Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation

Invitation to 2012 Harmattan Workshop

2012-01-06T22:36:00.000-08:00

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE14TH HARMATTAN WORKSHOP, AGBARHA-OTOR 2012

The 14^th annual Harmattan Workshop,Agbarha-Otor 2012 beckons. We intend to feature Painting, Water Colour, MixedMedia, Textiles, Photography, Wood Carving, Stone Carving, Printmaking, Beadsand Jewellery, Ceramics, and a few other courses if facilities becomeavailable. The workshop promises to surpass previous ones in terms oforganisation, attendance and variety. Eminent academics, scholars andoutstanding personalities will gave talks on various aspects of the visual artsduring seminars that will feature throughout the workshop duration. There willbe film shows on masters and their work and participants will have theopportunity to meet colleagues from within and outside the country. Allparticipants will be provided with basic materials needed but we adviseparticipants to come with their materials to augment what will be given them.Accommodation and feeding would be provided to all participants as well.

You are welcome toparticipate in this workshop, which has become the longest - running forum ofinformal education for visual artists of all background in Nigeria.

The workshopwhich is of two sessions will commence on February 19 and ends March 3, 2012for the first session and from March 4 – 17, 2012 for the second session. Institutional participation will attract N35, 000.00per participant. This amount covers materials, accommodation and feeding. Othercategories of participants are as follows: practising artists, N25, 000.00;students, N15, 000.00.

As usual, in August 2012, the Workshop will featurethe August retreat for practising artists only. This also will last two weeks.Details would be provided in the course of the year.

We look forward to your participation in this year’sworkshop.

We look forward to your participation.

Contact
Harmattan Workshop Director
Sam Ovraiti
Bofound.ng@gmail.com

Seasons Greetings

2011-12-30T03:20:00.000-08:00

Very Best Wishes for the New Year, with 2012 filled with great opportunities

Rare pieces of modern Nigerian art Surface In Abuja

2011-11-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

The Thought Pyramid Gallery, Abuja, Nigeria is proud to present

BEYOND IMAGINATION: A COMMEMORATIVE EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS,SCULPTURES AND PRINTS BY NIGERIAN MASTER ARTISTS.

on Thursday Nov 24 at 5pm. Exhibition runs till 1st Dec, 9.00p.m. 2011

West Africa flourishes with artists. The Lagos arts scenemay arguably be one of the most artistically fertile spots on earth, given thesheer number of full time artist living in her environs. The West Africanartistic landscape has also been described as rich vibrant and oftenintriguing. However, very often discernable even to the common onlooker, is thetowering influence of Titans of the Nigerian Artistc Terrain. They are the Masters of Visual Arts. Theirartistic backgrounds, even though roughly grouped into the formal and informaltrained artists, have unleashed a tremendous amount of creativity and fervour intoour artistic landscape. All of the artistsbelow have emerged as Nigerian Masters and by extension celebrated icons oftheir trade.

The first 4 constitute the Fantastic Four, of Oshogbo Art,and are also the first fruits of the illustrious Oshogbo Experimental Workshopstarted in the 60’s, under the tutelage and guidance of Ulli and Georgina Beier.A lot of their subject matter attests to strong beliefs, which are rooted inYoruba culture and life.

Dancing Masquerades Bruce Onobrakpeya Metal Foil

Horns of Freedom Low relief Metal Foil Bruce Onobrakpeya

Twins Seven Seven was a multi talented artist and performer.Even in death, he is by far the most visible artist that 20th Century Africahas produced. His works are often characterized by epic treatment of characterswhether human or animal. His human formscan often been seen with half shut or sleepy eyes, suggesting a surreal, dreamlikeor trans-like state. He is a master of color and an elaborate decorator ofsurfaces. He is the alpha artist of the great Oshogbo school, widely celebratedeven beyond the Nigerian borders. The genius of his art, is that his forms are mesmerizingly engaging and intriguing.

Jimoh Buraimoh comes from a traditional family in Oshogbo,long associated with the majestic art of crown making with beads. Hisinnovative transfer of this traditional art form of crown making with beads, tobead making and painting on flat surfaces, places him with other greatinnovators like Onobrakpeya and Emokpai as having contributed to new techniques,vistas and methods of experiencing the visual arts. Jimoh Buraimoh is widelytraveled and considered by many as one of the finest folkloric artist in our shores.

Muraino Oyelami, is a visual poet who hails from Iragbijinear Oshogbo. His works have a cool blend of purple, yellow, blue and greencolours, they are often juxtaposed, in his landscapes or other themes to formart that is often enchanting to behold. His art reflects and parallels the enduringappeal of Oshogbo art and culture. Muraino’s art like other great Oshogboartists, suggests to the viewer, that as an artist, he straddles in his art tothat magical wonder world and place, where people, animal and places all converge andsometimes become one. He has exhibited widely outside Nigeria including Ghana andGermany.

The fourth in the quartet is Rufus Ogundele (1946-1996) who was born in Oshogbo. He was also aversatile performer and artist. In 1963 he participated in Denis Williams'workshop. Ogundele combined the European artistic techniques like printmaking whichhe developed especially under Beier's tutelage with the teachings oftraditional Yoruba culture. In 1983 he was artist-in-residence at the Iwalewa-Hausin Bayreuth, Germany. He trained other artists at his studios.

Bisi Fakeye hails from Ila-Orangun, and was born into the Yoruba family of carvers of Inurin compound in South West Nigeria. He belongs to the sixth generation of Fakeye family of carvers. In 1960, at age seventeen, Bisi Fakeye moved from Ila-Orangun to Ondo where he was attached as an apprentice for a total of seven years to his uncle, Lamidi Fakeye, in between which he trained as a teacher for one year.
Bisi Fakeye found Lagos a home and like Emokpai, he mixed and shared ideas with a new breed of contemporary artists, particularly those trained in formal art schools like Yusuf Grillo, and Ben Osawe.
He has also participated alongside Onobrakpeya at the very prestigious Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) Exhibition, Abuja (2003). His work is highly regarded both within and outside Nigeria.

Ben Enwonwu. originallyfrom Onitsha, is considered the father of modern art in Nigeria. He wasformally trained at the Goldsmith and Slade Academy in he U.K. His greatestpieces show man in his finest form, elevated to the realms of gods. There areseveral examples of this, the best known being Shango and Anyanwu, whichare sculptural pieces, but he is also well known as the painter of the famousTutu.

Ben Osawe was also formally trained in the west, and wasalso the son of a Benin carver, his passion for wood for carving and bronzecasting demonstrate his love for these media. Osawe loved and marvelled at theanatomy of the female form. His art must rightfully be considered as a modernday continuum of great Benin art, a position he shares with his other Edo/Urhobo countrymen Emokpai andOnobrakpeya. Bruce Onobrakpeya whoturns 80 next year, has shared his art and ideas through the Annual HarmattanWorkshop now in the 14^th Edition. He has been described as amongst one of the most influential teachers ofNigerian artists.

As Ben Enwonwu was was an early teacher to BruceOnobrakpeya, so too was Bruce Onbobrakpeya to David Dale. Dale is today, one ofNigeria’s most versatile artists in terms of technique usage. He is very widelytraveled in Nigeria, on the merit of his ethnicity, training and professionallife. All of these experiences, he leverages into the themes of his works. Atheart Dale is a designer, with a passion for elaborate designs and ethnicmotifs and patterns.

Erhabor Emokpai is an artist who is known for propoundingthe idea of dualism in his art. This idea which is similar to to the Yin Yan theory of the Chinese, has as it's main thrust that everything in nature, has a compliment. He is also considered a kindred Rebel by theart historian Kojo Fosu, because of his close association to very many of the artists of theZaria School, of which Onobrakpeya was one. The astonishing number of workscreated by Emokpai, and varied techniques in which he executed them, in hisrelatively short lifetime, places him as an important post independence artistin Nigeria.

The final artist of note in this exhibition is Okpu Eze, heseems to have had a short spell working in Enugu as a carver of large sculpturalpieces. A few of his pieces are very contemplative pieces and his works mayalso have been inspired by important Benin artists of his day Like Idubor.

What seems clear is that the cultural ferment of Lagos as animportant art centre, destination and clearing house in West Africa, served asa catalyst and magnet for several of these masters to bloom to fruition.

Ultimately all of these artists should not be merely seen asjust masters of the visual art trade, but in many ways must be viewed as culturalicons and institutions worthy of our highest accolades as a society, becausetheir works celebrate great moments in our collective experience as a people.

Sugar Cane Truck Pushers Serigraphy Bruce Onobrakpeya 2011

As a collective the works of these masters though varied, ininfluence, techniques and place of execution, all speak of the inalienabilityand the eternal permanence of a Nigerian artistic experience, perspective andcontribution to the global art of the world today.

In conclusion, may I also state that all great artworks,some of which are present in this exhibit, should carry our highest accolades.Today’s masterpieces like the great arts of our traditional society, are visualcondensations of important thoughts, philosophy and belief systems of ourpeople. They carry with them the seeds for celebrating our highest moments andachievements as a people.

The works of all of the aforementioned masters representsome of the modern artistic achievements of our people in nearly 5,000 years ofNigerian art. I can safely commend them to you.

We are thankful to the thought pyramid Gallery for showcasingthe Visual feast. BEYOND IMAGINATION AN EXHIBITION BYNIGERIAN MASTER ARTISTS.

Mudiare Onobrakpeya

1^st November, 2011

Lagos.

Onobrakpeya visits historic City of Onitsha

2011-10-26T03:01:00.000-07:00

His Majesty Igwe Achebe with Royal fathers and Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya

His Majesty Igwe Alfred Achebe CFR, mni with Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR at a special reception for guests during the 10th Ofala Celebrations

This month Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya visited the historic city of Onitsha onthe invitation of his Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe, CFR, mnito witnesss the 10^th Ofala celebrations in Onitsha. The Ofala festival is remarkablein the sense that it celebrates the beginning of the Onitsha New Year and NewYam season. The festival now in its 10^thedition brings most of the indigenes of Onitsha from far and wide, as well asfriends and well wishers to witness festivities connected to the Ofala celebrations.

The festival is often very colorful and characterized by the payingof tributes, salutations and making of gift presentations to the Obi of Onitsha, who is also known as Agbogidi. Senior ranking members of the community, who include chiefs andelders, can be seen wearing their head gears which are colourful and often made of ostrich feathers. The dance and ceremony is often accompanied by royal drumscalled Egwuota. There is also aspectacular parade and outing of different age grades who pay homage to the Agbogidi.

Onitsha is abeautiful and picturesque city by the famous River Niger and is home to an active community of visual artists likeAto Arinze, George Edozien, George Nwazugbo and Oliver Enwonwu who have allcontributed in no small measure to the vibrancy that contemporary Nigeria art enjoys.

But by far the most popular artist to have come from thisgreat City is the legendary and iconic Ben Enwonwu, who had mentored BruceOnobrakpeya many years before, and represents the greatest visual artist of the20^th Century from Nigeria.

While in Onitsha Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya paid a courtesy callwith a few members and artists of the Harmattan Workshop Series to the Obi of Onitsha.

His Majesty is a passionate and dedicated collector ofAfrican art, and is in part responsible and share the credit for a new wave of revival andrenaissance in the appreciation of wood carvings in Onitsha, a traditional artform in Onitsha which was almost lost and extinct due to waning appreciation. His beautiful home which is located inone the scenic valleys of Onitsha, is also home to his tremendous collection of Nigerian masterpieces, which are a joy tobehold. His collection include a modest but surprising number of Nigerian masterpieces which have been painstakingly acquired from all over the country in the last 20 years.
One of this pieces is a meduim sized painting called Agbogidi by Onobrakpeya, and was done in honour of Obi Achebe who is also a long time patron of onobrakpeya 's works.
Onobrakpeya's visit to Onitsha was remarkable and nostalgic, because it is the first time in 70 years, since he visited Onitsha with his then guardian the late Mr Onakufe who taught as a teacher in a primary school there. He also vividly remembers on his last visit to Onitsha, seeing a group of hunters on their way back from a hunting expedition, wearing their full hunting gear and colourful regalia. This certainly made an impression on young Bruce's mind.
At the courtesy visit and reception which followed at the Obi of Onitsha's home. Onobrakpeya thanked Igwe Achebe for the hospitality extended to him and several artists during the visit, the continued support of the arts and the fatherly role Igwe Achebe had played in nurturing Nigerian art. Onobrakpeya prayed that God should give the progressive Igwe the wisdom to continue to be a pace setter in Cultural and environmental concerns.

Wanda Ibru Gives scholarships for the Arts

2011-10-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Community leader : Chief Wanda Ibru recently in Lagos

The 2012fundraiser for the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF) was kicked off this year in the month of July by Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR, who appealed to the Civic community in Nigeria, for continued support of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series.

Chief Wanda Ibru, a community leader based in Lagos and Agbarha- Otor, Delta State ofNigeria responded to this appeal by supporting and giving scholarships to25 indigent community women who will be beneficiaries of the 2012 Annual Harmattan Workshop, and who other wise, will not have been able to attend the workshop.

The support for the rural women, in her response was calculated atdeveloping the skill set of community women in Agbarha-Otor, so that they can develop modern skills like jewelry and bead making in order to empower them selves financially and improve their personal situations.

Olorogun Wanda Ibru hasbeen a long time supporter of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series (HWS), which by 2012 will be in it’s 14^th edition. This 2012 support coincides with the 80^th Anniversary celebration of the founder of the workshop, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya.

The HWS is an initiative of BOF, and has steadily grown over the years to attract trained and untrained participants, who share experiences in a conducive learning environment.

Generallythe participants for the HWS come from all over Nigeria andbeyond to the Niger Delta Cultural Center located in Agbarha- Otor, near Ughelli in Delta State of Nigeria.

Niger Delta Cultural Centre

2011-09-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Niger Delta Cultural Centre at Agbarha Otor : Home of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series

The building is a large one, about 30meters x 30 meters, on 3 floors which rises above the top of the surrounding oil palm trees. It was designed by the master builder and architect Demas Nwoko, a long time friend of Bruce Onobrakpeya.
Contained inside are several galleries and workshop spaces which form a backdrop to the artistic activities both inside and outside.
The building is a rare jewel to behold and has had visitors, visit from the West Coast of Africa as far as Ghana.

Eghwere: Reflecting on Man the Hunter

2011-09-22T03:00:00.000-07:00


Eghwere by Bruce Onobrakpeya 2010, Mixed Media and installation 1.6m X 3m Picture taken courtesy of Dele Jegede

Eghwere is the Urhobo muse for successful hunting. It isused by Bruce Onobrakpeya as a metaphor for reflecting on man’s quest and struggle for survival. Hisefforts in different fields of endeavor is likened to those of hunters equippedwith bows, arrows, cutlasses and guns with which they hunt down game for foodand his other requirements.

Similarly the pen, compass, camera, computer, microscopeetc though modern implements, alsobecome tools in man's hands for achieving set goals that will help him to survive and improve his life.

Adapting the traditional shrine composition, the aboveconcept have led to the creation of installations which show man as an achieverand crowned for his efforts with success. He is seen dressed, as a masqueradethat has been embellished with many trophies, and is located in an imaginaryforest dotted with standing pillars that double as trees and animals

Like the traditional shrine, these installationchanges with time . Some of the objects within one background may be renewed with fresh colours or even replaced . Whereasthe traditional shrine tends to remain fixed in one setting, the newexperiments by Bruce are nomadic in the sense that they mayoften be moved from one exhibition site to the other, and for sheer compositionalexcitement, the objects in differentinstallations are nearly always interchangeable to form other groups.

Birthday of the month of August

2011-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya: Artist, Innovator,and Teacher of many generations of Artists.

BruceOnobrakpeya was born on August 30^th 1932, in Agbarha-Otor in what istoday known as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He is reputed to be Africa'sgreatest printmaker and one of the finest in the world.

BruceOnobrakpeya would have very few rivals in innovative and experimentalist printmaking in our time. Not only is he a great draughtsman, master printmaker - inthe professional sense of the word, he is also noted for his paintings and mixedmedia installation art. Since 1966, hehas discovered, innovated and perfected several techniques both in printmakingand relief sculpture. In addition to his experiments in mixed media and hisreputation as a book illustrator, art teacher, author and folklorist, he isalso one of the pioneers of modem Nigerian art and a leading member of the ZariaArt Society (renamed by the Emir of Zaria, to The Zaria Art Ambassadors). Thisimportant and now famous Zaria group, has been credited with laying thetheoretical foundations for contemporary Nigerian art, in the late 1950s. According to the critic Olu Oguibe in 1991 “Onobrakpeya has not only provedhimself an artist of unassailable worth, he has also strode the expanses ofinternationalism, exhibiting and executing commissions all over Africa, Europeand America and several parts of the World”

Onobrakpeyais a gifted teacher and mentor of several generations of successful artists. In1999, for instance, he initiated The Harmattan Workshop Series, with a vision toempower artists. This annual retreat and gathering for artists now in its 13^thedition, has become a new Mecca for visual artists. It is the longest runningnon-formal education for visual artists in West Africa. The workshop has been described as lofty, noble and life transforming because it brings in artists from all over the world to share their experiences in an atmosphere of brotherhood and camaraderie. This is perhaps his greatest legacy andcontribution to the contemporary arts of Africa.

Bruce Onobrakpeyais not without honour, he was jointly designated by UNESCO and the Federal government of the Republic of Nigeriawith the honour of “LIVING HUMAN TREASURE” a befitting tribute to aman whose whole life has been ruled by one passion: The Celebration of the artsof our motherland, and by extension our humanity as a people.

Ulli Beier's Art Legacy: Creator of the Osogbo School

2011-07-21T05:11:00.000-07:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya a Nigerian artist, pays glowing tribute to the work of Ulli Beier in Nigeria. He has described Ulli as one of the founders of modern Nigerian art, and ascribes the success of the now famous Annual Harmattan Workshop Series, now in its 13th edition, to the fact that, the Harmattan Workshop Experience was closely modeled after Ulli Beier's workshops in the 60's and 70's.

By Bruce Onobrakpeya

Ulli Beier wasone of the few expatriates involved inthe pre- and post- independenceferment in art that crytallised into what we can today describe as thecontemporary and modern Nigeria Art. The workshop series which hestarted, created a revolution that gave birth to what is now known allover the art world today as Osogbo School. As a great teacher, mentorand role model, he helped develop artistic freedom, drew our attentionto Nigerian values by recourse to our past and traditions as well as tolook beyond our immediate environment for inspiration. His passion forand invovlement in many areas of the arts has within his lifetimechanged the town of Oshogbo into a Mecca for lovers of art.

Ulli Beier hadseveral attributes, but in this brief tribute I will pay attention tohis role as a great art teacher and a role model in the development ofthe arts and also as a vital instrument in the upgrading of a community- the Oshogbo community - into a tourism centre of world renown. Theworkshops he organised in Ibadan, Oshogbo and Ile -Ife, not onlyrealigned my area of specialisation as an artist but also inspired metowards the development of an informal educational art outfit, which isthe Harmattan workshop series of Agbarha-Otor in, Delta State, Nigeria.

