupe’s good leadership, the Jazz Club survived several intrigues and almost overwhelming odds until Naiwu Osahon was elected co-ordinator and Secretary General in early 1987.
With Okupe’s cooperation, Naiwu immediately set about trying to put the club on the world map of jazz music by instituting the first ever international award for jazz music. He called the awards Roots.
Roots was designed to do for the world of jazz music what the American OSCAR is doing for the cinema. The catch phrase of the Roots Award was: “If you haven’t got roots, you aren’t playing jazz”
Naiwu believed that Nigeria being the big brother of the black world had a responsibility to identify with jazz, which is one of Africa’s brilliant legacies to America and the world.
For him, Roots for jazz is part of what Pan-African scholarship and crusade are about. Roots carries the same responsibility as the anti-apartheid struggles to established respect for worth and contributions of the Africans.
The success of Roots has since put Nigeria on a high pedestal, earning it international recognition in jazz. This feat was achieved through awards indefatigable efforts. But he would not have succeeded without the good leadership, cooperation and encouragement of a president as Taiwo Okupe.

FROM inception, the Roots award was assisted and sponsored by the Federal Department of Culture, the French Cultural Centre, The Netherlands Embassy. British Council, Nigerian Tobacco Company, United States Information Service, Nigerians Airways, Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Goethe-Institute, Lufthansa Airlines and the African Continental bank, Okupe facilitated all the planning for eventual execution.
The winners of the Roots Award, which ran for three days in 1988 at the National Theatre main bowl were Albert Mangelsdorf Germany who receives the Best Trombonist of the World award, Randy Weston of America received the Best Pianist in the World award. Miles Davis’ award was as the Best Trumpeter in the World even though he could not fly in to receive it.
Toshiko Akiyoshi from Japan was the Best Band Leader in the world. She was on the spot, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, led by trumpet player, Lester Bowie, received the Best Jazz Group in the World award.
Featured during the Festival were Itchy Fingers, winner of the 1987, British Jazz and new music award, Randy Weston Trio, one of the leading exponents of African rhythms and music in jazz, the Didier Lockwood Band, which in 1987, received the Best Jazz Violinist in the World award and Alvin Queen Jazz Sextet from USA, which performed a week before the Roots festival to help whip up publicity.
The second Roots Award festival took place on January 22, 1989 at the National Theatre main bowl, Iganmu Lagos. One of the awards recipients was the late Dizzy Gillespie who brought his sextet to perform. He was honoured for being the most innovative exponent of jazz music and for helping to set jazz music on it current dynamic course.
The other 1989 recipient of Roots award for jazz was James Moody, a tenor saxophone player of repute who was honoured for his versatility, doughtiness, dedication, unassuming longevity and for putting the world perpetually in the jazz mood for love.
Trophies were presented to Dizzy Gillespie and James Moody for their awards by His Royal Highness Oba Joseph O. Ogunfowora JP, the Alaperu of Iperu, Nigeria, an event that was made possible by the late Jazz Club President, Taiwo Okupe.
According to Naiwu, “we needed chieftaincy titles for the musicians in respect of the Roots Award. Okupe readily arranged all that for us.
“He approached the Oba of his village (Okupe himself was a chief), his Royal Highness Oba Joseph O. Ogunfowora, JP, who made everything possible. He was deeply committed to the promotion of jazz.
“He realised that the Roots award was a great achievement for the club and noted.
“The greatest achievement for us was Roots. We focused entirely on Roots. We wanted to be the first group of people to give out the first international awards in jazz. We felt this was our birthright as Africans. But they have copied us now. We have a Danish group now that gives international awards to musicians. They picked it up from us. They did not want to join us but wanted to go their own separate way. Their funds are readily bankrolled by a leading tobacco company in Denmark.
“However, as a measure of the impact our own festival made, many people are now talking to us from various parts of the world. For example, Dizzy Gillespie’s manager recently wrote to us from his Charismatic Production Centre in Washington D.C. asking us to establish further contact for further negotiation.”