I attended threeof the art workshops he initiated and organised in the 60s and 70s. Thefirst was at Adamasingba quarters, Ibadan in 1961. It was held at MbariArtists and Writers club. Julian Bainet stood in for Amancia Guerdes,the South African Architect who could not travel to Nigeria. In thatworkshop there was a printmaking session but the main thrust was todevelop our freedom in the use of found materials: metals, cement,building wire, etc.

But what I laterrealised to be my greatest benefit at the workshop was working withartists of different stages of development on the same project in thesame classrooom. In the workshop was Akinola Lasekan who even then wasalready very well known as an accomplished artist. Also, I met RolandAbiodun who would later become a great scholar.

The second UlliBeier workshop I attended came three years later in 1964 at Osogbo. Itwas on printmaking for which Professor Ru Van Rossen, a renownedprintmaker from Tilburg University in Holland, was director. The classwas not a big one. It included Jimoh Akolo and Irein Wangboje who werecolleagues in the art school at Zaria. Other participants in thatworkshop included Twin Seven-Seven, Jimoh Buraimoh, Muraina Oyelami,Rufus Ogundele and a few others who had attended earlier Oshogboworkshops under Georgina Beier, Ulli's wife.

Through Ru VanRossen's teaching and demonstrations and the examples of his printsthat I saw, I realised that printmaking was a major area of artspecialisation. That changed my direction from painting to which I waslured through peer pressure at the Art School in Zaria. Following thatexposure, and equipped with materials given to me by Ulli, I launchedinto printmaking experiments with feverish passion and greatdetermination which later on resulted in innovations and breakthroughsfor me.

I use the wordexperiments because Ru made us understand from the workshop thatprintmaking can be very scientific and adventrous, involving the use ofchemicals, tools and heavy equipment, as obtained in factories.

After attendingthe two workshops, Ulli watched my progress with satisfaction and as away of motivation, he invited me to assist Ru in the Ori Olokun wokshopheld at Ile-Ife around 1973. By this time Ulli had moved from Osogbo toIfe as the Director of the Institute of African Studies of theUniversity of Ife, now the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile -Ife. Inthat capacity, Ulli offered me the post of Assistant Research Fellow atthe Institute, Unfortunately I could not take it because my movement toIfe would retard the building up of an artistic audience which Ialready started in Lagos.

Ulli drew ourattention to materials and themes around us - in beadworks, beatenmetal, wood, clay, folklore, stones, traditional motifs, etc. Thesebecame the foundation for the great art pieces by Twin Seven-Seven,Jimoh Buraimoh, Asiru Olatunde, Nike Okundaiye, Rufus Ogundele, MurainaOyelami and my metal foil plastograph.

Ulli did not stopwith organising workshops. He monitored the progress of the artists inorder to encourage them further. He would sometimes buy some of the artworks produced at the workshops or at the artists' studios and exhibitthem in Nigeria or abroad, accompanying the pieces with literaturewhich would introduce the artists and explain the pieces. The GoetheInstitute, the cultural arm of the Germany embassy in Lagos, cooperatedwith Ulli Beier, who was a German, to showcase our art regularly.

Next, Ulliencouraged his friends and art patrons to establish galleries to helpsell artworks, particularly those produced by the workshop alumni.First amongst them was the Mbari Artists and Writer's Club of which hewas a co-founder, followed by the Mbari Mbayo at Oshogbo. Next wasMbari Art Gallery, opened by Tayo Aiyegbusi on the ground floor of hisstudio at Jibowu near Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

Jean Kennedy andher husband Dick Wolford who worked for USAID, were themselves artistsand friends to Ulli. They turned their sitting room in McEwen Road,Ikoyi to an art gallery where they marketed products of the Osogboartists. We called the gallery the ‘Thursday Show' because it tookplace once a week for only two hours every Thursday.

My works naturallywere included but the gallery also exhibited works of other Lagos-basedartists like David Dale who were never part of the workshops. TheThursday Show gave me a financial breakthrough and a great impetus tocontinue my practice as an artist. This gave me the confidence tocontinue in my practice and I never looked back. Other expatriatefamilies, one after the other, carried on the tradition after theWolfords left Nigeria.

Ulli's promotiondid not end with Ibadan, Osogbo, Ife and Lagos. He inspired the MbariClub which was set up by Uche Okeke in Enugu. Also, he encouraged OviaIdah to open a gallery in his house on the moat at beginning of EkewanRoad, near the Oba's market in Benin City. Ulli carried the crusade toGermany, the Iwalewa Haus Centre, which he set up there, did a lot topropagate Osogbo and other Nigerian artworks.

Ulli was totallycommitted to the development of arts. He cooperated with his wifeGeorgina in the workshops and with Susanne Wenger for the developmentof Osun shrines; also with Duro Ladipo for theatre, and was involvedwith various publications about African artists and culture in BlackOrpheus. All these experiences prepared me for other workshops,residences and exhibitions abroad in Canada, India, the United Statesof America, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

And so, when Istarted the Harmattan Worshop at Agbarha-Otor, Delta State in 1998, allthe credit went to Ulli as one who inspired me to start it. It is hislegacy that I am now propagating. The 13th edition of the HarmattanWorkshop will end in August 2011 and like the previous workshops weorganised, during the induction ceremonies for participants, the nameUlli Beier always comes up as the inspiration behind the project. Thishas been the practice since inception.

Following theexample of Ulli's workshops, the Harmattan Workshop has proved to be aforum where Nigerian, African as well as artists from other parts ofthe world gather in many sessions every year to hone their skills,share ideas and network among themselves. The workshop has hadparticipants from Canada, France, U.S.A, Benin Republic, Togo andBelgium. The works from the workshops, like Ulli workshops, have beenexhibited widely within the country and have featured in the landmarkevents like the Nigerian Golden Jubilee exhibition at Abuja. Plans areunderway to exhibit works from Harmattan Workshop at the School ofOriental and African Studies of the University of London. All theseartistic activities are gradually helping to upgrade the status of thequiet, sleepy town of Agbarha-Otor where the workshop is situated. Wehope it will be like Osogbo someday.

Ulli Beier gave apeople - the Oshogbo people, nay, the people of Nigeria, pride in theircultural heritage. He came and awakened us to artistic and culturalconsciousness. He laid the foundation that earned Oshogbo the WorldHeritage status it enjoys today.

Ulli Beieraffected my life and a host of other artists whose talents would haveremained dormant. He gave us wealth and international recognition. Hislife and passion for the arts did not only develop the art professionand raised the status of Osogbo, it also proved that the arts in itstotal application is a potential tool for the growth of any nation. MayUlli Beier's contributions and legacies which he bequeathed long endure.

Master printmaker, Bruce Onobrakpeya, delivered this paper at thecelebration of Ulli Beier's life and works, held at the Centre forBlack Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo, Osun State, onJuly 2

Summer 2011 Artistic Retreat

2011-07-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Summer 2011 Artistic Retreat in Delta State, Nigeria.

Participants at the Harmattan workshop

Are You an Artist?

Then, this summer The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation will help you escape the distraction of the city and enjoy serene and rustic Agbarha-Otor, in Delta State, Nigeria, to create the art you have always wanted.

Come To The

HARMATTAN ART RETREAT

Accommodation and studio space are provided for the 2 weeks where you can work independently or alongside other artists according to your wish.

Come with all the materials you will need to create work and be responsible for you feeding, please pass along this information.

Venue: Niger Delta Art and Cultural Centre (Harmattan Workshop Venue), Agbarha-Otor Delta State.

Date: 14th – 27th August, 2011

Fee: N 5,000.00 per artist (You may pay into Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation account at Union Bank account no. 0151050000020 and present your teller on arrival at the venue).

For further enquiries call : Sam Ovraiti 234-80 3307 2344

Tribute to Ulli Beier By Segun Sofowote

2011-07-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 2nd in the Osun State capital of Oshogbo, was held an event to ‘Celebrate Ulli Beier'. The event was attended by notable artists and several well wishers, many of whom had been associated with the Great Ulli Bier, who passed away at the ripe age of 88. Among those present were: art patriarch Segun Olusola; artist Bruce Onobrakpeya; and veteran broadcast person Segun Sofowote who gave a tribute to Ulli Bier. Please find the full text of Segun Sofowote's tribute to Beier.

ULLI BEIER

A TRIBUTE BY SEGUN SOFOWOTE

OSOGBO, JULY 2, 2011

As the host on Artists Showcase, which was regarded as the definitive Art and Culture programme on the Nigerian Television Service (NTS) Lagos in the decade from the mid-nineteen sixties to the mid-nineteen seventies, I once asked Ulli Beier a question which I should not have been obliged to pose.

He had lived and worked in the country for two decades. During that time he had cultivated quite a wide local circle of friends, a circle however that hardly extended beyond the interesting mix of the culture crowd, traditionalists, writers, dramatists, painters, sculptors and other categories of artists, many of them in their youth and fired in their creativity by the new nationalism of the period. So ubiquitous was Ulli Beier within the immediate space of his cultural field that if you were ever involved to any significant degree in some artistic expression, you were virtually inescapably bound to cross paths with him.

This fact underscores one of the essential features of the Ulli Beier agency in unveiling to the outer world in the second half of the 20th century the cultural realism of the land in which he operated. He beheld intently and recorded a lot. He had been hired to come and work in Nigeria’s premier tertiary institution of academic learning – the University College of Ibadan as it then was. But it must have clarified inside Ulli Beier either at the time he took up the appointment or pretty soon after that he was not the usual strictly curriculum- or lecture room-bound, campus-dwelling kind of creature. There was by far more town in him than gown. UNESCO, conceivably, would have been a more logical employer of his genre.

He was a lot more restless and more earthy than was regular in the exalted profession of tutoring young people in the appreciation or criticism of great works and great observations which have been captured in books and learned publications. Rather Ulli Beier was by inclination essentially a practitioner or, at the least a front-row spectator of events and practices as they unfolded in the groves, the shrines, the workshops, the smithies, the looms, the dyeing pits, the marketplace, the streets and the home. For his own personal fulfilment he needed to know names, hands, minds, myths and products that were not essentially used in the university.
That his was not the dabbling interest of a dilettante with touristic exploits or material exploitation on his mind is reflected in his path which led him to his soulful haunts and abodes and the company that he kept at Ibadan, Ilobu, Ede, Osogbo and all other locations in Nigeria and indeed the world, and what he then did with the cultural milieu and artistic setting that he came into.

His relating to what he found was not with a scalpel and forceps and such other clinical tools – if he were ever capable of that kind of relationship at all. Rather he used his cutlery and heartily partook of what was served up in this encounter. Indeed, figuratively speaking, he actually discarded such exotic picking tools and fed himself full with his fingers in the tradition of the culture that inundated his soul. In many aspects, small or big, he depicted the toiler’s status in which he had fixed himself within that culture.

In his total self-recast as a Yoruba person, as a result of which, for example, he was never again to be seen in the usual Western mode of dressing, he did not see himself in the flowing robes of the affluent ones (or pretenders to that status) or in the ceremonial paraphernalia of chiefs and titled personages. Ulli Beier never used any of his titles and never cared to look any grander than his stylised buba or dansiki could make him. And concerning such essential matters as his creative writing, quite objectively I have to say, I once remarked as director in a production of one of the plays which he wrote behind the literary mask of Obotunde Ijimere that he created the drama of an Ijaw myth with an incurable Yoruba mind.

Anyone who is so unfamiliar with the facts as to consider that observation a bit of grandstanding only needs to be factually informed that beyond Woyengi, Ulli Beier is quite consistent with that strain in the whole lot of his works, especially those standing in the names of his alter egos. Such a doubter would also have to be reminded of the way this aspect partly accounts for the compatibility between Ulli Beier and Suzzane Wenger, with whom he had started out on this journey into trans-racial self-discovery and the well-known fact of Adunni Olorisa drinking herself to complete immersion into the Osun deep.

How did the two surmount such mountainous notions as ‘fetish’, ‘primitivism’, ‘mumbo jumbo’ etc to become capable of resonating with the tones, rhythm and values which others from their background usually fail to perceive in technology-deficient cultures? It must have to do with a kind of seeing through the opacity of that background and a personal fascination with the quality of the unmechanised human essence that they encountered. They found traditional arts and crafts talking intelligibly to them.

Further, they recognised creativity in people who had not presumed to attract a lot of attention to themselves. In Suzzane Wenger’s case, it was enough for her that she was welcome and that she could freely unwrap her soul and bare her artistic insight in this environment. On his part, as far as Ulli Beier was concerned, he had found a head-shrinking rationality from which he had to offer the world another hue and taste of culture and creativity.

Having remarkably deepened himself in this culture in the manner, and to the extent to which, very few of the active and enlightened generation of the heirs of the culture themselves ever cared to apply their creative and intellectual faculties to do, Ulli Beier extensively documented, created, motivated, managed, organised, promoted and networked, all to see indigenous expressions of culture and creativity set on a footing that is self-assertive. Today the hub of cultural expression that Osogbo represents in the perception of the world cannot be divorced from the one-time synergy of activism on the part of Ulli Beier, Suzzane Wenger and Georgina Betts, later to become Georgina Beier.

Certainly a lot of reference must be made on this occasion to the historical theatre of Duro Ladipo, the new art of the set of Muraina Oyelami, Jimoh Buraimoh, Twins Seven-Seven, Rufus Ogundele, Nike Okundaye and the others, the peculiar stone accompaniment of Ademola Onibon-Okuta’s music, the widely patronised Ifa consultation and facilitation of Yemi Elebuibon etc, etc. Naturally a lot will be said about how much the emergence of Osogbo as the base of all these owes to the exegetic and analytical pen of Ulli Beier, his ever clicking camera, his cultural zeal, his knack for conceptualisation, his organisational ability and his international connections.

To all this I shall now add one more account which you may not be familiar with. It is about a unique entity, a world first. The inventive conceptualisation involved Segun Olusola and Ulli Beier. It was christened by me as Theatre Express. In concept it was a theatre group entirely made up of three persons. This unique concept was inspired by the chance assemblage at the time of three young theatre men who related, each in his own way, to the Nigerian Television Service (NTS) Lagos where Segun Olusola was the Controller of Programmes.

At the birth of Theatre Express in 1965, Wole Amele after studying drama at the University of Ibadan was in employment as a set designer for television; Wale Ogunyemi had just started work in the same station as a typist fresh from Ibadan and with significant theatre experience on the cusp of Wole Soyinka’s 1960 Masks transforming into Orisun Theatre; I was back in Lagos working by choice as a non-staffer broadcaster on radio and television after my years on the staff of WNBS-WNTV Ibadan and with a theatre experience that included having been a member of the 1960 Masks right from its inception. It is relevant to mention here that Wale Ogunyemi later returned to Ibadan and his place in Theatre Express was taken by Segun Akinbola, another product of the University of Ibadan who came to work in NTS Lagos.

Without any immodesty, Theatre Express is enough subject for a book or books. Similarly Ulli Beier’s support can be more copiously documented than this occasion can accommodate. Still we can voice briefly an appreciation of Ulli Beier for a number of specifics.

Though itinerant, Theatre Express was Lagos-based. That base was sourced by Ulli Beier. It was at Mbari Mbayo House where Mr & Mrs Tayo Aiyegbusi were our kind and accommodating hosts.

In contemporary times you can easily search the internet and come up with a long list of two- or three-character plays. Curiously though, that is not known to have resulted in a proliferation of three-man theatre groups. In its days Theatre Express was considerably challenged in regard to repertoire. Apart from what the likes of W. B. Yeats and Anton Chekov yielded us for adaptation, and Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Prophet Jeroboam (for which we had to have recourse to a few guest actors), we had to depend on ourselves to come up with our own plays and sketches.

In this regard, the earliest pieces written by me and by Wale Ogunyemi were soon in print, published by Ulli Beier along with two others sourced by himself, one of which was written by him purposely for our repertoire. He called the collection the Theatre Express Sketches.

But his help with our repertoire was by no means limited to all that. As resourceful as ever, he also sourced two- or three-character plays for us from non-English dramatists who were as at that time yet unfamiliar. It was a task that involved him in translating such works from German – and maybe Portuguese too, actually.

Theatre Express was frequently on the road. With Ulli Beier’s unflagging support, Osogbo was the most constant stop in our itinerary. And Ulli it was also who made all the arrangement for the Theatre Express tour of Britain in 1967. Indeed so fond was he of this successful theatre innovation that when the time came for him to go away after more than two decades here, he endowed Theatre Express with his Citroen truck, thus giving my trusty Volkswagen beetle (my dearly loved LG 1630) a much deserved break from so much country road run.

On one of his few visits after he had departed from Nigeria the second time, he heard as Georgina and I were chatting and discovering that we were born around the same time – about the beginning of the Second World War. We then compared our experiences and perceptions of life in our different locations in the world at the time. It was enough to give Ulli one of his well-known brainwaves. “Segun,” he said, “why don’t you and Georgina write down these separate accounts in full! Together,” he added, “they’ll make such an interesting book.” There is no doubt that he would have got such a book into many a world reading list if we had obliged him.

Why do I recall this now? It is to substantiate that Ulli Beier was that kind of a tireless cultural worker, an artistic workaholic who never allowed any creative impulse to go to waste – whether his own or somebody else’s.

Well, yes, there was that question that I posed to him in my television programme, the one that I wish I did not have to ask him. It was about what a very few but quite vocal ones of the new intellectual elite of the period had started saying, to the effect that what the likes of Ulli Beier were doing was meddling in indigenous artistic traditions and that was creating a distortion in the normal development. What would he say to that, I asked him. In doing so I was only engaging in the best media practice of course.

One of the aspects of media practice that I like most is that it is not for the ignorant or the uninformed. In taking on an expert or specialist in any discipline for example, an interviewer would quite rightly declare himself a layman. In the best practice however, he ought to have taken the trouble to educate himself on the subject matter far beyond what a layman commonly knows. That is the only way he can adopt the layman’s position, assume the layman’s posture and employ the layman’s parlance to plumb the depths of his subject thus serving the best interest of both layman and expert. Quite often he plays the devil’s advocate and deliberately rocks the boat to test the stability of the expert’s vessel and/or demonstrate the same to any doubters.

So it was that I suddenly sprang this question on Ulli. I had hoped that it would provide him with one opportunity to enlighten all such cynics. But I had miscalculated! What did Ulli do? He simply waved it off and dismissed any obligation to engage in a response! Well, one is not unfamiliar with the disposition of people who are not inclined to talk about themselves, which would then make it necessary for one professionally to chip in here and there with subtle bits of the much that one knows of them. That skill was needed on that occasion and one had to steer shrewdly away from a dead end… Interestingly however, many of those who posited that way at the time are known to have since turned into avid collectors of the works of those Osogbo artists who had their technical initiation from Georgina Beier and were so actively promoted by Ulli Beier.

And now Ulli has aged and gone, the one who gave that institution in Bayreuth, Germany set up for African creativity the name of Iwalewa Haus, a name that resounds in the tones and ethos of his soul’s favourite place on earth. It cannot be doubted that Obotunde Ijimere, or Tunji Sangodare, or Ulli Beier, father of Tunji Beier would have preferred to live his last years here, for his soul to depart the earth from here and for this land to have his bones. As to why that was not permitted to be, only those who saw to it can answer.

But his extensive and priceless artistic and archival collection of Nigeriana, Africana and Oceania is firmly in our hands. So this is not in the nature of an isipa ode, or in the tradition of burying treasures with their noble collectors. We keep those treasures and send after Ulli Beier our deepest wishes that his ever active spirit will continue to mature towards an eternity of joy, unfettered by any kind of jingoism.

Good bye, Ulli.

Rarely Seen Masterpieces of African Art: Installation and Mixed Media by Bruce Onobrakpeya

2011-06-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

According to Onobrakpeya “Africa is a dumping ground for many Euro-American and Asian goods. How does one therefore, salvage Africa of these unwanted wastes and make the best of an ugly situation?”

Bruce Onobrakpeya embarked on installations as an art form during the Period (1995 - 2005). Installations and Mixed Media done by the artist, are works done which are characterized by the arrangement of different discarded materials to create works of art. The list of materials used is inexhaustible; jute bag, animal bones, hide and skin, discarded metals, foil paper, plastics, beads of all colours, used engine spark plugs, discarded computer mother board, PVC pipes, bottle corks, CDs, chains, twines, cowries etc. The unconventional materials that has been sourced by him and used in art making, exemplifies the height of material appropriation, born out of the need to solve societal and personal artistic problems.

These installations were essentially to draw attention to importance of protecting our environment. This is perhaps what motivated him to join forces to realize the overall philosophy of waste to wealth which Nigeria is preaching in all aspects of her socio-economic life.

According to Prof Egonwa in his essay the Rewards of Creativity. “The term assemblage often used to describe his installations does not carry the fullness of what the spirit of artistic assemblage in pictorial elements (items which are assembled in one composition) offer, as the French rendition of the same technique in music or theatre, ensemble presents. This is because aesthetic individuality of disparate elements given, denied, and integrated in the unity of composition evokes a higher affective presence in his works. Here the various elements manifest the beauty of simultaneity as in a musical ensemble. Here one encounters the tacto-visual equivalent of the musical kine-aesthetic ensemble. ”

Works in this category include Cathedral, Voices of silenced Voices. Standing Nomadic Forms, Divination Bowl and Environmental Regeneration.

Enjoy these breath taking and rarely seen Masterpieces of contemporary and modern African art.

Eghwgre (Hunting) Installation

*Photographic Credit Prof. Dele Jegede

Wall Hanging

Cathedral

Standing Forms

Scavaging In a Lost Paradise

Twin Nomadic Forms

Divination Bowl

Environmental Regeneration

*all other pictures courtesy of Mr. Bode Olaniran

Commentry On Christian Art in Nigeria

2011-06-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Last Supper Lino Engraving 1969

The very idea of FESTAC in the mid 70′s, was widely condemned by many churches all through out Nigeria, as a return to fetish images, connected to curses and ancestral covenant symbols and paganism by Nigeria. In 30 years since this celebration, the mindset of many about our arts, has not altered drastically. This clearly has put a clog to the widespread appeal and appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of our art, especially the contemporary. The government has therefore approached cultural celebrations using art, as an explosive area, which has to be approached with caution, due to it’s potential for undermining political influence and support.
Bruce Onobrakpeya a modern Nigerian artist, whose artistic pieces have been widely collected in Christiandom, including by the Vatican Museum, has suffered a high casualty of having a lot of his works burnt, destroyed or at least stiffly resisted, perhaps more than any other Nigerian artist, because of cultural intolerance for new and radical African imagery, connected to the interpretation and worship of God Almighty. This has placed his works directly on the firing line of the brunt of the intolerance of our people, who are often guided by their “inspired” pastors or pious family members. The best of our art, including the modern, will continue to be seen for some time outside Nigerian shores, where they find a safe haven, devoid of any hate, and stand protected for the generality of Nigerians to enjoy their aesthetic merits.

Great Quotations on Modern art in Nigeria by Bruce Onobrakpeya

2011-05-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR

The past, the present and the future are all part of the same continuum, as long as we take with us the best of our time tested values, we have nothing to fear. We can be assured that we will always remain relevant as Africans

Art itself is a reflection of the life of the people. . . The art that we create is helping to give our people self-identity. For one to call himself an artist, one has to take a leadership role. Not just merely producing art works, but producing art works which are backed by ideas and philosophies which are calculated to help upgrade and uplift the life of the people.

Nigerian art rivals the best in the World.

My art is Linked to the Spiritual.

The quality of sunlight is strongest in the tropics, West African and Nigerian art have very vibrant and bright colors which reflect this strength and luminosity of light.

The modern man propelled by the spirit of the jet and information age is too busy to observe little things in nature, the artists has a duty to draw attention to these details of nature, for very often the answers we often seek, are in the details provided by nature, which are often overlooked.

El Anatsui’s works have not only impacted on several upcoming artists, but his work continues to impact on, even his peers. It is this kind of relevance and creativity that institutionally the Harmattan workshop Series strives to rekindle and replicate in the contemporary art of Africa.

Nigerian art is dynamic because it is the product of cross fertilization and influences from at home and outside. This hybrid quality inherent in it, means that it can never be stagnant.

Every artist must have a Mount Everest which he plans to scale, in my own case, i have chosen the Annual Harmattan Workshop as a platform, which will not only artistically empower today’s artists, but will also produce tomorrows greats of the future.

Ulli Beier should be rightly considered as one of the fathers of modern Nigerian art.

Happy Easter 2011

2011-04-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

SEASON'S GREETINGS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS THIS EASTER

Ben Osawe: Enigma of Modern Nigerian Art

2011-04-08T03:42:00.000-07:00

by Mr. Sammy O. Olagbaju 2001

Sam Olagbaju is a pioneer indigenous collector of Contemporary Nigerian Art. He started collecting in the summer of 1967. His collection in terms of breadth and quality of pieces collected in the post independence years of 60's, 70's and 80's, is unrivaled in Nigerian art.

"While I was a student at Trinity University of Dublin, I got to know a carefully guarded secret. I had gone to visit a friend in College in rooms that he shared with he another student. Together, they had been able to borrow from the College Art Lending Library, enough art works to brighten their room and make them really different and distinguished. The draw for particular paintings was done once a year, but I was determined to participate in the next opportunity. This was a picture lending library and my art acquisition instincts had been awakened, regardless of the fact that the library only had only reproductions.

I first set sight on Ben Osawe in the early part of 1966. We lived in the same close in the Suru-Lere part of Lagos and we soon got talking, first about his art, which was very visible at the back of his studio where he had all sorts of uncompleted works scattered around the place. Over the years, I soon found an object of fascination. I remember one day, walking over to Ben’s corner of the close, determined to urge him to work on a wooden sculpture, which I thought would look really magnificent when completed. I got it in the end and still have it to this day, a proud possession.
Ben took a strange interest in what I did for a living, which was stock broking, at that time, a rather esoteric profession. Ben was always asking what he will get in return, if he gave me say 500 pounds to invest. He also wanted to know where I would invest his money. I drew up an investment schedule for him one day with bits and pieces from Nkalagu Cement, Dunlop, daily Times and Nigerian Tobacco Company shares. These were the darlings of the stock exchange in those days and an investment portfolio will be incomplete without them.
I cannot quite remember if Ben actually bought and sold shares. This is no time to ask as Ben is quite likely to ask me to invest what is due to him from me and quadruples same instantly, if only to confirm my faith in the stock market.
I was always struck by the fact that Ben worked with his assistants relentlessly on his big works and small mainly wooden pieces, if my memory serves me right. It was fascinating to see him carving away, now chiselling, then running his hands over the work and finally giving up to have a beer with me.

In the sixties and seventies in Lagos, the art life rotated around the Goethe institute, then on broad street , on e of the best kept buildings at time, with regular exhibitions of works by Nigerian artists. It was at the Goethe that Twins Seven Seven, Jimoh Buraimoh and I think Muraino Oyelami had their first exhibition. I had to translate to English Twins Seven Seven Peroration about the importance and relevance of the Oshogbo artistic endeavours to Yoruba Culture.

But Ben is of another mould, trained in the western art traditions and idioms of the first order – just keep the beer cold and flowing for good results. We agreed about the little I knew about art, and I always had to remember that art was for Ben, his life and pleasure not merely a subject of conjecture or speculation. He knew what he was about and craved the opportunity to show his exceptional talents, his regards for tradition and his insights into the human condition. This last virtue has enriched his works and makes them to stand out.
The instability which our country has experienced in the last 35 years, has deprived us all of much of that a wonderful sculptor such as Ben will have given us
Most of the opportunities for commissioning memorable public works of art has been missed there are hardly any city in Nigeria that can boast of a wonderful to behold sculptures. Ben is still alive, thank God and has continued to dazzle us with is fascinating beautiful works. Give me the right today, and I will ask Ben to devote 10 years to creating monuments in our towns. Beautiful pieces to grace this glass and motar structures a in our cities, and incomplete without the art of Ben Osawe. It will be those sculptural monuments that we are going to steady our gaze, before we enter those crowded office blocks.

It is easy as a collector to be a smug. After all, I have several of Ben’s works and all of them, absolutely beautiful pieces, in my judgement! I have in fact recently been collecting some of Ben’s drawings and sketches – those he did between 1961 and 1964, all of them showing what an eye for detail he had. I am sure Ben will not mind me saying so, his sketches were like preparation for the sculptures he had in mind!

I don’t feel like a smug, I feel discontented that such a creative artist is amongst us and we have not paid him as much attention as he deserves. We did not as much as honour those illustrious artists that lived and passed on as eminent Nigerians Our memories are always short and our artistic heroes hard to find. Soon we will have to queue at the galleries in London, Paris Amsterdam, New York and Darwin to see works bequeathed to us by Ben Osawe.
To his credit Ben has trained many artists and they all adore him and thank their lucky stars for the chance to watch him work and to, learn from him. I am given a chance to see only some of Ben’s output. He does me the honour of letting me admire his past and present creations. I am for ever grateful to him for his never ending understanding and courtesy."

Comments on the 13th Harmattan workshop

2011-03-26T02:36:00.000-07:00

Mr. Sam Ovraiti

The recently ended 13th Annual Harmattan Series, has continued to receive high praise and accolades from several observers of the arts. The first came from Chief Wanda Ibru, a local community leader and supporter of the Annual Harmarttan festival of the arts. She spoke on the choice of Mr. Sam Ovraiti as this year’s artistic director as excellent, based on his track record as an artist, teacher and administrator. Also, the noted collector of West African Contemporary art Mr. Fred Spinnler said in commenting on this year’s workshop that “It is also great that Sam Ovraiti has the director ship, since I know him as a serious hardworking artist who has visions for steps forward in the Nigerian Contemporary Art, and the representatives from Ghana, Benin etc. will also add value in the frame of the West African Art Development” The Ghanaian artist, Kofi Dawson a first time participant at the workshop, commended the workshop as being “lofty, noble and life transforming because it brings in artists from all over the world to share their experiences in an atmosphere of brotherhood and camaraderie”.

The Annual Workshop Series is unique in the sense that it is the only institution of it's kind in Africa that has consistently sought to bridge the gap between the formal and informal trained artist annually, to enable shared and accelerated learning between these two groups. This year’s workshop had over 100 participants in attendance from Belgium, Canada, Ghana, Republic of Benin and Togo and Nigeria.

The Chairman of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR, in making a case for the need for the Annual Harmattan Workshops to continue, stated that the workshop is in the business of producing tomorrow’s great artists, today. This is done through cross fertilization of ideas, interaction, inspiration, team building and a great and conducive learning environment in the countryside for participants. Despite dwindling funding, support has continued to come from credible corporations with a high sense of social responsibility to the West African sub region.

Golden Jubilee Dance Celebrating Nigeria at 50

2011-03-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

Dance of the Golden Jubilee
Installation by Participants of the Harmattan workshop Series under the Auspices of Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF)

The work which is an installation, represents the celebration, aspirations and challenges of the Nigerian people for political, cultural, social and economic emancipation since independence.
These aspirations are reflected in the group work which is centered around an organic tree growing that is used as a metaphor for the growth of Nigeria. It is also a metaphor for the concern for environmental issues, which become necessary as a result of the delicate balance of nature and the environment, which like Nigeria needs to be protected.
It is this protection of the tree and the environment that becomes the guarantee for our long term sustenance as an entity and a people. Chief amongst these reasons, is that it erases the problem of environmental hazards like oil spillage and social concerns like youth restiveness. Another reason is the economic one of large scale unemployment which can be the result of a monolithic economy instead of a diversified one, which is based on the chief exploitation of one resource. Understanding the need for the delicate balance in the environment, allows for and promotes the diversified and varied uses, of a lot of our God given resources in Nigeria to empower her people economically, instead of its chief reliance on one product.

These ideas have also been filtered through in the Annual workshop Experience which is arguably one of the best examples of an artist collective that seeks to renew its creative ideas by going back to its roots and fundamentals to sustain itself. The Harmattan Workshop is participatory in its approach to creativity and problem solving, and points towards the values of the following:

●Conflict resolution and problem solving by participants of the workshop as a potent instrument for engendering peace and friendship.
●Team building irrespective of gender and place of origin.
●Research and experimentation and cross fertilization of ideas

The mixed media installation is a joint effort by few participants of the Harmattan workshop series at Agbarha-Otor Delta State Nigeria. The workshop series itself is the flagship programme of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation with branches at Papa Ajao and Victoria Island, Lagos.

The central piece (a hanging) which gives the installation its name is called “Dance of the Golden Jubilee” composed by Bruce Onobrakpeya who is the initiator of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series since 1998. It is made up of plastocast vignettes and stained fibre. The stones works at the base were carved by Godwin Onobrakpeya, Andrew Onobrakpeya, Alaric Oviri, Uwa Usen, Ojo Olaniyi and Taiwo Sulaimon. Two wood carvings at each side were done by Anyandepo Abiye. The two pieces symbolize emergence and celebration, the trees on both sides of the pictures are encrusted with beaded jewels symbolizing the wealth of our environment. Lastly the circular disk at the foreground is a metal foil plastograph produced by Moses Unokwah.

The workshop advocates sustainable and renewable use of ideas and materials for creativity and leadership in the arts, some of these ideas are derived from the countryside. In the same manner, Nigeria must completely harness its diverse resources where ever found, for her long term sustenance, protection and renewal of land and people. In this way Nigeria will be guaranteed long term survival, translating into prosperity into the next century and even beyond.

Anatomy Of Three Nigerian Modern Art Collectors

2011-02-21T04:46:00.000-08:00

Mr. Remi Lasaki

Anatomy of Three Contemporary Art Collectors
First published in Art Business Outlook with Mudiare Onobrakpeya
in Adumadan Arts Beats Vol. 1 No 2 March 16-31, 1998
Lagos, Nigeria.

• Remi Lasaki
• Yemisi Shyllon
• Kiddie Dare

Between the three of them, they all have a common string of connectivity. They are all highly dedicated and actualized professional people at the peak of their profession. They have shy introvert type personalities, leading very private lives, and are rarely seen in public gatherings except during art exhibitions. Their religious devotion to collecting masterpieces by great and renowned Nigerian artist border on an obsession. They collect out of the pureness and exhilarating joy of the aesthetic quality of the artworks. Arguably they have a collection valued at several tens of millions of Naira. They are Remi Lasaki, Yemisi-Shyllon and Kiddie Dare, who are all great connoisseurs of art.

Remi Lasaki’s zeal for acquiring master piece art is a transferred passion from his days on wall street, where he cut his teeth picking a lot of blue chip and fortune 500 stocks. He attended a prestigious business school in the outskirts of New York, where he took his training in Finance. His voracious appetite for consummating business deals like collecting artworks is simply non ending. Art for him represents the highest level of preservation of our rich traditional values and culture. “The patron has a duty to collect and preserve good art for posterity sake”, he once observed. Good art he says,” is a constant all time barometer for measuring our civility as a people”, not surprisingly then he has in his portfolio such greats, as David Herbert Dale, Jimoh Buroimoh, Abayomi Berber amongst others. Lasaki currently has an ultra modern office space built in the classical old Lagos Brazillian style in the heart of Lagos. His walls of course celebrate his deep conviction in the unrivalled beauty of African art.

Yemisi Shyllon can best be described a restless academic, whose versatility and intellect is awesome, at various times he has excelled in Engineering and architectural design, legal studies and marketing, he is currently a doctoral candidate in business and strategic management. Despite his apparent chaotic and erratic lifestyle, his love for the arts is unalloyed and devotional. He has the widest known collection of contemporary Nigerian art to date outside the Modern Gallery of Art in the National Theatre. Every generation of artist past and present is represented in his museum home. The volume of his work is only matched by the quality. He is currently engaged in documenting his extensive collection which one day he would donate to a Foundation in his name.

Kiddy Dare loves to fly and his job constantly takes him to different parts of the globe. This is one man who loves Champaign, rare wine and collecting premium artworks. He has an enviable collection of several artworks rightfully considered to be classic contemporary pieces of Nigerian art. In his opinion the single most important ingredient for being a collector is not wealth but having a discerning sense for fishing out good art. Art may very well be for him an avenue for getting well grounded, considering the break neck and tight professional schedules, he has to work around.

Interestingly all three, do not see art as a status symbol or a mode of wealth acquisition, they have no speculative intent for financial gain. They all agree that there is a good chance that their individual portfolios might already be worth a fortune, but for now, just enjoying and living around good art is all that counts. If someday these collection become valuable, each concludes they will also have had the added benefit of spending a life time around beautiful art.

Postscript Feb 21, 2011

Remi Lasaki's fortune may have been tied to the crash of the Nigerian Stock Market. He is today primarily now concerned with the re-invigoration of the Nigerian stock market, and rarely collects art these days. He however opens his home and collection once every year at Christmas, to people from all walks of life to see, he also commissions original art by a modern Nigerian artist once every year at Christmas, to celebrate the Civility of the Nigerian people.
In 2009 he commissioned an independent Valuation and documentation of his private art Collection. This collection was first started from his mother’s home in Suru- Lere, a suburb of Lagos 30 years ago.

Yemisi Shyllon did not complete his doctoral training in business, but runs a thriving law firm. He is today, however, President of the Omoba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Foundation (OYASAF), an organization reputed to own the largest single holding of modern Nigerian art globally. Some of his pieces have been placed in International art auctions like the Bonhams auction: Africa Now in New York 2010, to sensitize people globally about the potential of the new and sustainable emerging West African Art Market. His works are also for the same reason, now on loan to major art institutions around the world.

Kiddie Dare is today one of the key persons in Nigeria’s Air Traffic Control Agency, and has become completely reclusive, he was last seen in public art gatherings 10 years ago. He remains a very strong advocate though, of the use of Nigerian art in the beautification of public spaces and organizations. For 10 years he has not spoken a word to anyone about his passion for modern Nigerian art, and his art is not accessible to the public.