Aje…native strokes in the Diaspora

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
YESTERDAY, the US-based Nigerian artist, Jide Aje, opened his solo show, New Mixed Media, at Gallery: 2739 Edwin, Hamtramck, Michigan.
Scheduled to end on February 27, the show also incorporates Artist’s Talk and Gallery Tour holding on Saturday February 20.
According to Aje, his work reflects a deep interest in African culture and a constant experimentation with new creative processes.
He says, “its content, primarily, but not exclusively, is from Yoruba traditional sources and derives from a background that contrasts rural and urban, traditional and modern, African and Western.”
Most of the works available on soft copies are untitled. But in such work as Pupa, Dudu ati Funfun: (Red, Black and White) the art of his native Yoruba culture is explored.
He explains that it is about the use of colour in pre-industrial times and in traditional societies. “My work is inspired by a wide variety of themes and influences. I use African iconography, especially West African decorative motifs as the jumping-off point.”
However, the abstract expressionism content of his native art boldly adapted in most of the works, perhaps, create a balance for the mixed tastes.
“Sometimes, I incorporate traditional colour schemes as well. Working from the viewpoint that culture is dynamic, I attempt to re-work the symbols to fit modern context,” he says.
The artist’s leaning towards highly textured surface is pronounced in some of the works.
He states: “I would say my work is simply the result of constant search and experimentation or the product of creative freedom in which the process is more important than the outcome. I’m a product of the convergence of several influences, experiences and traditions. For example; the African and the European/Western; traditional and modern; formal and informal; urban and rural. We can therefore conclude from my experiences that I am many things in different contexts: an American raised in Africa and at the same time an African artist living and working in the Diaspora.”

AJE’s career started with a degree in Painting from the University of Ife, (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife, Osun State. He later studied Industrial Design at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, US.
He says, pursuing careers as artist has been nomadic, sometimes interrupted “by movement: Ile-Ife to Lagos; Lagos to Kansas City; Kansas City to Detroit.”
From painting, he ventured into industrial design, working in an auto industry in the U.S.
“My devotion to regular studio works started about 10 years ago. I moved to Detroit to pursue a career in the automotive industry and eventually ended up moving to the City of Hamtramck,” Aje explains.

LIKE most artists, his early exposure to drawings at elementary school years, Aje explains, was a foundation period that later helped his art, “under the tutelage of Prof. Rowland Abiodun, Prof. Moyo Okediji and Prof. Bolaji Campbell of the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art (Painting major).”
Some of his past exhibitions are Jide Aje: 75th Anniversary All Media Show Detroit Artist’s Market (2007); 11th Annual Black Fine Art Show, New York City, (2007); Heritage: Brilliance Part 2 at the National Conference of Artists, (2007); Exquisite Corpse at Hamtramck Art Collective (Hatch); Cafe 1923, Hamtramck.
Others include National Conference of Artists, Michigan Annual Fund Raiser; Embrace-2007: Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora.

Flower on canvas

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
THE missing link between art and flowers in the floral kingdom, resurfaced when a Lagos-based flower shop, Flowertalk, opened its door to artists recently.
The proprietress, Alero Okotie-Eboh Jadesinmi, recalls that when she was to start Flowertalk, people did not give it a chance. But her experience with the flower business has proved that “art shows in a flower shop could work as well. I was convinced from day one; flower is art anyway.”
Her involvement in art, she explains, was spurred by her NGO, Youth Business Initiative (YBI), aimed at empowering young professionals to excel in their careers.
So far, this new outlet has exhibited works of Tuodeinye Ogaga; and whose coordination others such as Kamorudeen Akerele, Joe Nsek, Ade Odunfa and Dotun Alabi had group outings at different times. What is now regarded as a yearly event started with the solo show of Ogaga.
At the last show titled Insignia, Ogaga says the initiative was aimed at using the flower venue to lure more art enthusiasts. “It’s working. Paintings here for exhibition brings a new taste to regular visitors of the flower shop,” he declares.
The combined radiation of flower and painting, the artist enthuses, is bringing a new passion for lovers of flowers.
A barren tree against the scorching sun is Ogaga’s interpretation of procreation in the work, Towards the Sun, as he likens the concept to “a man who looks forward to a woman for procreation”. He continues his thoughts on relationship in Transparent Affection; a series of figural works, focusing on intimacy. Another work, Graceful Peacock, a blend of painting and flower, depicts colourful bird in its action.
Ogaga’s abstraction leads him to, perhaps, contribution to the Copenhagen, Denmark global summit on climate change, tagged Universal Energy.