They all continue to add value to our unique identity as Nigerians.

Service Beyond Self by Bruce Onobrakpeya

2011-01-22T02:40:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Onobrakpeya
Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation

Bruce Onobrakpeya is amongst the founding members of the now famous Zaria Art School popularly Known as the Zaria Revolutionaries. He was also a member of the Mbari Mbayo Art Society in the Early sixties. In 1964 he became a founding member of the Society of Nigerian Artist. Since 1998, he has attempted to give back to Society through the Annual Workshop Series now in its 13th edition, which in part is geared at producing a new generation of art thinkers and practitioners through mentoring.He is also a trustee of the Western Niger Delta University in Nigeria.

Excepts of Speech first delivered to the Rotary Club in Nigeria in 2006

Service beyond self must be viewed in terms of paying our tribute to people, who regardless of their stations in life, have through their deeds, clearly demonstrated actions, which oftentimes have been called leadership. They go over and above their regular call of duty, by placing themselves in the line of fire, at the risk of personal loss of fortune, reputation, incarceration etc and even loss of life in very extreme circumstances. They abound in our midst, and are those who are seen standing tall and even leaning forward on principles, which impact society positively. These servants have no thoughts whatsoever about personal gain, grandeur or deification. They tower above very many people of their generation as beacons of light, towering above turbulence, and showing the way to safe harbours. Service beyond self must therefore be seen as a rallying cry for good men to stand up in Nigeria to assuage the looming eclipse and crises that threaten to envelop the future of our development as Nigerians.

I will like to start with corporate bodies, NGO’s and associations made up of individuals who are providing services above themselves. We should pay tribute first to the individual who initiates the concepts and then those who tirelessly carry out the aims. I commend the Rotary International for their work in all parts of the world. Organizations like yours are what we need today to assist in meeting the needs of our various communities. Your support within the health sector is most commendable especially in the eradication of polio campaign. it is indeed a testimony to your commitment to selfless service to society.

We pay tribute to the organizers of SOS Motherless Babies Home, to Stella Obasanjo the founder of an establishment which educate physically disadvantaged children.
Also to Kano Nwankwo for the creation of Heart Foundation which cares for children with heart disease and numerous other groups which care for the visually impaired, AID sufferers, the blind, the widows, old people and the mentally ill who roam our streets etc. We must also commend Mrs. Akiuruli for her leadership of NAFDAC. This is a very sensitive position which is a constant fight against those who fake or import drugs that are dangerous to our lives. However, there is still a very big yawning gap to be covered in the health sector. What are we doing about the high cost of medicine, which has now gone beyond the reach of the ordinary person or the lepers that populate our highways? This is a call for more people to direct their resources and energies to saving our people from health problems and to rehabilitate the homeless in our society.

I am aware of an association of Lawyers, Legal Aid Council, who provide free legal services to those who cannot afford the fees. Besides there is the ‘Sunday Sunday medicine’ a NTA network programme on News line made famous by Frank Olise and Abike Dabiri which expose human rights issues and help the poor and oppressed people, including children get justice. Still on corporate group, I like to commend the efforts of the Nigerian conservation Society who are engaged in saving our forests along with the trees, and animals as well as providing parks where the people recreate by wandering through natures paradise. Apart from ecological balance, the forests provide tourist attraction which have high economic potentials.

The mention of tourism immediately brings to our mind Governor Donald Duke of Cross River whom we should commend for creating tourist havens. The Obudu Ranch and the Tinapa projects should serve as inspiration to other states of our beloved country.

We are highly indebted to individuals or groups who are involved in promoting Nigerian culture. To mention a few, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and Smithcline Beecham have all helped to develop visual art and literature, through exhibitions, art and literary competitions

Many Nigerian languages are at present under utilized and they stand the risk of dying out thereby losing the history, culture and wisdom of the people who speak them. However, visionaries like Architect Majoro have floated the Urhobo Foundation to arrest the loss. They run summer language schools in the country and abroad to teach the children the various languages. These people deserve our commendation.

I will now talk about some individual who are role modes in providing services above self.

Suzanne Wenger Popularly called Adunni Olorisha is now 90 years old. This Austrian born woman who has for 55 years lived and worked in Nigeria using her art to develop the spiritual tradition of the Yoruba, deserves our tribute as one who has rendered service above self. The sacred Oshun groves of Oshogbo with her architecture and monumental sculptures now stand under the protection of the Nigerian government and Unesco having been recently declared a world heritage. The Oshun grove become the center of attraction during yearly festivals which bring in many tourists from Nigeria and abroad to the ancient city of Oshogbo.

Next on my list is Lt. Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi displayed a high sense of courage and selflessness and qualifies to be high on the list of Nigerians who’s service was above self.

In July 1966 when the counter coup d’ etat that ended the first military regime in Nigeria took place, Fajuyi was the military governor of the Western Region, while Major General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi was the Head of State. Ironsi was on an official visit the Western Region. It is on record that on learning about the coup, Fajuyi did not treasure his own personal safety over that of his commander in chief. When the hour came, he put his life on the line for Ironsi. According to Sen. Adesanya “the various nationalities in Nigeria could pick a lesson or two from the selflessness or heroes like Fajuyi by putting the common good of all above narrow, parochial and selfish interests.”

Another role model that devoted his life to serving his country selflessly was Dr. Tai Solarin. He was famous as a social critic and an educator, however, his greatest contributions to society was his relentless criticism of the Nigerian Military rule, as well as of corruption in the government and church. This inevitably got him in trouble with the authorities. Tai was often jailed for his public remarks. He established the Mayflower school on the 27th January 1956 as a model of an institution “for all children discriminating against none.” He chose the name “Mayflower” after the name of the ship sailed by the pilgrims in 1620, from Europe to America. It therefore evoked images of escaping persecution for a new life of freedom.

He believed that education must include technical skills in order for the nation to be truly industrialized. He made agricultural science a compulsory aspect of Mayflower education. The students once built their own dormitories and they also continue to learn to make cocoa from homegrown beans. They also breed their own pigs as well as plant and harvest their own corn. Affectionately know as “Uncle Tai” by his admirers, he was usually found wearing sneakers, shorts and a khaki hunting cap, leading some to remark that he looked more like a “village eccentric” than a great intellectual.

My next role model is a Scottish lady who at a very young age dedicated her life to bringing Christianity to the people old Calabar. Popularly called Mma Slessor, Mary worked with the communities along the Calabar River in what is now Cross River State of Nigeria in the 19th century. This was before the colonial period. She worked specifically in Duke Town and environs. What is however significant about her work is the fact that she took up a challenge to go to a land that was virtually unknown to the outside world. She did not consider the discomfort to her person, neither was she deterred by the inclement terrain she had to traverse to achieve her goal. According to her official biography, she constantly had to battle with her health as she was often hit by various tropical diseases “…there were many times when it seemed as though she were about to die, but she pulled through. It was a real temptation to forsake this unhealthy area and return to the mists of Scotland.” But Mary did not yield to those temptations. Rather she chose to intensify her drive to bring Christianity to the peoples along the Calabar River. In the process she also helped to bring peace and eradicate some of the unwholesome practices that were prevalent at the time. Other missionaries had come to work on the Calabar River before her, but she was the only one that made the effort to learn the language in order to build the confidence of the people she was anxious to evangelize.

Another person with a similar spirit was Mother Teresa, a nun of Albanian parentage. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home to be a missionary. She joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months training in Dublin, she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931 she took her vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 she taught at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made an impression on her, causing her to request permission to leave the convent and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Without any funds, she started an open-air school for the children of the slums. Voluntary helpers and financial support later came her way. Her work with these children became the bedrock on which the “Missionaries of Charity” was formed. This has since grown into an international organization. The significance of the life of Mother Teresa lies in the fact that she did not wait until she had the financial wherewithal before embarking on a project like this. The impact of her efforts is that even after she has gone, the work that she started is still going on.

In the same vein, Albert Schweitzer who was the son of a Lutheran pastor became aware of the desperate need for medical care in Africa. Born in Alsace, which is now part of France, Schweitzer graduated from medical school at the age of 37. as a medical doctor, he decided with his wife to open a hospital in Lambarene, Gabon, then a province of French Equatorial Africa. He there after devoted most of his life to providing healthcare universal principle of ethics. By stressing the interdependence and unity of life, he became a forerunner of the environmental and animal welfare movements. In 1953, at the age of 78 Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

One can see how the work of one man can actually influence a people, a society, or even a nation, when one considers the life of Mohan K. Gandhi. He is perhaps one of the most remarkable leaders of the 20th century. Gandhi to the people of India is the Mahatma, that is the father of the nation. He earned this title because of his dogged fight to liberate India from political and economic oppression. He however never sought for any personal gain, except perhaps the freedom to live in peace with his fellow man. His concern was more for the emancipation of the Indian people. This he was able to achieve by persuasion rather than force. When Gandhi died, his home country India was a free nation, the disinherited had recovered their heritage and millions had found their voice. The disarmed had won a great battle and in the process a moral force had evolved that compelled attention and to some degree, the admiration, of the world.

Although Gandhi live, suffered and died for Indians, being an Indian himself, it is significant to note that he was essentially a moral force, whose appeal is the conscience of man and therefore universal. He was the servant and friend of man no matter the nation, religion or race. His genius was an infinite capacity for taking pains in fulfillment of a restless moral urge. His life was a continuous striving and relentless search for truth.

In paying tribute to the Mahatma, Albert Einstein wrote ”Generations to come, it maybe, will scarce believe that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” The importance of Gandhi’s contribution to humanity lies in the fact that he went beyond the call of duty to fight for the freedom of the Indian peoples in South Africa and in his native India. His Spartan existence in which he denied himself of any luxuries – his simple loin clothe, steel-rimmed glasses, rough sandals and toothless smile were his only possessions. He was an exemple of humility. More importantly however he advocated non-violent resistance. He was indeed a man with a strong sense of restraint and discipline. It is his courage to resist oppression in the face of adversity that has earned him the title of the Mahatma which translates to Great Soul.

In America it is said that you don’t change a winning team. That is probably why the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. adopted the principles enunciated by the Mahatma. He saw how it worked in India and so sought to apply the same principles in the United States. King was noted for his insistence on a non-violent approach to civil disobedience, even in the height of the civil rights movement in America, where others like Malcolm X, were more intent on taking “an eye for an eye.” In championing his cause he submitted himself to arrests, and personal abuse. His home was even bombed. This did not however deter him. Martin Luther King Jr. played such a significant role in the civil rights struggle that he rose to become a member of the executive working committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the leading organization of its kind in the United States of America

Between 1957 and 1968 King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action. He wrote five books as well as numerous articles. He led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the whole world. He also directed the peaceful march on Washington D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “I have a Dream.” In all this time, he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times. More significantly the work he did to gain equal rights for the minorities in the US are now beginning to bare fruits.

Coming closer home, we look at the life of one of Africa’s greatest patriarchs whose “long walk to freedom” personifies selfless service. Dr. Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa remains a shining example of one who sacrificed his personal freedom, his private life and his youth, for his people.

Nelson Mandela who was born in 1918 was born in Qunu South Africa, and as a young man after qualifing as a lawyer, was accused of opposing the Apartheid regime which had become institutionalized in South Africa. As an active member of ANC, he revolted against apartheid with extra-ordinary vigour and resilience. In 1962 he was to spend 27 in jail in Robben Island, after he was charged with treason and sabotage against the government., in the process sacrificing his private life and youth for his people.

In 1994 he was released from jail after tremendous pressure from the international community. He became President of S. Africa, where he remains South African in which he was released and the society benefit immensely from a new government policy of racial equality, not only that, after becoming president in South Africa for a couple of years he succeeded in handing power to Thabo Mbeki, a new generation leader. Today he is celebrated as a cultural icon the world over and a compelling example of the power of unflinching faith in extreme situations and forgiveness.

Ken Saro Wiwa
10 years after Ken was put to death by hanging, his name still inspires hope and a spasm of vigour not only in Nigerian youths but, a teeming number of people around the world who clearly identify with his stance on indigence of an area controlling mineral resources produced in these areas.

Conclusion
Service beyond leadership is a clarion call for people to step up to the play in our society and by extension, put themselves on the line of fire, but more importantly inhabit the eye of the turbulent storms of our time.

In some cases there may be physical demise of the hero, but oftentimes the standard and principle which they stood for, and which was tested was never compromised, as they remained in the memory and psyche of the society in they impacted. They bestowed on society new standards in all cases of conduct, of awareness and consciousness which very often stood them out as enduring historical figures in our landscapes.

2011 Annual Harmattan Workshop Series

2011-01-08T03:20:00.000-08:00

2011 HARMATTAN ART WORKSHOP

The 13th Harmattan Workshop Agbarha-Otor 2011

1st and only Session: February 27th - March 12th,

Venue: Niger Delta Cultural Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta
State. Nigeria.

WORKSHOP SESSIONS

Painting, Printmaking, Metal Construction, Wood Sculpture,
Stone Carving, Mixed Media, Textiles, Leather Craft, Jewelry,
Drawing, Ceramics and Photography. There will be seminars, film
shows and excursions. (Certificates will be issued to participants.)

WORKSHOP FEES: N25, 000.00 per non student participant;
N15,000.00 per student participant.
$300.00 for international participant.
(Fee covers 2 weeks accommodation and supply of materials only. )

Payments should be made to: Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation
acct. no.0151050000020 Union Bank.
Only bank tellers evidencing payment would be accepted for registration.

Presentation of Papers
Interested participants who wish to present papers in the Workshop are to apply the Workshop registrar at least 30 days before date of presentation.

For Enquiries contact:
The Director
The Harmattan Workshop
Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation
41, Oloje Street
Papa Ajao, Mushin, Lagos
Bofound.ng@gmail.com
or
10, Elsie Femi Pearse Street
Victoria Island, Lagos.
0806 079 5466, 0705 634 6458 or 0803 310 0344.

Happy Holiday Season

2010-12-21T03:06:00.000-08:00

With Very Best Wishes to you for a Merry and Beautiful Christmas

and

2011 New Year full of Joy & Prosperity!

Thank you for your patronage throughout the year.

Sincere Greetings

Harmattan Workshop Gallery

10 Elsie Femi Pearse street,
Victoria island Lagos, Nigeria

website: www.bofoundation.org
Email: Bofound.ng@gmail.com

Masterpieces of Nigerian Art

2010-11-30T02:21:00.000-08:00

Masterpieces of Nigerian Art Catalogue

Title: Masterpieces of Nigerian Art
Author: Ekpo Eyo
ISBN: 978-878-8204-08-4
Binding: Hard Cover
Year of Publication: 2008
Publisher: Federal Republic of Nigeria

Masterpieces of Nigerian Art is a bold tribute to the artistic heritage of the country's ancestors. The works included in this colourful 255-paged book are spectacular and breath-taking. The quality that shines through this book could only have come from such master art scholar as Prof. Eyo. Works in the book tell the story in its entirety about the great skills, vision and deep thoughts that went into the works. What comes through is a feeling of awe as the reader is drawn to drink deep from the creative wisdom that fashioned them. The two hundred pieces presented in this book are clear testimony to a glorious civilization that the present generation can be proud of, which was by no means primitive.

Guest Artist of the Month: Midahuen Yves (Midy)

2010-11-11T23:34:00.001-08:00

Midy is an emerging West African artist from The Republic of Benin. He
got his initial impetus for creating professionally from training
with Ludovick Fadairo, to whom he was apprenticed for several years.
In artistic circles, Fadairo's name bears with it a mark of
distinction, as he is widely recognized as a master painter. Midy got
further exposure from his academic training in Ghana.

Midy is widely traveled in the West African sub region and has also
featured his works in Paris, France, where he also visited. In Nigeria
his works have been shown at the Harmattan Gallery 2007 and The Art
Expo in 2009 and 2010 respectively.His works have also been featured
at the 2009 edition of ARESUVA, an important biennale of visual arts
which takes place in Abuja

Midy's current works imbibe with it the institutional philosophy of
the Harmattan Workshop Series, an Annual event organized by the Bruce
Onobrakpeya Foundation. At this art gathering and retreat for visual
artists, which he has attended several times, best practices in the
formal, informal and traditional arts are shared with participants.
These ideas serve to sustain and rekindle their artistry and
creativity. Midy's current works show examples of the gains of this
vision and therefore must be commended.

Midy and a host of others artists like Ovraiti and Duke Asidere, who
show demonstrable examples of understanding this important and
critical fusion of best practices in the arts, deserve our support and
commendation. Midy and artists of the Harmattan Workshop
Experience, serve the important role of not just being relevant in our
collective search for community, but also answering the question, by
redefining the issues, of what new Role the Contemporary arts of
Africa must fill, to produce it's most enduring images.

"http://www.addme.com/submission/free-submission-

Bruce Onobrakpeya on El Anatsui and the Annual Harmattan Workshop Experience

2010-11-07T02:30:00.000-08:00

“El Anatsui’s works have not only impacted on several upcoming artists, but his work continues to impact on, even his peers. It is this kind of relevance and creativity that institutionally the Harmattan workshop Series strives to rekindle and replicate in the contemporary art of Africa.”

Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya in 2009, speaking during the presentation of the Prince Claus Fund Award to the Nigerian/Ghanaian artist El Anatsui at the Dutch Embassy in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria on the 18th of Dec 2009. The award was accompanied by a modest purse of 25,000 euros. This award is widely considered a befitting tribute to the artist whose work, while in Nigeria in the last 35 years has influenced a lot of younger artists.

DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIAN CONTEMPORARY ART SINCE 1960.

2010-09-28T01:24:00.000-07:00

DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIAN CONTEMPORARY ART SINCE 1960.

Beginning from the Nigerian Independence 1960 which is 50
years ago the contemporary Art of Nigeria continue to grow,
striving to be more and more relevant to the people who now
use it as a potential instrument of change.
The Nigerian government, the elites and the ordinary people
appreciate it as a means of passing on folklore, culture
and values; creating identity, effective cultural
diplomacy, a source of renewable wealth, a potent tool for
creating awareness and the development of communities.
Artists are respected and the profession is now
considered a worthy one. Therefore contemporary Nigerian
Art has moved from hobby to big business. And from being
provincial, to world class. However, there are still many
things to be fixed in order to reap the greatest benefits
derivable from art.

Internationally, our contemporary art works have equally
moved from ethnographic shelves to being hung side by side
with the best from all over the world. Within the period,
Nigerian contemporary art works , created at home or in
disapora have not only being entered for the world’s most
prestigious biennales, but have also won the much envied
gold medals. The art works produced by Nigerian artists
today, have now been accepted by the West as both
contemporary and modern, acknowledging the fact that as
members of the global village we have the freedom to draw
from and upgrade our inherited values as well as
domesticate good ideas which are foreign. And that whatever
form or philosophy the contemporary Nigerian art adopts,
the important thing is that it fulfills the role of a
barometer for measuring our times.

The first agent in this continuing development is the
Federal and State governments which set up art schools
institutions and programmes. The independence Trade Fair
which showcased art was one of the programmes which started
off the period under consideration. Works of pioneer
artists like Aina Onabolu, Ben Enwonwu and Akinola Lasekan
were shown side by side with those of younger artists
amongst whom were some students from Zaria (N.C.A.S.T) who
would later be credited with a philosophy that
revolutionized our post independence art.