FROM Odunfa and Alabi come different tastes of the palette knife tool. Fresh from his solo outing, Phases and Faces, the solo show which featured his works from 1999 till date, combined youth and intellect. Such was the collage multi-dimensional painterly look, yet on a single surface in Thoughts, as drawing splits into a mirror-like depiction. Still stressing his new form, Odunfa brings into this group show, some poetic textures. But despite his growing skill with the knife, he seems to be leaning too heavily on the nude side of art. Three out of every five recent work of his, explore the female anatomy.
Alabi drips his palette in most of the works, resulting in a form that brings in new texture to his work. For example, Night Life at a Bar shows an increasing lighting, which takes off from the semi-silhouette foreground through a bright centre and a spotlight background.
Two editions back, 20 works of Ogaga, Akerele and Nsek were on display in the exhibition, Values and Colours.

Living grandpa’s legacy

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
FROM taking ordinary ‘pa-pa-pa’ snap shots, Olayinka Oluwakuse III, is today emerging as a photographer with passion for the urban streetscapes and skylines.
Currently, Lagos is his focus as he boasts of stunning captures that would make the covers of tour and travel magazines.
Largely concentrating on Lagos with Victoria Island as his object of passion, his most recent shot on the third mainland bridge tells vividly the strange mixture of high-rise and slum structures of Lagos Island. Titled, Third Mainland Bridge , and printed in dye-tone, the aesthetic shot of the 11.8 km bridge underscores the great effort of the builders
Still on the Lagos Island, the artist stresses that the city is beautiful as he goes aerial, again, capturing the Onikan axis of the Island from the controversial Sun Born Yacht stationed close to the Naval Dockyard, the MUSON Centre building, City Mall, Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS and the Onikan Stadium. Of significance here is the power of the telephoto lens as Oluwakuse captures the other end of the mainland exit of the Island.
“I actually started as a pa-pa-pa (quick snap shot photography), which I was enjoying; just having fun, taking friends, families at social gatherings, schools and other places of interest,” recalls Oluwakuse. But he says the fun was cut short when he came across the works of Don Barber. Professionalismsets in, bringing a broader perspective of what the camera can do.

Confirming that quality of professionalism is an eye-level shots of the Marina -- compartmentalised into three -- showing how man compliments nature: under-construction park along the CMS stretch enhanced by the foreground water and high-rise corporate offices against the painterly look of the skyline are a beauty to behold. Highlighted by the bold and black borderline, the artist’s interpretation of this section of the Lagos Island is too inviting for anyone to think of the hidden potholes on the roads and ugly looking bridges that could do with some paints.
As sand filling is taking over some sections of the marine stretch of Lagos, the artist’s lens has moved fast to document the historical slave site of Badagry marina where some 18th century cannons were stationed. He lamented that the “last time I was there, recently, the cannons were gone, due to sand filling.”

For Oluwakuse, still in his late twenties, the choice to be a photographer did not come without a prize. He must have thought being “a grandson of a Lagos professional photographer, Oluwakuse” was enough for his parents and siblings to accept his choice of career. He was wrong: “at home they used to call me ‘radical’ because of my passion for photography.”
And when he completed a degree course in Economics from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), and still stuck to his passion, making success of it, the label changed. “In my family, they say, ‘ah, radical is now classical o’ because they did not believe I could make a living on photography.”
With a private viewing titled, Foto Ni Ede Yoruba in 2008, he tested the exhibition terrain. And in December last year, he made his debut solo exhibition, Re: 101 Reasons Not to Visit Lagos, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. The show, he explains was a response to an article “101 Reasons not to Visit Lagos”, posted online by a foreigner.”
Also, his presence on the photography scene is attracting the attention of the corporate world; a proposed new campaign for one of the leading banks, he discloses, is using some of his works.

Nwosu-Igbo… bold strokes, deep statement

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
LIFE becomes more meaningful when people, irrespective of their disciplines, get out of their comfort zones to attend to the pressing needs of their society.
This must have led painter, Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo, to extend her creative enterprise to one of the health issues affecting women – breast cancer.
At her recent outing, Not Ready to Walk Away, she addresses the ailment, expressing the need for much attention to be given to it.
In the piece, I Always Cry at the Movie — giant sculptures of two floor-length spaghetti gowns, made of used recharge card from different networks — she says, represent the urgency required to stop the spread of the disease.
Beneath the gowns was a heap of figural sculptures depicting lifeless bodies – victims of breast cancer. The composition of the figures also stresses that the ailment cuts across races; as they are in white, brown and blue colours.
The outing was the group show, Closures and Enclosures held as part of Lagos Book and Art Fair (LABAF).

In fact, Nkechi has found so much to express through telephone recharge card wastes in her past three editions. She used the medium to depict what she called Implied Walls in the exhibition, Dawning Dreams during the eighth edition of LABAF.
It could have been any cause; she says, “you need to lend your voice and passion to a cause of yours.”
Perhaps that cause is a direct calling to celebrities, who in her opinion, stand the best chance to spread the message of giving back.
Breast cancer, she notes, claims as much victims as AIDS. But the imbalance here is that it gets less awareness, so, she urges “women to go to hospital for regular check-ups.”

In the past, she had been part of several women-related causes particularly from her immediate constituency – the visual art. She featured in the all-women show Identities and Labels at Pan-African University, Ajah, Lagos; Women About Women, 2001; and Women In Visual Art (WIVA) Perspective, 2008.

THE new Lagos that Governor Babatunde Fashola, is creating, is expressed with props such as utensils, umbrella, mat and “Ghana must go” bag among others. The difference here, is that the inhabitant is not a destitute or indigent, but one who has taken up what Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo – during the last Ben Enwonwu Distinguished Lecture – described as “responsible privilege.”
The inhabitant is Nwosu-Igbo and the location, a gallery space, for the performance Ziga M Ozi (Send Me on Errand).
Still adamant not to walk away, Nkechi, also a poet, hopes to come back for a major solo outing before the

From vineyard, enters Ajobiewe

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
LIKE the birth of a child, painter Samuel Amurawaiye Ajobiewe recently unveiled himself through his debut solo art exhibition.
Significantly, the show held at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, was titled Ajobiewe, the artist’s name.
Ajobiewe is a straitjacket painter who captures familiar situations, thus making his works to be rated among those artists whose works spring little or no surprise.
His non-visible brush movement skills may not be uncommon, but there is something about the dimension that raises curiosity for a solo debut. The skills must have been accumulated unconsciously for decades.
He recalls: “My journey into art started at a tender age, in my primary school when almost every book a child lays his hands on becomes a drawing book.”
Rewards and encouragement started coming so soon for the then young artist-to-be. At primary five in St. Peter’s Anglican Primary School, Ogori, Kogi State, a trainee teacher, he explains, noticed his skill and asked him “to draw various objects for use as teaching resources” for the school. But it was the art patron,Otunba Yemisi Shyllon, whom Ajobioewe says, “motivated him to get a formal education in art.”

HE continued proving his worth at the higher academic level, winning several laurels. “I emerged the Best Graduating National Diploma (ND) student, School Of Arts, Design and Printing (SADP) in 2000 at Yaba College of Technology, (Yabatech), Yaba, Lagos; Best Graduating student, Higher National Diploma, (HND), SADP, 2004, Yabatech; and the Professor Yusuf Grillo Award, 2000”
But he has moved on from that rudiment stage of his career, passing through some “mentors”, whose contributions, he admits, “have impacted his life.” These experiences garnered from senior artists of diverse backgrounds, forms and schools, apparently shaped his skill, which perhaps climaxed at the show. For examples, “Abioudun Olaku tutored me at a time he was moving from figure paintings to land and seascapes and night scenes; Segun Adejumo, positively, influenced my water colour painting skills.”
From group scenes such as Imoran Lagba, Baba Alayeye, seascape, and Window to the World – rendered in pastels – to oil such as Under A Watchful Eye, Aso L’e Wa, Ewa Ni Wa, Commerce and 3 to Tango, 3 To Dance, there is a faint line of preference drawn between his skill in pastel and oil.

WITH a two-man show, Waves of Live at Gold and Green Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos, in 1995, he had his first outing. He also took part in The Gods of Our Time, a group show of final year students of Yabatech in 2002 at Didi Museum, Victoria Island Lagos. He had another opportunity at a similar show, entitled
New Names, a gathering of 2004 final year students of the same school at Goethe Institut, Lagos.
Nine group shows down the line, including Hellenic Images Greece National Day, 2007, Lagos; Times and Feelings, Mydrim Gallery, 2006; Colours, Moods and Feelings at Truview Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, 2005; Ajobiewe’s debut solo show was an outing hard earned
In the dynamic art scene of the 21st century, Ajobiewe appears a strong contender to watch out for.