Furthermore, in 1977 she staged FESTAC which gave the
contemporary art an international focus. This kind of
boast was repeated in recent years, although at a lesser
scale by other international shows called ARESUVA (2008
and 2009). From time to time either working alone, in
partnership with UNESCO or other national governments, the
federal government continue to boast contemporary art with
awards to deserving practioners or to canonize projects or
sites.

Over the past 50 years, private non profit organization
established by individuals have played very important role
in the growth of our contemporary art. Described as
migratory education by Prof. John Agberia because they are
seasonal, art workshops have become forum for informal art
education. Instructive and interactive, skills are
introduced while ideas are shared by all participants
creating freedom for experiments with new materials while
old and dying art forms are revived. And because the
workshops bring artists and other people from all over
Nigeria, West Africa and abroad, it helps to engender
understanding and peace. In many ways it has helped to
upgrade the communities in which they are cited. It was
started in early 60s by Prof. Ulli Beier at the Artists and
Writers Club Ibadan and was later moved to Mbari Mabyo,
Oshogbo and then to Ori Olokun in Ife. Inspired by the
successful experiments other workshops were established at
Asele Institute in Nimo by Uche Okeke, at new Culture
Studio Ibadan by Demas Nwoko and at the Harmattan workshop
Agbarha-Otor by Bruce Onobrakpeya. The workshop as
alternative to academic art education has produced a number
of eminent Nigerian artists.

Some foreign missions in Nigeria, clubs and individuals
have contributed to the development of our art. The
British council, Geothe Institut, USIS, Alliance Francaise,
Italian Cultural Institute, to mention a few, not only
frequently showcased works of promising Nigerian artists
but also sent some of them abroad to study and exhibit. The
“Thursday show” organized by Jean Kennedy and her husband
Dick Wolford passed from one expatriate to another in the
60s and 70s, connecting artists to collectors. Large
Multinational Corporation like Shell, Guiness, Nestle,
Texaco, Ford Foundation and Art House Contemporary Limited
e.t.c and many individuals sponsor art exhibitions give
grants to run workshops as well as publish books and
facilitating other related art activities. In no small
measure, these contributed to the development of
contemporary Nigerian art.

Beginning with Gallery Labac in the 60s, contemporary
Nigerian art today attracts a large number of commercial
art galleries which are gradually developing into secondary
art markets. But by far the greatest impetus to the
development of contemporary art in Nigeria is the imergence
of art auctions. It started with the Nimbus Gallery in
Lagos and in 2008, Art House contemporary limited, under
the directorship of Kavita Challerams floated a second
auction which created supper prizes, setting off a ripples.
Now, contemporary Nigerian art works are being collected
for auctions even in London and New York.

A few very serious collectors all over the country have
emerged and have done the nation good by buying and
retaining good art pieces which should have found their way
out of the country. In the Lagos axis, names like Sam
Olagbaju, Yemisi Shyllon, Apostle John Edokpolo and chief
Odimayo have now become household and are responsible for
the leap in the development.

Religion has always had immense contribution to the
development of art in any given age. It has done the same
for Nigeria within the last 50 years. Christian religion
is clearly on the lead. St. Paul Catholic Church in Ebute
Meta for instance, is like a museum. Sculptures (mainly
carvings) by Fakeye, Osifo, Otoro and the paintings of the
Stations of the Cross by this writer Bruce Onobrakpeya,
draw visitors. The stained glass decoration by Yusuf
Grillo and David Dale are attractions in many of the
churches, Demas Nwoko developed Nigerian architectural
style which he has used to build the Dominican monastry
in Ewu, Delta State.

The other side of the story is that the new churches with
ever increasing population are not encouraging the use of
art particularly those inspired by traditional motifs and
symbols. Some sculptures in public square have been
condemned as fetish and destroyed. These draw backs not
withstanding, there has been resurgence in the celebration
of local festivals and carnivals in our main cities,
bringing back the masquerades thus encouraging the
creation of new art pieces.

Our artists working assiduously at different levels are
important factor in the development of the contemporary
arts. He or she is a teacher, a mentor, a writer, a
documentor, a researcher, an architect, an innovator, a
publisher, curator etc. As a result, there is
collaboration amongst the different discipline of the arts.
The artists have themselves generated considerable
literature to help people understand better what they are
doing, and have contributed new terms like Uli,
plastography, Ibiebe etc to the international art
dictionary.

The media have played a vital role in the growth of the
arts. It criticizes and amplifies what the artist have
created, allowing the messages to reach the larger society.
It makes both the artists and their art works very important
and therefore marketable.

As a concluding part of this sketch one must mention that
the emergence of contemporary art as a force in our overall
development would have yielded more fruits if some aspects
of it have not been neglected. For example, the endowment
policy has not been ratified by the government. Artists
work under poor conditions and no legal backing to make
them claim royalties, particularly those arising from
resale of art works in the secondary markets or auctions.

The country lacks art collection policy and good
infrastructure. Many of our best works are allowed to
leave the country. Corporate bodies and individual are not
given the tax incentives to enable them buy and donate
pieces to galleries and museums. Artist groups
particularly the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) which
have membership in almost every state of the federation is
not given adequate subvention to enable it function
property in the country as well as participate in
programmes of International Art Association (IAA). With
these and more gaps filled, Nigerian contemporary art in
this first part of the 21st century will help the country
to attain greater heights.

Bruce Onobrakpeya
July 2010.

Bruce Onobrakpeya is Recipient of National Creativity Award 2010

2010-09-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

The Nigerian Copyright Commission has nominated Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya as the recipient of the National Creativity Award 2010, as part of the commemoration of this year's National Day of Creativity, that was marked on Tuesday, 14th September 2010.

In recognition of the importance of creativity and contributions of authors to national development, the Federal government in 1995 declared Sept 14 as the National Creativity day. Subsequently, The National Creativity Day was instituted to honour outstanding personalities in the Creative industry.

According to Dr. Adebambo Adewopo, who is also the Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission. “The award was given to Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya as a further recognition of his numerous achievements, as a multi media artist who has not only pioneered a uniquely Nigerian technique in deep-etching, but has also achieved a harmonious blend between traditional and contemporary expressions, without compromising the artistic integrity of the medium. As a pioneering graduate of the famous Zaria Art School (Ahmadu Bello University), he has through his wealth of knowledge brought honour to his profession and Nigeria, while his various training and mentoring programmes continue to discover and inspire young talents in the field of visual arts”

The last recipient was Chinua Achebe a distinguished literary author.

Bruce Onobrakpeya who is also the receipient of the Living Human Treasure Award (2006) by UNESCO, turned 78 in August 30th, this year.

7th Harmattan Workshop Catalogue

2010-08-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

The book Agbarha-Otor 2005, edited by John Agberia and Pat Oyelola, is a documentation of lectures, seminars, artworks, and other noteworthy activities that emerged from the 7th Harmattan workshop held between February 24 and March 23, 2005, at Agbarha-Otor in Delta State, Nigeria. Primarily, it is an exhibition catalogue of all the artworks produced in the various sections of the workshop. The exhibition of artworks takes place in the same year usually towards the end of the year.
Book will be formally Launched on 2nd Oct. 2010 at the Harmattan Gallery.

Birthday of the Month of August

2010-08-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya is one of Africa’s best known and most highly respected artists. A Nigerian Urhobo printmaker, painter and sculptor, he has been described as a “living legend” who was ‘responsible for the renaissance in contemporary art in Nigeria’. He is acknowledged as being one of the leading print-makers in the world and credited with significant advances in printmaking techniques. In the early 1960s, he was a leading member of the ‘Zaria Revolutionaries’ who changed the course of art from a reliance on European concepts and practice towards a distinct African aesthetic. The fusion of his training in western techniques and his own heritage and creativity, produced an exciting new art which expresses the vitality of Africa’s great traditions in a modern style for the contemporary world. He also helped to establish the Society of Nigerian Artists in 1964.
Bruce Onobrakpeya was born in Agbarha-Otor, in the Ughelli Local Government area of Delta State, Nigeria in 1932. He studied Fine art at the Nigerian College of arts, Science and technology, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University), and graduated in 1961. He taught art at the old western Boys’ High School, Benin City, his alma mater, Ondo Boys High School, Ondo and St. Gregory’s College, Lagos, at various times between 1953 and 1980, where he nurtured successive generations of art students, some of whom have themselves grown to become famous names in the field. He has worked as a guest teacher and artist in residence in Europe and U.S.A., and has participated in over 100 exhibitions in Nigeria and around the world. Bruce Onobrakpeya’s works are in many international collections, including the Vatican Museum in Rome, the National Museum for African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., and the Museum of African and African American Art and antiques, New York. His art is also represented in the collection of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the 11, Head of the commonwealth, and in the collection of various statesman and celebrities around the world.
His public commissions range from murals for the Nigerian independence Exhibition pavilion (1960) and the Idi-Araba site of the university of Lagos, now College of medicine (1963) to a design of 1/6d Nigerian postage stamp in 1970 and glass etched panels for the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
Bruce Onobrakpeya is developing an international art centre that will include folk museum of art, as well as a gallery of Contemporary African art in Agbarha-Otor, delta state. The centre has hosted the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series for visual artists since inception in 1998, this centre was initiated and sponsored by Bruce with support from corporate organizations. It was created with a vision to provide opportunities for artists to come together to experiment, share ideas and carry out research, the workshop which is also one of the longest running in Africa, has gained international recognition and is the only such forum for artists in Nigeria, where artists of all backgrounds come together for up to 6 weeks to engage in artistic and academic projects.
Bruce Onobrakpeya has received numerous prizes and awards, including the British Council Award (1969); the Pope Paul V1 Gold Medal for participating in an exhibition to commemorate the Pope’s 80th birthday celebrations (1977); the Full-Bright-Hays Award (1979), the Solidra Circle Award (1985); an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Ibadan (1989); Fellowship of Nigerian Artist (1989); Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) National Merit Award (2002) and Living Human Treasure Award (2006) by UNESCO and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

‘If we must use art to unite Africans...’

2010-07-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 06 July 2010 00:00 By Tajudeen Sowole Art - Arts

When Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF) had a reception for its foreign guest, Ludovick Fadairo, TAJUDEEN SOWOLE found out that the yawning gap between African artists and governments cut across the continent.

VISITING Beninois artist, Ludovick Fadairo has warned his counterparts on the consequence of depending on governments’ initiatives in using art and culture to address Africa’s quest for unity and economic empowerment.
Fadairo who was the guest of Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF) stated this during the weekend while speaking on African unity and the failure of leadership in the continent.
African artists, he argued, “have the challenge of confronting politicians’ lack of respect for art if we must use art to unite Africans.”
Fadairo, 63, is a recipient of UNESCO Prize for Promotion of Arts (2004) and one of Africa’s renowned multimedia artists.
The artist who spoke through an interpreter explained that because art takes its strength from the larger society, artists can still impart on the people with little or no government’s contributions.
Perhaps a model of government’s effort towards integrating art into the economy of the continent is the two editions-old African Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Art (ARESUVA). Organized by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) Abuja, it’s designed to promote visual art as a strategy for achieving rapid economic development in the African region within the context of the African Union’s (AU) New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). Such initiatives, Fadairo noted, often come with arrogance from governments. Artist, he stressed, should use their art to challenge the “arrogance of politicians given the fact that money used for such initiatives comes from the people.” Neglect of art and culture by African leaders, he warned has reached an alarming state.
In African art and culture lies the solution to the economic empowerment of the continent, Fadairo argued. “Nearly everything the world needs has been invented by the west. The only thing that the west cannot create or re-invent is African art and culture.” The artist however lamented that the leadership of the continent is yet to recognize this fact. He cited example of a recent situation in “Mali when the government had 0.3 per cent of its budget for art and culture.”
Responding, his host and Executive Director of BOF, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya (MFR) stated that artists can collaborate with governments by “starting some initiatives” to prove a point that indeed, “we are relevant in the development of the continent.” Onobrakpeya however urged artists to develop “spiritual commitment” for consistency to enable them gain confidence of the people. He also likened Fadairo’s thoughts on artists’ resurgence to a “confederation” under which practitioners can form a common front.
Still not convinced of the sincerity of governments of the continent, Fadairo advised younger artists to take cue from Onobrakpeya who – without government’s funding – has used his art to empower the people of his immediate environment and beyond. He mentioned the Harmattan Workshop initiative which holds at Agbarha Otor, Delta State as one of the contributions of Onobrakpeya which has proven that indeed, African art has a role to play in economic emancipation. The harmattan workshop, which attracts participants from across the country trains interested natives of Agbahar Otor every year in art and crafts. Fadairo said, “although I have not attended the workshop, but I have heard so much about it and look forward to taking part.”
And just in case anyone wants to keep faith with assistance from overseas, Fadairo, insisted that, “we should not wait for grants to come from abroad.”
Perhaps a good model of overseas-funded art project in Africa is the Dak’Art biennale, which holds in Dakar, Senegal every two years. Fadairo disagreed, arguing that such grants come with conditions, which only serve the interests of the donors. In fact, he disclosed that, currently, France’s funding of Dak’Art is going through a crisis as a result of sudden ideological differences between the two governments as regards contents of the biennale. He traced the issue to the 2006 edition when France “dictated to the organisers to feature only sculptures and installations.” Fadairo argued that such dictate is unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of self-expression. He also noted that, politically, “President Abdullah Wade of Senegal is not in good terms with the French government.” It is therefore expected that eventually, Dak’Art, will suffer further funding from France, he warned.
As the visitor was taken on a tour of his host’s Ovuomaroro Studio and Gallery, he stressed that Onobrakpeya’s work is a typical example of what he described as inherent self-expression of Nigerian and Anglophone artists. Comparatively, artists from French speaking countries of Africa, he argued, are not as independent minded. He likened this to the difference in the colonial ideology of the former French and English colonial masters. He argued that, “the French manipulated the people’s psyche before colonising them. The English, though colonised the people, but not their mental ability.”
The French attitude, he said, has not changed till date which perhaps explains why “my work is not popular in France. Any artist whose work is like Fadairo’s is not accepted in France.” He said, he has been able to confront this imperial mentality because “my Yoruba culture is strong enough to challenge any western ideology.”
And the commonality of ancestral artistic expression in the work of Fadairo and his host came to bare on a brief introductory ritual at the beginning of the reception: there was an exchange of cultural values. Onobrakpeya had presented kola nuts and a little sum of money to his guest and asked for a blessing of the reception. Fadairo, in return accepted the Urhobo tradition of his host just as he requested to add “my culture which says when a young man knows how to wash his hands, he shall dine with the elders.”
Fadairo gave his host a gift of hand-woven cap and slippers. He said the gifts “are symbols of crown and power” to a print master “whose work has been an inspiration to me.”
Onobrakpeya, in return, showed that self- documentation has been part of his strength as he presented his last book Jewels of Nomadic Images and two CDs titled Bruce Onobrakpeya: Brief Introduction and Harmattan Workshop 2009. To update his visitor on the recent development in Nigeria’s visual art scene, Onobrakpeya also gave Fadairo the catalogue of Art Expo 2009. Receiving the gifts, Fadairo said the honour “is not just for me, but the ancestors of African art as well.” He also stressed that in documentation, the contemporary must not take over the past.”
Earlier, Onobrakpeya had presented a copy of the book Jewels of Nomadic Images to U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders.
Fadairo is currently living and working in Bingerville, Ivory Coast.

RECENT WORKS BY BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA

2010-06-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Ekiti Kete:People and Places

2010-06-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

Recently in Ado Ekiti, the capital city of Ekiti State, was the exhibition Ekiti Kete: People and Places. An exhibiting of paintings and photography showcasing the cultural affinity and tourism potential of Ekiti State.

The exhibition which ran from April 28, lasted till May 10, 2010. The exhibition took pace at the reception area of the governor’s office in Ado Ekiti. The exhibition highlighted over 30 experimental works done by New York based Ekiti indigene Olusegun Fayemi.

Fayemi in the last 30 years has focused his energy, on his work as a documentary photographer traveling widely internationally, lecturing and sharing through several of his award winning photography books, images that seek to capture and celebrate Africans in a positive light.

The themes captured in this exhibition spread through the entire gamut of traditional practices, historical landmarks and people, folk and cultural practices

2 works on exhibit, that were of particular interest was that of a black and white work which was a monochrome pigment print on paper. The picture shows the pose of a titled older man, possibly a chief or bale, rendered majestically in a long flowing robe called agbada in western Nigeria. The robe is hand woven and done in the traditional hand made Aso-Oke, a craft native to the Ekiti people and the rest of Yoruba land. The gentleman is sited and can be seen wearing a traditional beaded crown with matching ornamented shoe, depicting royalty. He is also holding a decorated scepter or staff adorned with colorful beads and fly wisk, both indicative of class status or power and authority over a people.

The man who is also royalty and king, in this black and white picture beckons through his highly decorated regalia, the viewer to behold the majesty of Ekitiland. This piece represents a prayer for the preservation of the grandeur of the obaship or other positions of traditional influence and institutions in Ekiti land

The second is the Ikogosi waterfall, another pigment print, done in mild hues of colors. Here we see an attempt by the artist to give us an inner glimpse of the exhilarating pulsation of the victorious water falls of Ikogosi, considered by many, as the pride of all in Ekitiland. The picture represents a metaphor of the undwindling, inimitable, and God given strength, vigour and stamina of the people of Ekitiland.The water fall also speaks of the fervent prayers of the people of Ekiti land to provide leadership in the areas of culture, education, agriculture and industry. A prayer consistent with the aspirations of many parts of Nigeria.

Fayemi’s works given the experimental range of media used, places him in a class of his own among artists who use the photographic medium. He is however part of the elite corp of very passionate Nigerian photographers like Don Baber, Pa Ojekere, Sunmi Smart Cole and Tam Fiofori whose works seek to redress the image of the Nigerian and by extension the African, as a largely disconnected, exotic, and often time, victim, and a creature of the circumstances he finds himself. Fayemi’s images in Ekiti Kete presents with such freshness the image of the African as very much connected with the larger scheme of things, whether spiritual or physical and ultimately, indeed very much a shaper of his of his or her own destiny. We see through Fayemi’s lenses the faces of victorious Africans who are ready to assert and hold their own in today’s world, in a most befitting and dignifying way.

Fayemi’s exhibition titled Ekiti Kete was clearly a joy to behold. The exhibition establishes his mastery of multiple experimental media in photography. It also gives him great credit as a documentary photographer in search of Community, however defined. This exhibition which is the first of its kind in Ekiti land suggests that the people of Ekiti State have such a rich repertoire of artistry and culture, and are willing to share this with the larger world. Every part of Nigeria can take a cue from this.