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
LEMI GHARIOKWU is presently busy showcasing his new work titled Afro Beat Goes On round Africa and other domains of the black race. Outside this, he recently unveiled another work pop art at the just concluded exhibition held at Artistic Licence art gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Mounted at a position overlooking the entrance of the gallery was Redemption, a piece about the obnoxious Trans Atlantic slave trade. Interestingly, Ghariokwu tells his story of redemption using the ironic result of the trade by placing a slave against that of the United States President, Barack Obama, at the opposite ends of a slave ship.
Redemption is perhaps one of the common expressions for most artists, irrespective of genres. And so, one may ask: is the Black race really there? Ghariokwu, who is known for his consistent Afro-centric ideology states that “for those of us who hold strongly to the struggle of emancipation of the race, redemption is here – we are there.” But there is the other side of the people who “still believe that redemption is a mirage; to such people, we are not there yet.”

AND to get out of this mental slavery, his new work emphasises celebration of the people’ heroes. In addition to the Obama image, pop art on late legends, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Michael Jackson stress that argument. Electrified depictions of a concert lighted-image of Jackson in Electric-I and a brownish-toned image of Fela, smoking with the title Ah-Free-Can are his thoughts on the subject. Electrifying, he declares, “is the most appropriate to describe Jackson’s stage image.” Ghariokwu has an adapted literary explanation for the Fela image as: Ah is a common exclamation; Free, unchaining from mental slavery; Can, ability to attain redemption. These, he says, add up to represent “African.”

Proclaiming this Africaness rests hugely on how heroes are presented for posterity. He cautions that exposing the psyche of children, for example, to characters such as Superman, Batman and other Western heroes without African alternatives is wrong. He asks: “What is wrong in promoting Sango as a comic hero?” Superman, he notes does all sorts of spectacles that we admire, “but when a-Sango character spits fire, some people would say, ‘it’s fetish’ or juju. But the truth is that it’s similar to the heroic act we see of Western heroes being promoted through the mass media.”
From the boring security routines at entry points of countries in Europe and America re-enacted on canvas in Biometrics, to the global economic crisis in Meltdown, the artist smells some hypocrisy of the West.
Beyond racial divides and class, come in Square Circles, a reclining figure that engages in the natural aging process and Life is a Weaver, a woven piece of craft, which takes you through shades and colours of life.
In August through September, he had a similar show titled, Afro Pop Art: Politics, Life and Lyrics, at Arc Gallery, Tottenham, United Kingdom.

Arrival unmasks

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
Princess Tessy Iyase-Odozi’s blends perfectly with her art; she wears her strokes and shades. This reflected much in her debut solo exhibition titled Arrival, which she describes as “a collection of contemporary paintings.” Every art piece on display inside the National Museum Gallery, venue of the show, talks about a particular characteristic of the artist: boldness either in colour, format or concept.
She grouped the exhibition into: mundane, artwork, abstract and spiritual contemplation. Her interpretation of native dance steps in Dancing Queen, Swing Energy, Ugie Dance, Synergy, Ivie, all under what she labels the ‘Heritage’, the sub-group was not just dances in the ordinary sense of it, but the regaling of the dancers as enhanced by richness of costumes; Iyase-Odozi’s identity.
For example, why would anyone be so gorgeously dressed to shop in a crowded market? The answer is simple: it’s an Iyase-Odozi’s world of elegance as spotted in the wide screen format, Shop Right. No coincidence here – royalty and elegance are in the blood – her late father was the Iyase N’ Odo, a high chief in the Benin Kingdom.
However, the artist’s strength, so it appeared is in the abstract and spiritual sections. A passionate advocate of green environment, her largely surreal work blends nature with the terrestrial or celestial as seen, for example, in a sword dissolving into flower and other vegetation in Holy Sword; an angel-like imposing figure – enhanced by rainbow – in Gatekeepers; a heavenly dove, candle-light assemblage illuminating the earth in Mainstream are what she explains as “spiritual essence man must give attention to.” She recalls that her “contemplation” about the spiritual realm started quite a while ago and she would not stop interpreting such on the canvas.