Tribute to Fred Archibong (1959 - 2009)

2010-06-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Fred Archibong (1959- 2009)

Young Fred went to school at the prestigious Federal Government College, Warri in present day Delta State of Nigeria, in the late 70’s. He easily excelled in the Fine Arts. In fact it is on record that in his graduation year from high school, he won most of the prizes available at the secondary school level, in fine art, in the then Mid-Western region of Nigeria.
He later left for Chicago in the U.S., where for a short while, he studied dance and choreography, before proceeding to the Chicago School of Fine Art to study Fine Art, where he specialized in sculpture.

On his return to Nigeria, in 1988, Fred dived neck deep into the very turbulent professional life, of being a full time practicing Studio artist in Lagos. In this regard Fred was a pace setter, as there were very few, full time artists working in Lagos or anywhere in West Africa at that time.

Fred is easily remembered for his monumental sculptural pieces which were executed in cement or fiber glass in his Bode Thomas studio in Suru-Lere, Lagos. His teeming number of apprentices made it possible for him to execute his art works and commissions very fast, and this partially accounted for his popularity, which soon soared. His earliest collectors included Fred Agbeyegbe and Chris Ogunbanjo who gave him very early exposure in his career. However, by far, the single most decisive patron who gave him impetus, in his early years, was the architect Fola Alade, who gave him great visibility and artistic milage, by commissioning him, to do a lot of frescoes and outdoor relief works of art, which soon became the hallmark of his trade as an artist.

Some of his works could be found at the Nigerian Security and Printing Company and Nicon Insurance House in Abuja, Nigeria. Fred was clearly an artists’ artists and developed extensive networks in government and artist groups like the Society of Nigerian artists, where he had as many admirers as he had foes.

He was not an exhibiting artist, however he was part of the hugely successful Common wealth Heads of Government Summit (CHOGM) Exhibition titled "Celebrate Nigeria" in Abuja, Nigeria in 2003, that had such names like Bruce Onobrakpeya, Bisi Fakeye and Nkechi Nwosu Igbo showing side by side with him. This show was seen by over 10,000 people and had Her Majesty the Queen of England in attendance.

Fred as he was often called, will best be remembered as an artist, who struggled very hard to integrate tourism with arts and culture for over three decades. To his credit is a tourism company which he founded, BHS, which was geared at not only creating hundreds of jobs for Nigerians in the area of tourism, but showcasing Nigeria as a world-class tourism center and preferred destination point. A hard sell even today.

Fred's company also led a consortium of investors and facilities managers, to acquire a 30 year lease to manage the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) facility, a multi-million Naira facility, in Lagos, Nigeria. This was no mean achievement by any standard, as it required cutting through red tape, tremendous financial, mental and physical exertion to consummate. This singular project, which he sought to execute, remains the greatest testimony, to this man's indomitable and outstanding artistic vision, industry, passion and drive.

After life's fitfull fever, Fred Archibong sleeps well. He passed on at the tender age of fifty. He will be greatly missed by the Otu-Ewena group of Artists. A group founded by Bruce Onobrakpeya, which acknowledged the inter connectivity between art, architecture and the beauty of the environment.

Jewels of the Harmattan Workshop Experience

2010-06-22T03:03:00.001-07:00

The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation will be delighted at your esteemed presence
as you honour us at a Group Exhibition of Paintings, Multi-Media Paintings and sculptures

Titled: Jewels of the Harmattan Workshop Experience

This exhibition showcases over a decade of works produced by participants in the Harmattan Workshop Experience and is a special exhibition to celebrate the Golden Jubilee anniversary of Nigerian Independence, exhibiting the wide range of the work by artists who have participated in the Harmattan Workshop. These include artists such as Bruce Onobrakpeya, Sam Ovraiti, Tam Fiofori, Ndidi Dike, Lara Ige Jacks, Duke Asidere, Oladapo Afolayan, Tola Wewe, Jerry Buhari, Midy and many more

Opening at 3:00p.m.

on 2nd of October 2010

@ Harmattan Workshop Gallery
10 Elsie Femi Pearse street
off Kofo Abayomi Street
Victoria Island, Lagos.

Exhibition runs for 2 weeks
9:00 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily

On Saturday 9:00p.m. – 4.00p.m.

This exhibition is supported by the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, Art Galleries Association and the Harmattan Group of Artists

August Workshop 2010

2010-06-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Are You an Artist?
Then, the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation will help you escape the distraction of the city and enjoy serene and rustic Agbarha-Otor, in Delta State, Nigeria, to create the art you have always wanted.

Come To The

HARMATTAN ART RETREAT

Fee N10,000.00

Accommodation and studio space are provided for the 2 weeks where you can work independently or alongside other artists according to your wish.

This session is for artists who wish to develop their own inspirations, without any supervision as was in the three previous sessions. They can work on their own or in concert with other persons if they so wish. The serene environment of the workshop provides an excellent ambience for serious creativity. They will be provided accommodation, studio space and free use of equipment, provided they know how to use and handle them.

They are required to bring along their own palette knives, brushes colours, canvas, etching plates, wood, gloves, nose masks, paper etc. Stone carvers and ceramists among them are free to draw from the stock of stones and unprepared clay available at the premises. No corrosive substances of any description are allowed to be brought in .

Participants are required to donate one of the works they produce to the Foundation
Venue: Niger Delta Art and Cultural Centre (Harmattan Workshop Venue), Agbarha-Otor Delta State.

Date: 1st – 14th August, 2010

Fee: N 10,000.00 per artist (You may pay into Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation account at Union Bank account no. 0151050000020 and present your teller on arrival at the venue).

MEALS AT THE HARMATTAN WORKSHOP

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner is available at the workshop cafeteria at an affordable price of N250.00 per plate. However, participants are free to buy extra plates as need be. There are shops in the town and at the vicinity of the workshop where participants could purchase toiletries and other consumables if needed.

HOUSING

Participants are allocated rooms at the Harmattan Workshop Cabins. Depending on the number of participants for each session and space in the room, participants are paired either two or three in a room. However we occasionally must assign other accommodation to address this issue. Rate includes housing.

*Alternative housing plans could be made by participants who wish to stay outside the workshop complex.

Exhibition by Midy

2010-06-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation will be delighted at your esteemed presence
as you honour us at a Solo Art Exhibition of Multi-Media Paintings

Titled: Freedom

BY YVES MIDAHUEN (Midy): An Emerging International Artist and Harmattan Workshop artist based in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, West Africa

Father of the Day: Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR
Founder of the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series

Guest of Honour: Emmanuel Inua, Executive of Art Galleries Association of Nigeria (AGAN)
Opening at 3:00p.m.

on 27th of November, 2010

@ The Quintessence Gallery, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos

Exhibition runs till 11th of December 2010
9:00 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily

On Saturday 9:00p.m. – 4.00p.m.

RSVP

MOSES 08033857151
Curator
Quintessence Gallery

This exhibition is supported by the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, Art Galleries Association and the Harmattan Group of Artists

THE LEOPARD OF AGBARHA-OTOR

2010-05-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya: The Legacy.
Lecture Delivered at the Grillo Pavilion, Ikorodu
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
By
dele jegede, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Art
Miami University
Oxford. OH

Prof. Dele Jegede delivering Lecture: Bruce Onobrakpeya The Legacy

Icons of Modern Nigerian Art: Bruce Onobrakpeya, Dele Jegede, Yusuf Grillo at the Grillo Pavillion

Visitors at the Lecture Delivered by Dele Jegede at the Grillo Pavillion

all pictures used are courtesy of Prof. Dele Jegede

INTRODUCTION

Let me start with a caveat: this is not a didactic lecture on Bruce Onobrakpeya. It is neither an exegesis of his creative work nor is it a critique, of his techniques and methodology. I will also try not to give you his life history. It would be a waste of our precious time, Ibelieve, if all I did was rehash threshed and recycled information, which by virtue of Onobrakpeya's status, has been narrated into our common history. Why would I bother re-informing you of the date of his birth, which has not changed since 1932 when he first arrived in Agbara-Otor? Yes, I will dwell on his Urhobo ancestry, but only to the extent that it assists us inperceiving the totality of the enigma. Here is my point: if by any chance there is anyculturally literate Nigerian who, upon hearing Onobrakpeya's name, asks "BruceWho?" please check to see where that person received his education. Or check if,as my danfo brothers would ask, that person is from Yaba apa osi. I will not attempt to analyze every piece of the artist's creative portfolio; that would be an impossible task even if I had a whole day, which I do not intend to do.

Those who are interested in learning more about the prodigiousness of the artist are advised to avail themselves of any of his innumerable publications. My concern, therefore, is to attempt to extrapolate some lessons from Bruce Onobrakpeya's life and work. This lecture is about the legacy of one of Africa's most celebrated artists; an individual who is extremely comfortable in his own skin, and whose sojourn as an artist, humanist, and benefactor deserves to be re-examined and leveraged for the benefit of all. The opportunity to focus on Onobrakpeya allows us to examine issues that are central to his legacy. Among these are, of course, Zaria and the problematics of rebellion. I will look at the extent to which Onobrakpeya is, in his work and practice, Urhobo personified. I will look at the legacy of Onobrakpeya: as a quintessential student in perpetuity; an eclectic, life-long learner; a documentarist; an integrationist; and a benefactor. Did I also mention that he is an artist? I will focus on the implications of the eruption of a new creative force, which his Ibiebe alphabets symbolize and then examine
his ability to conflate creative boundaries with his installations. His Agbara-Otor project will be touched upon as will the implications of his legacy for art education at the tertiary level. Critical to all of this is the matrix without which the arts will flounder. And it is with this that I now begin.

Patronage and the Arts

There is one word that captures the reason why I am here today. It is the same word-or idea-which explains your presence here also. It is patronage. It is what galvanizes artists to attain those heights, which ennoble nations and immortalize their mores and ethos.
Patronage fuels the arts and perpetuates a people's history. It generates and sustainsthe passion without which creativity will wither. Those superb cultural icons which have placed Nigeria on the world cultural map the exquisite sculptures from Nok, Igbo - Ukwu, Ife, and Benin-would not have been possible without sustained patronage. But patronage is vibrant only where there is a coterie of individuals or entities' whose unbridled love for the arts is matched by the will, wherewithal, and determination to exert an affecting presence. Desirable as the institutionalization of political patronage is, it often proves nightmarish essentially because it is perceived as the most vulnerable of portfolios. Officialdom, has become accustomed to treating culture as the most dispensable unit of national attributes. Even in the best of economies, the arts are often erected upon structures that are susceptible to political vicissitudes. A national endowment for the arts should be an integral part of any national agenda not as a perfunctory concession but as an essential aspect of our national identity. There is more to culture and patronage than donning a type of babanriga or spotting politicized caps.
you will recall that in 16th century Italy, the High Renaissance was as much about the dominant artists of the time-da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bramante, and Raphael-as it was about the patrons, especially the House of Medici, the papacy, and Pope Julius II. In our own clime and time, considerable improvement has occurred since the sixties and early seventies, when Euro-American interests dominated patronage. Of course, the cultural arms of the various embassies have continued to play their roles of using art to promote cultural diplomacy. The difference between now and the early sixties is that theirs is no longer the dominant platform. The quickest way to delude ourselves, however, is to believe that this is the best that we are capable of doing. All that we need do is look to other countries-Senegal and South Africa come to mind-in order to cure our hubris. The creative efflorescence that took roots in defiance of Babangida's Structural Adjustment Program policy has now crystallized into a flourishing enterprise, with galleries that survive as small businesses and, most importantly, auction houses, which bring impressive monetary rewards for a number of artists, many of whom are, happily, alive and with us in this gathering today.

The Euro-American tribe of yore has now happily yielded to a small but growing class of avid patrons, among whom we must count Mr. Sammy Olagbaju, Chief Arthur Mbanefo, and Engineer Yemisi Shyllon. This brings us to the facilitator of today's event, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, to whom we are indebted for creating a platform that appears to be spurred by a an unstinted desire to endow society and benefit humanity. For when all is said and done, the arts encapsulate the language, thoughts, and attributes of a people. They encode their character and telescope their foibles, aspirations, and identity. The arts, above all, are the visual manifestation of abstract ideals. They reify those intangible and fugitive notions, which define our collective. It takes excellence to recognize today's prophets in their own country and Chief Gbadamosi's munificence deserves our appreciation. The establishment of the Grillo- Pavilion represents a milestone in Nigerian patronage and offers a measure against which we may now compare Nigeria's very humble beginnings. Here, I am thinking of the old but faithful forum on the Marina: the Exhibition Center. Or Gallery LABAC and other early art centers. Gbadamosi's Grillo Pavilion also seems quite keen on establishing a contemplative temple where visual art is at once displayed, critiqued, intellectualized, and spoken. But our focus today will be on the doyen of innovative printmaking in Africa who, in five decades of creative foraging, has become an exemplar for the seminality of
his oeuvre and the infectiousness of his persona: Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya.

Contextualizing Zaria Since I first indicated in 1983 that activities of members of the Zaria Art Society amounted to an act of mild rebellion, so much energy has been invested, and appropriately so, on this phenomenon. If you expect me to run with this thread, which I believe is well worn at this point; you will be right. It is simply irresistible. At the risk of sounding tautological, let me crave your indulgence to briefly revisit the disciplined defiance that the Onobrakpeya group demonstrated during their years in Zaria. It is important to re-examine the key issues that are associated with this epochal manifestation in order to obviate the tendency to reduce it to a fleeting sound bite. I know that some scholars- Adepegba, Oloidi, and Okeke-Agulu, for example-have written on this topic, as have the Nigerian media and many others. What we have not adequately done is to contextualize Zaria. Our shortcomings in this regard- our inability to locate Zaria firmly within the larger firmament of pre-independence Nigeria-will most likely eventuate in puerile academicism, which does nothing but exacerbate the situation at the same time that it trivializes the achievements of members of the Zaria Art Society. The headiness, or deliberativeness, or revolution; or rebellion in Zaria has, alas, been turned into a buzzword-"Zaria Rebels” which, though sexy, probably sacrifices the historic import of this development at the same time that it resuscitates the popular cliché about rebels without a cause. There are two key points that I would like to highlight here.

First, what is the profile of the Onobrakpeya group in Zaria? With the benefit of hindsight, we can now say without equivocation that many of the members of this group displayed a combination of astuteness and a precious grasp of socio-cultural issues that were in sync with the political environment of pre-independence Nigeria. But these were not your average kids either. By 1959, the average age for four of the key members of the Zaria Art Society-Onobrakpeya, Okeke, Grillo, and Nwdko-was 25.5 years. In today's parlance, they were non-traditional students: adults who were keenly aware of their place in one of the country's highest institutions of learning in pre-colonial Nigeria. These were not your regular undergraduates in that they went to Zaria as mature students who were by no means impervious to the pervasive air of nationalism in which the country was caught on the eve of independence. We must recognize that the gritty determinedness that characterized the behavior of the students and the modulated tempo of their action was caused by nothing more than sheer nationalism, which the presence of European instructors in Zaria and the impending independence helped to accentuate. Recognize that at this time, the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, andTechnology was one of three major institutions of higher learning in Nigeria. Compare that to what prevails today, with twenty federal universities and more than twice that number for state and private universities. Polytechnics number almost as many as all the universities combined. It is important, too, to note that there was no comprehensive policy on art education in colonial Nigeria. Indeed, the colonial establishment was more interested in training the "natives" to be proficient mainly in those areas that benefitted Her Imperial Majesty. More efforts were expended on destroying indigenous art than in establishing paths for teaching art. Add to this environment European operatives, many of whom imbibed the notion, which has since been proven misguided and downright Eurocentric, that they occupied a higher rung on the social evolution ladder, it becomes relatively easy why Onobrakpeya and his colleagues would strive to preserve their own identity. Parenthetically, our educational system in general has not kept up with our ideals and aspirations in terms of curricula quality and its capacity to provide admission for the burgeoning number of students. This year, for example, the information regarding admission into tertiary level is grim: there is provision for only 500,000 out of about 6.4 million candidates.

Compared to what we now experience in Nigeria, the fifties was a time to be proud to be a Nigerian. Much earlier, in the 1930s, national pride had galvanized the Nigerian Youth Movement-and here, let us go ahead and drop some names: Samuel Akinsanya, H. O. Davies, Ernest Ikoli - to protest what they perceived as the junior or inferior status that the colonial administration assigned to Yaba Higher College in 1936. It was this nationalistic ardor that motivated the founding of Zik's West African Pilot, which became a hibernating ground for the first cartoonist in Nigeria: Akinola Lasekan. The small but powerful educated class in Nigeria at that time seemed to delight in making life unbearable for arrogant colonial officers. Students claimed the power to participate actively in etching the outlines of an emergent Nigeria. This was the climate that produced the likes of Onobrakpeya.

Second, the Onobrakpeya group was in Zaria to study art at a time when there was only a handful of artists in the, country. A roll call would produce the familiar class: Chief Aina Onabolu; Akinola Lasekan; and Ben Enwonwu. Add Felix Idubor, Festus Idehen, Afi Ekong, and Lamidi Fakeye and you would have exhausted the list. This was also a time when there were Virtually no Nigerian critics. The dominant critical voices-an Ulli Beier here, a Michael Crowder there-spoke a language that was not totally devoid of individualism, which was wrapped in a triumphalist, almost messianic veil. Of course, they meant well. Indeed, we should erect lofty edifices that commemorate the contributions to Nigerian arts of the Beier Clan: Ulli, Susanne, and Georgina. For regardless of whatever philosophical disagreements that some may have with Ulli Beier, no one can accuse him of not being fervid in believing in the power of the arts; no one can claim that he or she out- maneuvered Ulli Beier in so far as patronage and - advocacy were concerned. At the onset, however, what transpired was a philosophical and doctrinal battle between two groups of Europeans in Nigeria-the instructors in Zaria on the one hand, and the ideologues and advisors on the streets of Ibadan and Osogbo on the other-over the soul of the new Nigerian artists and the direction that the new art should follow. Onobrakpeya belonged in a group that demonstrated fundamental
allergy to neo-imperialism regardless of its ancestry. They were not impressed, for example, with Enwonwu's coziness with colonial officialdom and felt that he was not a strong advocate for indigenizing the arts.

Onobrakpeya's Ascendancy

Nearly thirty years ago when I had my first serious professional encounter with Onobrakpeya, I convinced myself that he had attained the height of his professional development. My conviction was influenced by two key intertwined ideas, which spoke
eloquently to my generation and those that have followed: the incredibly nuanced and bejeweled elegance and newness of his work, and his unflinching dedication.

Here is a man with a massively disarming and brutally empathetic disposition. With a charming 'and magnetic aura, Onobrakpeya's life is his art, literally and metaphorically. Perhaps without realizing this, his prints-indeed, his body of-work-are nothing but a visual re-presentation of his aspirations and relationships. In 1982 when I began my first intimate study of this master, I was convinced that he had reached that creative plateau that would allow most artists to put their signature op any item and expect to be rewarded. He had established a brand: the Onobrakpeya brand, and had compelled the world to embrace, respect, and recognize it. He had given a clout, to Nigeria and branding long before Akunyili began her mesmerizing play on the idea.

I believed then that I was right: you didn't have to be a graduate student to be able to acknowledge an unusual combination of virtuosity and simplicity. After all, his prints had been widely sought after by monarchs and commoners, diplomatic emissaries and rustic folks. Was this not the man who showed that you could actually live on your art? This was the art teacher who had the audacity to leave his daytime job in St. Gregory's in order to devote himself full-time to studio art. And he had proved, to be quite successful at that, building a home-studio space in Ajao's wilderness at a time that Oloje, the street which Onobrakpeya enlivened, was only a suggested path. His Oloje residence gave him the latitude to commit to a ceaseless cycle of prodigious creative activity. His work had made the cover of African Arts, the premier journal in our field, and he had been the object of several local studies and major international exhibitions. For me at that time, Onobrakpeya was the epitome of the modern day spectacle: a contemporary artist who had shown how profitable it was to dispense with narcissism and intensify his focus on cultural reinvigoration instead. You would see him in his home or studio-there were hardly any boundaries-shirtless and shoeless, dashing from one floor to another with visitors, artists, and students milling around him. His commitment to art and the profession bespeaks an unfettered drive that became obsessive. As a young student in Zaria he majored in painting and, out of his love for teaching, obtained the Art Teachers' Certificate. This is a trait that has now crystallized into a hallmark of the Onobarkpeya mystique. Let us make the claim here then: one of Bruce Onobrakpeya's legacies is anchored on the principle of life-long learning in art and an unwavering commitment to a progressive, inclusive, and often non-traditional pedagogy. A brief expatiation
is in order here.

Going by the early review of his work in the sixties, Onobrakpeya was not a dazzling painter. He was not supposed to emerge as Nigeria's version of Paul Gauguin or, in fact, of any such artist of Western manufacture. At this time, he neither had the technical wherewithal nor the desire to be anybody but himself: B. P. O. Onobrakpeya. At any rate, whatever he lacked in epic landscapes or penetrating portraits he certainly compensated for with his penchant for eclecticism, which is one of the artist's most compelling attributes. His work, no less than his approach and education, is integrationist. Onobrakpeya has developed an astounding capacity to meld a catholicity of cultural practices and educational systems into a cohesive claim, one that is unmistakably Onobrakpeyaesque. Take a look at his titles, as an example. They are almost always drenched in fascinating Urhobo: Emudia Kugbe (Standing Together); Esirogbo; Agbogidi; Izobo; Omo Voni (Mother and Child); Onoriode (Who Knows Tomorrow); and, my favorite title, Ivwrite R'Egbo
(Ram's Scrotum).

Titles, as you may have surmised by now, are just that:, indicators. Literal interpretation is sometimes an invitation to anguish. What matters is that Bruce Onobrakpeya has narrated Urhobo into our consciousness, in his approach to art and in his propagation of the core ideals of the Urhobo. What matters with regard to titles is that they are largely
causative; they command our attention and guide our gaze to their presence. Titles of artworks are one of Onobrakpeya's several ploys to accentuate his surreptitious attempt to underscore the preeminence of, cultural pluralism. Hear him: "I only want to regard
myself as a child of my society-as one born into a very rich heritage of the Urhobos and the other Edo-speaking culture; the heritage of lbo, Yoruba and NOk:; of the linear art of the Muslim north, or Yoruba adire motifs…”

But, as often happens with most visionaries and artists, Onobrakpeya's work was occasionally misread and condemned. One example pertains to the murals for the fourteen Stations of the Cross at St. Paul's Church, Ebute Metta, which he executed at the instance of Reverend Father Kevin Carroll The experiment of commissioning Nigerian artists to interpret biblical subjects in styles that localize Christian contexts had gained strong traction in Oye-Ekiti decades earlier. But some vocal members of the Ebute Metta parish considered Onobrakpeya's interpretation of the bible as contemptuous in its characterization. The subjects looked so Yoruba to the one writer, Father M. O. Sanusi perhaps a Yoruba man himself, that he felt that it represented a distortion of history. After 'all, there were no Yoruba men or women in Jerusalem at the time of the Romans. He concluded: "Any school boy or girl who has read ancient history of the Romans or the Jews would neither be impressed nor moved to pray by looking at this so called 'African Art' which some Europeans are trying by hook or crook, to force into the liturgy of the Church in Africa." Yet another member of the parish went as far as warning that Onobrakpeya's rendition of sacred biblical subject in familiar veins amounted to idol worshipping .

The Leopard in Ibadan

Ibadan marked a significant milestone in the trajectory of Qnobrakpeya's professional development. It is one of the few milestones, which would be matched twenty-one years later by yet another epoch that took place again at Ibadan: his visitorship at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. This would initiate yet another phase of the artist's growth. I said a few minutes ago that I thought that by 1982, he had reached his zenith. I must confess that I have been proven wrong in my assessment. Of course, Onobrakpeya's prowess remains unassailable. In the quarter-century since his Ibadan visitorship, he has, by sheer volume, range, diversity, and quality of work, and by the institutionalization of initiatives that will undoubtedly immortalize his attainments, shown that he is endowed with a deep and seemingly fathomless well of mesmerizing inventiveness. If any proof is needed, all that we need to do is take a cursory look at his body of work over time.

And this is a task that the artist has made effectively easy for anybody. Among contemporary Nigerian artists, no one-and this is not an exaggeration-no one has devoted as much clinical attention arid as much personal resources to documenting his or her own work as Onobrakpeya has. Most practicing artists know the significance of documenting their works. But how many actually devote the necessary attention, resources, and energy, as Onobrakpeya does, to archiving their work? In his own case, it is not enough to provide the titles, dimensions and year of manufacture. Be documents the unique story behind each work. He narrates the essence of each work and delves into the meanings behind every piece. He provides the rationale for the multiplicity of a single image in assorted shapes and formats. He explains the motivation for his thematized exhibitions. He offers the secrets of his trade: the experiments that turned ugly but eventually produced spectacular outcomes. The integrationist in him brings people together - experts and accomplices-to ponder his work, I offer their opinion, and commit their thoughts to paper. There is hardly a small Onobrakpeya exhibition catalog. What passes as exhibition catalog for many contemporary Nigerian artists will hardly qualify as a chapter in any of Onobrakpeya's exhibition catalogs- monographs that have themselves become collectors' items. Consider, for a moment, the entailments of producing a 200-page monograph with hundreds of color reproductions: from photography to text, throughediting and on to final product. Onobrakpeya does not only regularly produce new body of work, he also provides posterity with all the tools that are necessary to ensure that future generations are aware of the thought processes that led to the creation of his works.

This is yet another dimension of the artist; it is a dimension that we have not paid sufficient attention to.As archivist and self-documenter, he leaves no doubt regarding the raison d'etre for his numerous pieces. I suspect that deep within his depository, he must have full details concerning every sale, who purchased what, and for how much. Good as the practice of self- documentation is, it probably is dangerous for art historians like me because it turns us into a self- indulgent and lazy class. What then are we supposed to do after he has done our research for us? He has figured out our stock-in-trade and proceeded to provide nearly all the details that we need. He. appears to have anticipated the questions that art historians might ask and has given all the testimonials, which are supported by pictorial evidence. Now, doesn't the beauty of research lie in digging out information about extant work, figuring out why they were done, inputting meanings to them even where none existed, hypothesizing and indulging in our pastime, which includes the intellectualization and the narrativization of works that artists are so lazy to document or so careless to provide any hints about? Somebody should ask Bruce Onobrakpeya to please leave something for art historians to do.

New Creative Paradigms

The outcome of his University of Ibadan residency is a new body of work, something akin to a creative eruption. It becomes a coda for the doodles and motifs that he had indulged in over several years: Ibiebe alphabets. It does appear that we are yet to appreciate the transformative power of Onobrakpeya's seminal achievements in this direction. Certainly, he has produced outstanding pieces into which aspects of the Ibiebe ideograms are incorporated. That is not the central issue. We should be concerned about the concept itself: the originality of the thought and the outstanding newness of the product. In a short introduction to the ideograms, Pat Oyelola draws our attention, quite appropriately, to some of the continent's ideographic and pictographic traditions: in Egypt; among the Akan in Ghana; and, here at home, the Igbo uli and the nsibidi of the Ekpe Society. What Onobrakpeya has done with his Ibiebe ideograms is fundamental, cerebral, and creative. The field of contemporary art is often plagued by the notion of newness: creating an amalgam of work that may use appropriation or hybridity in advancing a new pictoriality. We are accustomed to the production or exhibition of controversial works: artworks that assail our moral, cultural, racial, or puritanical sensibilities. Onobrakpeya's Ibiebe ideograms does not exist on those platforms. His quest for a new graphic characters to symbolize Urhobo ontology is profound in ways that we have yet to acknowledge. This may be because we are too close in time to the artist to appreciate the uniqueness of his innovation. This new creative explosiveness strikes at the core of the Urhobo society; it empowers them to keep their own language alive by speaking it and by developing it. Language, as you may agree, is central to the way that we organize our thoughts and communicate our ideas. Onobrakpeya's ibiebe alphabets and ideograms locate him on the same high stratum as Frantz Fanon and Ngugi WaThiong'o. Onobrakpeya's work straddles the intersection between art and language. It is, in that regard, comparable to the way that art has always elucidated thoughts and ideas. We see that in our traditional religious practices across the African continent, where specific iconography signifies certain .. spiritual essences.

To have a command of language is to be able to influence A people's thought process in a significant way. The missionaries did that successfully when they reduced our languages into writing. Language was one important weapon in the arsenal of European imperialists, and they used it quite effectively in their colonization project. It continues to generate multiplier effects in a variety of ways, including the way that we remain mentally subjected to the colonizing culture. In all probability, we may not be able to measure Ibiebe's catalytic power in our lifetime; it will take future generations to fully appreciate the import of Onobrakpeya's work. Art becomes a handmaiden of ideas and an effective handle in the way that we, and more directly, the Urhobo, expand our vocabulary.

From his exploration of the two-dimensional surface, Onobrakpeya moved to the next phase: installation and three-dimensionality. This, it seems, was his professorial admonition to those who had worked themselves into a frenzy on whether or not installation was new to Nigeria. Previously, his plastocasts reveled in invigorating surfaces. Their beauty is accentuated by the secondary activities that the surfaces are engaged in. What you often see are kinetic and agitated fields of high relief, which are mediated by distinctive color fields that emphasize ongoing dialog. Whereas many of the plastocasts remain framed by their grounds, the new installations are independent and yet connected. It is this dichotomy-of interdependence and interconnectedness that empower Onobrakpeya's installation. This is the core of his contemporariness: the ability to push the boundaries in response to the dictates of his creative muse. When artists become enamored of their own particular style, stultification is most likely the eventual outcome; they are more likely to become stylistically ossified.

Nomadic masquerade series testifies to the artist's capacity for boundless inventiveness. Old forms are reincarnated and rehabilitated with new objects to create a new family of design featuring industrial detritus and an agglomeration of seemingly incompatible objects. It is perhaps the integrationist touch of Onobrakpeya that could fuse spark plugs with beads and other found objects in a bricolage of disparate elements and still attain a compelling composition. The work of Onobrakpeya of the last two decades calls our attention to one fundamental question: what is art? It is a question that admits of no easy answer. For Onobrakpeya, art is contemporaneity; it is currency; it is claiming and proclaiming; it is appropriating and re- categorizing. With his use of discarded computer parts, the incorporation of chronometric bits, the recycling of previous ideas from low relief and metal foil to three- dimensional accruals, new forms emerge from the embers of the past. It does not matter that a computer motherboard has been transformed into an aerial equivalent of Onobrakpeya's bejeweled compositions. It is art simply because Onobrakpeya has said so. That is the power of his creative legislation. But more important for us is the implication of the liberties that he has taken, and why he has been as successful as he is. After all; there is probably only one Onobrakpeya to perhaps everyone hundred professional artists in Nigeria. What is his legacy? Why is he as successful as he is, and what can we learn from his approach?

The first crucial element is Onobrakpeya's mindset is education. And I use education in its broadest sense here. As the first of twelve children-six from each of his father's two wives-Onobrakpeya grew up within a setting that socialized him into the Urhobo culture and gave him his early education, which was an immersion in Urhobo culture. He grew up in colonial Nigeria and honed his integrationist skills. In Zaria, it was easy to subscribe to synthesis as a doctrine. While his education in Zaria gave him an exposure to European perspectives, he eclectic impulse would take him to informal settings where he enriched his educational outlook. Now, the sage is back straight to the beginning: Agbara-Otor. There, he laid the foundation that will concretize his legacy: he founded the Niger Delta Art and Culture Center and began what has now become annualized: the Harmattan Workshop, which has just successfully concluded its twelve edition a week or so ago. The Agbara-Otor Workshop is a summative experiment that integrates the artist's several years experience as a student, participant, and conductor at various international sessions, including those at Ibadan; Osogbo; He-Ife; Deer Isle in Maine; Elizabeth City in North Carolina; and Harare in Zimbabwe.

Agbara-Otor should not be seen as a mere workshop. It is an edifice that testifies to Onobrakpeya's philosophy of inclusiveness and integration; of synthesis and indigenity; and a pragmatic tensility that recognizes that a single pedagogic dictum does a lot to circumscribe learning in the arts. Agbara-Otor reifies Onobrakpeya's doctrine of life-long learning and generous sharing . Agbara-Otor is a testimony to the power of imagination and the clarity of vision. Onobrakpeya could have chosen to invest his resources in pursuits that benefit him and members of his immediate family. He could exercise the option, following the lead of the political class, of building mansions in Lagos, Abuja, or anywhere else with complementary bullet proof hummer and a f1eet of luxury cars. Rather than indulge in vainglorious exhibitionism, Onobrakpeya directs, through his action, our attention to issues in the education of artists in Nigeria with particular reference to the ongoing rush by studio artists to obtain doctorate 'degrees in order to be
fully compliant with NUC directives for those who desire to advance in the academe.

It is important to make it abundantly clear that no one is opposed to, or afraid of, doctorates in art. The question that remains unanswered is: in what particular area of art is the NUC mandating the acquisition of doctorate degrees? If, as it seems, the directive gives a broad cover, which will then require that those who are in studio art must obtain Ph.D. degrees, perhaps this is the point at which we should throw up our arms and call for help. I see the relevance of advanced degrees in areas of critical theory, for example. Doctorates in art education, art criticism, and art history are normative, Just as are those that focus on other theoretical, methodological, curatorial, or interdisciplinary approaches. It remains to be seen, for example, how a Ph.D. in studio practice will trump the M.F.A, which is the internationally recognized terminal degree. How does the acquisition of a doctorate degree produce a more profound printmaker than Onobrakpeya? Or a more elegant painter than Grillo? How does a Ph.D. in architecture surpass the living structures designed and built by Demas Nwoko? Uche Okeke's drawings and paintings did not attain their profundity because he became professor and dean at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. When we add to that list other major artists including Lamidi Fakeye, Erhabor Emokpae, Kolade Oshinowo, David Dale, Obiora Udechukwu, and Bisi Fakeye, we come to the conclusion that the skills needed to teach excellence in studio practice in our tertiary institutions are met in the terminal M.F.A. degree.

What we should be concerned with is the appropriateness of discipline-based terminality, and not the salutation that comes with the Ph.D. prefix. Art is nothing but the ability to master the skills that are necessary to re-channel our intuitive capacity. Art is at once a process and a product, which has the capacity to provoke sometimes deep or visceral reaction in the viewer. You learn it by doing it: by engaging with the process and the media. Your formal education endows you with 'the capacity to indulge in self-evaluation, which further provokes the meditative process. The education that we give our students in the visual arts- and, indeed, in all other spheres of learning-should be centered on a dialogic process that is facilitated by assessment. Unless our formal art institutions have a system that allows our art teachers to assess what we teach and why we teach it, our doctoral programs will be ineffectual. For our terminal (M.F .A.) degrees to serve local and national needs, it must be grounded firmly in progressive curricula, which allow students to take ownership of their own education. This, we must recognize, is the legacy of Bruce Onobrakpeya; it is a legacy that he acquired as a member of the Zaria Art Society, which practiced critical thinking even at a time that such a phrase was unknown or unused. It does appear that the insistence by the NUC that the acquisition of Ph.D rather than the terminal M.F.A degree is mandated for advancement in our universities was an answer searching for a question. In the rush to meet these requirements, the probability exists that the quality of instruction will suffer. This directive has the possibility of anaesthetizing the academe: through the production of half-baked "doctors" who cannot cure colors, curate exhibitions, or articulate thoughts that cohere with clarity.

The Leopard at Large

Onobrakpeya is the sum-total of his work. His dominance in the contemporary arena-his ability to explore and inhabit a dualistic space-owes a lot his authorial tensility. He refers to this as synthesis but I call it creative tensility. For synthesis is a function of intellectual tensility; without one, the effectiveness of the other is compromised. He was the curious wanderer, the quiet but discerning inquirer who participated in Ru Van Rossem's printmaking workshop in Ibadan in 1963 and latched upon a medium that suited his spirit. He has never been the same since Ibadan. And the man who was not expected to be a Gauguin turned out not to be one after all; he became an Onobrakpeya!

Onobrakpeya is a wanderer; the ubiquitous but lonely soul that ferrets cultural landscapes, verdant or arid, and brings to our attention the preciousness of nondescript items or the hidden treasures of things inestimable. Onobrakpeya is the Sahelian masquerade and guardian of our deserts of culture: deserts that are constantly threatened, plundered, and desecrated by elected or appointed political or bureaucratic philistines. He is the nomad; the irredeemable voyager; and the perennial visual and spiritual pilgrim whose main goal is to collect, extrapolate, and meld ideas and thoughts into an aesthetic presence that is both transient and graspable. His foresight which we refer to as ingenuity is an ability to powerfully inhabit that space between today and tomorrow: that interstice between discernment and circumspection, intellect and, virtuosity; liminality and luminousness. He elucidates art as in idea that transcends visuality; as something that fuses tradition with modernity. Onobrakpeya is the leopard in the cornfield who ruptures constructed boundaries and empowers us to visualize a world in which our inhibitions are causative to our freedom to create our own worlds.