SHE argues that her choice of African elements in the heavenly depiction is deliberately to challenge, “Western allegorical paintings, where virtually all the characters are white, except the occasional knave depicted in blacks.”
The abstraction, Identical – and similar works in that context – stands out from the crowd of exhibits. “Really?” Her response explains her innocence on preference of strength.
Also, Ogbon Ijapa (Tortoise’s antics), which reminds one of the notorious characters of the tortoise in most Yoruba folktales, illustrates the design zeal of the artist.
Surprisingly, imperial art was under-played in the show. And with modesty she states that, “it’s a dynamic world, not just about royalty always.”

HAVING had several group outings, perhaps, a solo show was not in her immediate plan until he was told to ‘un-mask yourself’, which was all she needed to unload all she has within her. “I became more skillful, confident and daring.” More importantly, “fulfilled.”
She decides to share part of what inspired her in the book, Discover… The Art in you and be Guided, launched on the opening day of the exhibition.
Some of Iyase-Odozi’s group shows were Naija Women Art Exhibition; Art on the Mainland; Hellenic Images organised by the Greek Embassy in Nigeria.


EVENTS
Collocation in Abuja
Francis Ike, Chike Obeagu, Uche Uzorka, Muyiwa Akinwolere and Bob-Nosa Uwagboe are currently exhibiting in the group show, Collocation, which ends on December 17, 2009 at the Thought Pyramid Art Gallery, F.C.T, Abuja.

Art for justice

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
PERFORMANCE art is yet to be a popular staple on the visual art scene in this part of the world. However, Jelili Atiku, sculptor and performance artist, is a notable voice that wants to see this happen.
In 2005, he started with the installation, E Wawo, The Awaiting Trial Persons — a campaign against prison congestion — held at the Lagos State House of Assembly and in the premises of the Creative Arts Department, University of Lagos, Akoka. Between that period and now, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) –– trained artist has extended his performance art to the grassroots, engaging the common man on the streets in dialogue.
His current project Agbo Rago (Ram Ranch) addresses injustice and inequality, depicting the class system, a la master-slave mentality. “It’s important to take art to the streets, the way the people will understand it. Agbo Rago in that context is making the impact,” he argues.
Apparently, the popularity of Atiku’s performance is not in doubt: the organisers of the last Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF 2009) recognised this, when Agbo Rago was selected to be part of the art show alongside Closures and Enclosures, which featured three other artists, Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo, Washington Uba and John Oladesu.
Earlier performed at the ram market of a Lagos outskirt, Ejigbo, the LABAF performance attracted much attention from the people in the community.
Given its interactive characteristics, Agbo Rago underscores the importance of art at the grassroots as a medium of communication. And if people are not watching here; elsewhere, Atiku is being rewarded.

ANOTHER work of his, this time a video art medium titled Victim of Political Assassination is currently being screened at The Rencontres Internationales Festival, Paris. “My entry for the festival has been selected and programmed for the event’s video library. It is dedicated to documentaries, which will be proposed during the whole duration of the festival.” Scheduled to end tomorrow, Atiku’s work among others, according to the organisers, was available for consultation from November 30 through December 6 at the Paris-Villette. He explains, “it will allow press and professionals to discover a rare documentary selection.”
This development, he enthuses “is a landmark achievement to me and my art.”
His earlier work on the video art scene Red and Me was part of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) and the Lagos video art workshop Imaginary Line in October last year.
Through the CCA, Atiku has been participating in other international video art events taking place at the Sabo, Yaba-based centre, Lagos.

ATIKU made his debut on the exhibition scene at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos in 2001 with Black Heritage followed by Omoran Lagba, (The wise one is the leader) a year after at the Aina Onabolu Building, National Theatre Annex, Iganmu.
Still on the regular art forms, he had a two-man show, Shadows in the Dark, an exhibition of drawings, paintings and sculptures with another artist, Arthur Judah Angel, in 2004, at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos. The event was in line with his art activism mission; to celebrate the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nation General Assembly, Resolution 217 A (III), in December 1948.

Dilemma of an artist

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
AT some periods in the career of an artist, it becomes very challenging to impart more on the profession and explore new grounds. The painter, Edosa Ogiugo is in such dilemma: To take a break from his outside work to face the challenges of taking his art, and indeed the nation’s visual art scene beyond the present state.
“I am worried,” he declares.
Ogiugo is sure one of the busiest and most sought-after visual artists in the country. He may not be as prominent on shows, the challenges of meeting demand of collections as confirmed by his work schedule and volumes of canvases in his studio, are enough to testify of his proficiency.
The irony of it, is that these supposedly indices of buoyancy, he explains, “are my main source of worry.” So, much time and intellectual imput are invested in a particular work, only for it to end up in one person’s collection, he notes, adding that “this shortchanges the artist and the society at large.”
A piece of work, he argues, is expected to be in circulation to as many art enthusiasts as people, not just the privileged few. He expresses worries that in this part of the world many people do not embrace art piece.

BUT despite his almost 25 years of post-school practice, Ogiugo still lay emphasis on high volume production instead of masterpieces.
Naturally, as the print becomes more popular, it shoots up the prize of the original, hence the stronger the artist as a brand. His strong belief in print as the pedestal for stronger and wider appreciation of art led him to be part of an innovation to promote the outlet when Peter Madiebo of Hue Concepts organised the exhibition, Giclee last year.
The show, which featured his works and that of Alex Nwokolo, Abiodun Olaku, Segun Adejumo, Ebenezer Akinola and Kelechi Amadi-Obi, had each print tagged at 15 per cent of the original price.
And it must have been an agitation he embarked on before that show; in 2007 he was signed on by a U.S. based art promotion group, Grand Image, as one of its African artists, whose works would be reproduced in prints and marketed by the organisation.

IN the art business, where artists hardly engage art managers and promoters, coupled with the lack of corporate support, the onus rests on the artists to share his studio time with other engagements. In addition to his agitation for print, his dream is to run a studio “as a business concern that will outlive him”. More importantly to Ogiugo, is to harness what he described as “seemingly ignored aspects of the art business such as manufacturing and sales of quality art products, branding and advertising.”
When he joined the United Kingdom-based Fine Art Trade Guild in 2003, the world of art he probably never started opening up. So, it is time to bring all that to bear at home. He discloses his plans to establish an art academy; with the aim of sharpening talents and teaching art business – which students hardly get at the tertiary institutions.
With such vision coming from Ogiugo, who is the President of a group of professional body, Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA), add up to the distinct gathering of such groups, when he led GFA to the group’s maiden induction last year, a fresh breath of air appears on the nation’s art landscape.
However, Ogiugo’s dream for the culture sector is similar to the group’s vision. “Maybe there is a similarity, but GFA has so much on the table to offer, and there can never be a clash of interest. The collective effort of the group remains paramount,” he assures.

Ezeilo’s Kambani… All for tomorrow’s sake

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
WHEN a teenager, over 25 years ago, presented his portrait drawing of the then President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari at the State House, Ribadu Road, Lagos, a seed of nurturing artists at younger age was sowed, sub-consciously.
That teenager who is now the founder of Kambani Arts, Chima Ezeilo is giving to the society what, in his thinking, is a way of breeding tomorrow’s masters in the young art enthusiasts of today. From the United Kingdom, Ezeilo, an artist and architect had carried out several projects back home to empower the art scene.
Currently, Kambani is engaging teenagers across the country in art exhibitions and competition in such centres as Osogbo, Benin, Nsukka and Zaria, representing four zones in the project known as Mirror the master, a collaborative effort with Access Bank. The first two events concluded recently in Osogbo and Benin, involved royal fathers, artists and school children.
Ezeilo explains that, “we have a strong vision to make a difference by developing the art masters of tomorrow. These young ones will be exposed to the masters and gain inspiration from the works of the masters who are celebrated from time to time”.
In Benin, three winners emerged: First Prize, Aiwekhoe Osamagbue, 16, Edo College; second, Obi Augustina, 15, Greater Tomorrow College; third, Delina Ruth Imabibo, 9, Negbenebor International School.
But the project goes beyond discovering talents,it is also about; documenting art on the electronic media as well.
Kambani is making impact in TV documentary of visual art related subjects: one of such is Diaries - Voices of the Unheard, a focus growing popularity of African arts in Europe and America, which, has “impacted on ordinary Africans and made a practical difference in their lives.” The documentary premiered at the Silverbird Cinema, Victoria Island, Lagos in June, 2006. In the U. K., one of the art group’s most memorable show was Africa Within: Many Eyes One Soul, a joint exhibition of African art by Kambani Arts and another group, also based there, Passion Arts.
Also, in the same year, Kambani organized an art exhibition, Expression, launched at The Commonwealth Club of the Royal Commonwealth Society. A month long show, it was part of the year’s Black History Month events. The exhibition featured graduate artists from a number of African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa and Kenya.
A year after, Kambani had the backing of Cadbury Nigeria and the Heart of Africa Project to take the Expression tour across Nigeria this time and he, added children’s creative arts and writing to it. Each area had a unique Nigerian cultural, theme such as Argungu Fishing Festival for Abuja, Koroso Dance for Kano and Ekpe Festival, Calabar.
He recalls that Expression in Calabar offered an opportunity to have an idea about children’s thought concerning a trip to the slave history museum of the town. “Children expressed this through the creative writing workshops. They also participated in fashion, music, dance, readings and drama activities as part of the expressions experience.”
In Benin, similar situation re-played when participating school children set their canvases and rendered various thoughts on their environment.
“It is sad that in our society art is a profession that has not reached the desirability level held by medicine, law and engineering. It is often the subject of neglect and apathy from parents to children, no wonder children are not exactly clambering for a piece of art pie.”
For the participating youths in the Current project, Mirror the Master, there is an immediate reward to look forward to as the winner at a grand finale to be held in Lagos would have an opportunity to visit London. This visit, he says includes “attending some exclusive art galleries and participating in an accompanied viewing to see the works of Enwonwu and Chinwe Roy, who were both commissioned by Her Majesty, the Queen of England to sculpt and paint her portraits.”

Okiy… savouring events in pictures

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
FROM his studio, the young photo–artist, Ebiware Okiy, has escaped into the world of culture, sports and sundry political events. He runs what he claims to be a pioneer digital photo studio in Benin, Edo State, but believes that the future of photography is bright.
While taking his guest through his studio, he expressed dissatisfaction on what he describes as public’s wrong perspective of photography. Quite a busy studio – clients, mostly of middle-class could be seen, either collecting large format portraits or transacting other related businesses.
“That’s alright, at least some people appreciate the need to engage quality photographers in their social events. But photography goes beyond that,” he argues as he introduces his guests to using photographs to tell events.
Crowd events such as Annual Igue Festival, Benin; Abuja Carnival, FCT, Abuja; Itsekiri Festival; Africa Cup of Nation, Ghana 2008 and ecstatic scenes of the jubilating people of Edo State, when the current Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, was declared the governor of the state.

FROM a degree in Economics at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, his passion for photography took him to Lagos in 2005, where he had a crash programme with the seasoned photographer, Don Barber. The experience, he says, “broadened my perception of photography from social to documentary.”
Beyond the excitement of watching 22 players chasing one ball, the other side of the beauty of the game of football are the fans as seen in Okiy’s captures of two female fans of Black Stars of Ghana, whose costumes and make-ups add a carnival-like atmosphere to the scene. And when that tensed moment of the game – which every fan hates comes up – God is always brought in as a praying Super Eagles fan painted in green did not escape Okiy’s lens.
On that historic day of November 11, 2008, after Oshiomhole was declared winner, Okiy appeared to have laid an ambush for the ecstatic mood of the people, so explained other works, most of which were part of his recent show, A Day In Time held in Benin
From the shots of those with brooms to the mass movement of commercial motorbike riders known as Okada, Okiy thoughtfully captures the scenes while revealing to an extent, the volatile role of youths in a political outburst; which may be outrageous. There was no limit to this expression of joy as it also involved dangerous use of vehicular movements such as riding on lorry bonnets and hanging on step board of buses.
The reactions, Okiy recalls, was spontaneous, so his camera responded accordingly.
“I never really planned to take these shots until I was confronted with the situation,” he recalls, adding that the documentary comes more useful for most people who are cut off from the high-density areas where the actions took place.
During Ghana 2008, fans, particularly Ghanaians, “were very receptive to cameras, in fact always pose for it”
Comparatively, he notes that it is usually a challenge for him taking shots in public here. For example, “Benin people are very unreceptive to camera and could be very violent.”
Most thoughtful of his captures are some looming environmental crisis in flood prone parts of Edo State; two of these raise alarm over how the inhabitants of these settlement are fast losing their homes to flood.
Okiy’s creative sensibility either in traditional or digital finishing tells a story in contextual sense of it.

EVENTS
The Ben Enwonwu 6th Distinguished Lecture, which holds on November 18, 2009, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos, will be delivered by the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).