Ibiebe Idieograms and Writings

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DETAILS
ISBN: 978-2509-49-3
Binding: Hard Cover
First published: 2006
Price:$10.00
Publisher: Ovuomaroro Studio Press
Subject: African Studies
STATUS: Available
Contact: Bofound.ng@gmail.com

Ibiebe is a concise package of most of the signs and symbols found in Onobrakpeya's paintings, prints and drawings. The ideograms, numbered over 100, are put together in a handy catalogue in the 48-page publication, encapsulating explanations of the veteran artist’s cryptic signs and coded abstract patterns are offered.
The collection comes with two introductory essays on the artist and his works. In the first review, Dr. Richard Singletary, author of an Onobrakpeya biography, noted that 1983 through 1984, the artist took some time out of his very active full-time art career to "think, and draw", inspirations from his earlier works.
"One thing that came out of that period was a series of doodles. From nowhere he got designs of drawings from which some of them are like animal forms, some in abstract forms. He didn't do much about them. But it was later that he realised that they were some kind of forms that meanings could be attached. He started to redraw them and ascribe meaning, which reflect concepts in Urhobo philosophy.
Thus evolved a complete set of forms which he now calls Ibebe or Ideograms which helps to bring a kind of symbols or thought in Urhobo treated in a decorated way," Singletary observed this in his piece entitled Ibebe Alphabets and Ideograms.
The other essay, Signs of the Times by Dr. Pat Oyelola, sees Onobrakpeya's signs as akin of the some other remarkable forms of cryptic art expressions from the African continent, such as Uli, nsibidi, adinkra among others.
According to Pat Oyelola, in her essay, she states that Onobrakpeya started the experimentation he developed in Ibiebe when he was artist-in-residence at the University of Ibadan. Through the researcher, it was learnt that the globally popular painter and print maker has used his Ibebe to evolve "ideograms for the desiderata of the Urhobo culture, Ufuoma (peace), Idolo, (wealth), Otovwe (longevity) and Omakpokpo (health)." She observed that every "viewer will bring their own imagination to bear on the interpretation of these symbols."
The catalogue is described thus "This is perhaps a tribute and indeed a triumph of the capacity of artforms to weld, bridge and enhance the understanding of different ethnic groups or cultures. It also shows demonstrable evidence that art works can offer strategic access and bridges of friendship into various cultures, thereby fostering understanding of people and their values. Players and entities who profess community knowledge and social responsibility, will do well to understand the instructive nature, subtle dynamics and the translation a book like this provides...
This catalogue is not a definitive work on the universe of expressions by the Urhobo. However, like other very recently published books, such as The Urhobo Language Primer, it is hoped that it will serve as a catalyst to challenge other artists and writers drawing from the same pool of inspiration of values of the Urhobo, to produce further ideas that express in a fresh manner the lore's and customs of their people.

Art School Development: Historical Overview and analysis of Style

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The Art School in the Development of Contemporary Nigerian Art Practice: An Historical Overview & Analysis of Style

By Ekpo Udo Udoma

The story of contemporary visual arts practice in Nigeria goes right back to the turn of the 20th century, when Aina Onabolu (1882-1963) pioneered art practice as we know it today. This development though gradual, led the British colonial government to introduce a curriculum for Art in Nigerian schools, with the assistance of Kenneth Murray, a British colonial officer. (Onabolu, 1963: 295; Wangboje, 1977: 10; Fosu, 1986: 7; Babalola, 1987: 79; Udoma, 1989: 2)

The Aina Onabolu School

Aina Onabolu started his art practice by copying pictures from magazines and books, and perhaps buoyed by the need to disprove the notion that Africans were incapable of depictions in anatomic realism, he pursued an aggressive artistic practice that enabled him to start selling pictures for money. In 1902 Onabolu painted the portrait of Mrs. Spencer Savage, his first known commissioned job. His proficiency in art was severally acknowledged and it later earned him a scholarship, from some of his patrons, to study art in Europe in 1920.

On his return, Onabolu devoted most of his time to encouraging talented people to practice art. He did this by first of all encouraging the government to introduce art as a subject of study in secondary schools. To further emphasize his commitment he offered to teach in most of these schools himself.

Inspired by Aina Onabolu’s tenacity, others took up art as a vocation. Some of those who followed his footsteps include Akinola Lasekan (1916- 1972) who became famous as a cartoonist for the West African Pilot a newspaper published by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, first president of Nigeria. He also later taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and was the first indigenous Head of Department (Nnadozie, 2008: 49). Others were Eke Okeybolu (1916- 1958) and J.D. Akeredolu who followed in Onabolu’s tradition of representational art characterized by naturalistic images and technical competence in terms of conscious realism reemphasized by the laws of perspective and anatomical accuracy. This was informed by the need to debunk the commonly held view, at the time that Africans had never painted or sculpted in statue before (Onabolu, 1963:295; Okeke, 1979; 13; Aig- Imoukhuede, 1984: 6; Fosu, 1986: 7; Udoma, 1989: 2; Ikpakronyi, 2003: 31).

The Kenneth Murray Intervention

By the 1940’s Kenneth Murray, who was hired by the colonial government on the prodding of Aina Onabolu, introduced an art curriculum for Nigerian schools. Ola Oloidi (2008) notes that before the institution of the Ibadan College, which later moved to Zaria in 1955, to be known as the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, no stylistic ideology was strong enough in Nigeria to challenge or compete with the art of Onabolu.

Technically, between 1900 and 1960, it was the stylistic school of Onabolu that dominated the Nigerian art scene despite some ideological divergence. This was to become a sore point between Onabolu and Murray. Kenneth Murray saw himself as a saviour of sorts. His attitude was that of a man drafted to save the Nigerian / African culture from extinction. Oloidi once again explains “Onabolu became uncomfortable and through personal contacts and letters advised Murray about the ‘negative’ ideological blitz. Murray frowned at the way the traditional Nigerian art and other values were being devalued or oppressed by colonial political and cultural intolerance. He encouraged his students, particularly the pioneer ones (sic), to make their art depict or reflect the aesthetic of indigenous forms especially in sculpture. Murray urged his students to be themselves. ‘Be yourself and not others (European) in your pictures’. Murray’s pioneer students, Ben Enwonwu, P.L.K. Nnachi, Uthman Ibrahim, C.C. Ibeto and A.P. Umana were always shocked at their teacher’s anti-western art-naturalism ideology. Without doubt, nearly all of them were uncomfortable with Murray’s teaching and were in fact stupefied by his anti-European sermons”. To Onabolu’s consternation the ideological dialogue went on unabated.

While some students of Murray became reasonably adaptive to their teacher’s prescriptions, some like C.C Ibeto and Ben Enwonwu were not seriously affected by his hyper-critical position as Enwonwu himself later confessed ‘we were really surprised that Murray told us to do this or that in our art lessons, which was not why we chose to study art…we wanted to make art like Onabolu…and of course; I personally began to follow his direction outside our class’” Oloidi (2008:9).

Ben Enwonwu & African Consciousness

The emergence of Ben Enwonwu (1921- 1994), who later became the art adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria in the 1960’s, on the art scene coincided with the fervor for African nationalism in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Artists at the time were painting and sculpting more political and philosophical themes, as well as propagating the idea of African personality, the concept was known as negritude and it was pioneered by Leopold Senghor of Senegal to promote black consciousness especially in literature and poetry (Udoma 1989: 3; Agiobu-Kemmer, 1978: 11; Irele, 1977: 1; Jahn, 1961: 206).

The naturalistic trend of the early pioneers was infiltrated by stylistic rendering, which reflected a consciousness of the aesthetic value of Nigerian traditional forms. This can be seen in Enwonwu’s paintings like Negritude, Olokun and Dance Forms which are all works in the collection of Nigeria’s National Gallery of Art. Other works by Enwonwu include Anyanwu a bronze sculpture at the main foyer of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S.A., a replica adorns the façade of Nigeria’s National Museum building in Lagos; Sango statue in front of the Lagos office of National electricity utility company known as Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the statue of a drummer at the Nigerian Telecommunications company (NITEL) building also in Lagos. Other artists in this group included Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu and Udo-Ema who were given scholarships to study art abroad and excelled as art educators. While Ugbodaga-Ngu was one of the early staff at Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Benin, Udo-Ema helped to start the art department at the College of Education, Uyo (now the department of Fine and Industrial Art University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State).

Zaria Arts Society

By the time Nigeria attained independence in October 1960, a new crop of artists had emerged most of them from the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology now Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Kaduna State. This group included artists like Yusuf Grillo (b. 1932), Bruce Onobrakpeya (b. 1932), Uche Okeke (b. 1933) and Demas Nwoko (b. 1935)( Beier, 1968; Okeke, 1982; Fosu, 1986; Babalola, 1987).

This represented a period of sober reflections when Nigerian artists began to question themselves on the role they ought to be playing in modern Nigeria. Their attitude towards
Art was such that the conflict between traditional forms and western techniques was of little significance to them (Beier, 1961:31). According to Bruce Onobrakpeya, they were”….rising against the secondary role or position assigned to contemporary artists, who were placed below the traditional artists in Africa….” This group formed the nucleus of what came to be known as the Zaria Arts Society and the forerunner of the Society of Nigerian Artists. They introduced new ideas hinging on the concept of Natural Synthesis which was essentially a fusion of African motifs, concepts and techniques with western ideas. Explaining further the aims of the society of which he was an active member, Onobrakpeya emphasized that …” apart from the things we learnt in the class we retired to our cubicles to discuss what African art is…” ( Onobrakpeya, 1985: 22)

The members of the Zaria Arts Society produced works that were characterized to a large extent by individualism in various styles and techniques, which in most cases constituted a complete break with the Nigerian contemporary art of the early period, thereby creating a new trend in the development of Art in Nigeria. At the Yaba Higher College (now Yaba College of Technology) a kindred spirit had imbibed the new ideas. One of its major protagonists was Erhabor Emokpae (d. 1980).

The Art School In Contemporary Nigerian Art

As higher institutions were being set up in the country, some were introducing the Fine Arts into their curriculum. Through these schools the ideas and ideals of the Zaria Arts Society began to blossom. In most schools the new ideas and theories created a groundswell of a variety of art expressions that are now prevalent. This has led to a phenomenal growth in the number of formal art schools.

Formal art schools

The Zaria School refers to the Department of Fine Arts and Industrial Design of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria founded in 1953 as part of the Ibadan branch of the old Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, which moved to Zaria in 1955. In 1957/58 the school was affiliated to the Slade School of Art, and later the Goldsmith School of Art, both of the University of London.

The School has produced the cream of Nigerian Artists. The list is endless never the less mention shall be made of a few: Solomon Wangboje, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke, E. O Odita, Demas Nwoko, Roland Abiodun, Dele Jegede, Gani Odutokun, Shina Yusuff, David Dale, E.O. Nwagbara, and S.A. Adetoro. Among the younger graduates who are making significant contributions include Jerry Buhari, Muazu Sani, Tonie Okpe,Oladapo Afolayan, Nse-Abasi Inyang, Uwa Usen, Joe Musa, Abraham Uyuvbosere, Duke Asidere, and Emmanuel Inua.

The Yaba School refers to the Department of Arts and Design of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. This school was established in 1952/53 as a technical institute. The school produced many well known artists; many of them however went on to further their education in Europe. Among them included Agbo Folarin, Isiaka Osunde, Erhabor Emokpae, Osagie Osifo and Festus Idehen. The second phase of the Yaba School started with the upgrading of the college to a Higher National Diploma awarding institution. This coincided with the addition of Yusuf Grillo and Kolade Oshinowo both graduates of Ahmadu Bello University to the staff. The influence of these two artists can be seen in a number of the later graduates namely Abiodun Olaku, Tolu Filani, Segun Adejumo, Kunle Adeyemi, Lara Ige, Felix Osiemi and Edosa Oguigo to mention just a few.

The Nsukka School was established in 1961/62. The School which is made up of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka became famous for the evolution of the Igbo traditional art form of body and wall painting known as Uli into modern usage. This art form was introduced by Uche Okeke who joined the department in 1970 after the civil war. Its introduction is evidently linked to the concept of Natural Synthesis, which had been propagated by the members of the Zaria Art Society. One can however say that this art form can be extended beyond the Igbo traditions to embrace other African cultures as in most African traditions body and mural decoration is common.

Other lecturers in the school that have experimented with uli include Chike Aniakor, Chuka Amaefuna (d. circa 1990), Obiora Udechukwu and El-Anatsui. Others include Tayo Adenaike, Olu Oguibe, Ndidi Dike, Krydz Ikweumesi, Chuka Nnabuife, and Uche Edochie.

The Ife School comprises those that graduated from the department at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife which was established in 1968. Spurred on by a desire to look inwards to examine form and content of their works, some of the graduates felt they should explore further a particular trend noticed as common to Nigerian artists. They therefore examined the decorative nature of decorative motifs, ornaments, patterns and designs peculiar to the rich artistic culture of Western Nigeria. The Ona group was then formed. Exponents in the group include Moyo Okedeji, Tayo Ojowu, Don Akatakpo, Victor Ekpuk, Biodun Akande, Kunle Filani, Mufu Onifade and Stephen Folaranmi amongst others.

The Auchi School is made up of Art graduates from the Auchi Polytechnic Auchi, which started in 1974. Their style is characterized by lavish use of colours to express mood. A concept pioneered by Ademola Adejumo, a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University. Prominent among the exponents include Edwin Debebs, Sam Ovraiti, Tony Okujeni, Pita Ohiwere, Alex Nwokolo, Olu Ajayi, Ben Osaghae and Zinno Orara amongst others.

The Benin School, this is made up of Art graduates of the department at the University of Benin, established in 1975 under the mentorship of Solomon Wangboje. Among these groups include Fred Akpomuje, El-Dragg, Miracle Maseli, Egbibo, Jude Ovie- Wilkie, and Anthony Okonofua among a host of others.

There are arts schools that were set up after 1985. These New Schools as one may call them include in no particular order, the University of Uyo, University of Port-Harcourt, University of Maiduguri, I.M.T. Enugu, Delta State University, University of Lagos and several other polytechnics and colleges of education all over the country.

Informal Schools

There are also informal schools. These schools had an entirely different kind of instruction that were privately supported. Among them include the Mbari Mbayo Workshop at Osogbo in present day Osun state. This was established as a response to a new development in post- independent Nigeria, which began with the formation of the Mbari artists and writers club of Ibadan and Enugu.( Odita, 1970: 39-40; Okeke, 1970: 17) This club was founded by a group of young writers working in and around Ibadan in 1961. Artists, theatre and radio producers were involved. Among them included Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clarke, Christopher Okigbo as well as painters like Uche Okeke and Demas Nwoko and Ulli Beier, a German art critic and writer (Nigeria magazine, 1963:223; Mount, 1973: 65; Okeke, 1979: 12). The club gave musical and dance recitals, as well as, plays by leading Nigerian writers. Art exhibitions were also held. It was the success of this club that encourage Duro Ladipo, a playwright and composer to form the Mbari Mbayo workshop in Osogbo in 1962, with the support of Ulli and Georgina Beier as well as Sussane Wenger, an Austrian artist who later made Osogbo her home.

The Mbari Mbayo workshop brought into focus the benefits that can be derived from informal art training, as the workshop had attracted a number of student’s mostly residents of Osogbo and environs. The roll call included Twin Seven Seven, Muriana Oyelami, Adebisi Fabunmi, Nike Okundaye and Jimoh Buraimoh amongst so many others. The works produced were derived from traditional Yoruba mythology, deities, as well as, individual fantasies (Mount, 1973: 151). They made use of bright colours, stylized and disjointed figures, as well as unconventional materials. Today the extensions of the Oshogbo art can be seen in the establishment of the Nike Arts Centre

At the same time the Osogbo workshop was nurturing what could be referred to as the Osogbo School another art school was developing what would be regarded as the Maroko School. (Odimayo, 2000: 22). According to Olaseinde Odimayo, an art dealer of many years standing, the Maroko School was never deliberately established as a school with any articulated manifesto. “…there is no documentation, books, exhibition catalogues or press reviews on it…” the school is believed to have been started in 1963 by Micheal Obodiwe and Agboma who operated in the shanty town of Maroko on Victoria Island. Now demolished, the school developed through an apprenticeship system. Some of the apprentices included Prince Okuku, Akpukpu Yekini, Emmanuel Ekefrey, Amonis and Silas Adeoye among others.

Following in the apprenticeship system was the Abayomi Barber School, started in 1971 by Abayomi Barber who was born in Ile Ife, and attended several primary schools before enrolling in St. Stephen’s School Modakeke, where he received prizes for Drama, Poetry, singing and Music. In 1952 he moved to Lagos and enrolled at the Yaba College of Technology after a brief interaction with Ben Enwonwu who was then Federal Art Adviser. Although his stay in Yaba was very brief some of his class mates then included Yusuf Grillo, Erhabor Emokpae and Isiaka Osunde.

From 1957 to 1958 he joined the Yoruba Historical Research Scheme at Ibadan under the Chairmanship of Dr. S. O. Biobaku and catalogued, drew and labeled all the art works in the collection of the Yoruba Research Scheme and went on field research with William Fagg, Frank Willet, Dr. Bradbury and Reverend Father Carroll. In September 1960, Barber was sent to England. He worked for some time in the British Museum, while he enrolled in the evening class at the Central School of Art Crafts, Holborn. While he was in the United Kingdom, he worked with the Scenic Art Studio at Notinghill gate and Fredrick Mancini in Wimbledon and Oscar Neman, a great authority on Churchill sculptures, for four years before coming to join the University of Lagos in 1971.

Barber is an artist who believes that it is only when ones technique is fully developed, that ones imagination, originality and individuality can come into play and be of any use. The objective of the school was to produce hard core professional works of art. He had since then succeeded in training a generation of young Nigerians, whose activities have culminated in the emergence of what has been known as the Abayomi Barber School, a school that bases its inspiration on the classical Ife bronzes. Some of the disciples of this school, which started as part of the centre for cultural studies, University of Lagos include Olu Spencer, Rufus Olanrewaju, Micheal Egbuna, Akin Savage, Ekpeyong Ayi and Archibald Etikerentse to name a few.

Towards the end of the 20th century we have witnessed greater activity in the informal sector with the establishment of the Harmattan Workshop Series by Bruce Onobrakpeya who was an active participant in the Osogbo Workshops and one of the few academically trained artists who participated. The Harmattan Workshop is an annual artists’ retreat started in 1998 with just eight artists. Today with over 10 editions it has become a pilgrimage of sorts, with an average attendance of 50 artists each year. The workshop, which is being organized by the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, has been sustained by the support of the Ford Foundation, the National Gallery of Art, Abuja and other corporate organizations from time to time. Some of the artists that have participated include Mike Omoighe, John Agberia, Peju Layiwola, Nse Abasi Inyang, Olu Amoda, Salubi Onakufe, Uwa Usen, Duke Asidere, Sam Ovraiti, Emmanuel Ekpeni, Tony Emodi, Anthonia Okogwu, Lara Ige-Jacks, Oladapo Afolayan, Bunmi Ola –Afolayan among several others. Over 300 artists have participated in the workshop since its inception.

In conclusion therefore one can say that the development of contemporary expression in the visual arts in Nigeria has blossomed in the last 100 years from the seeds planted by a few dedicated people. The groundswell of activity indicates a growth of art practice in both the formal and informal sectors thereby providing a platform for projecting Nigerian art globally as we enter the second decade of the second millennium.

Ekiti Kete: Exhibition by Olusegun Fayemi

2010-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Olusegun Fayemi’s art represents a triumph of artistry over the camera. This in my mind is predicated on the fact that, despite many of his art which start off, by first being captured through the lenses of his camera, they do not necessarily have to pass through the traditional darkroom process, many of us are familiar with. They undergo, specially developed techniques by Fayemi, which encompass various levels of experimentation with computer, mechanical and manual use of colours to enhance the finished paintings and artworks. Last year for instance, his experiments led him to create multi media texturing of his artwork surfaces, using direct application of textile to his art. The results have been vivid, exciting haunting and luxuriant images that oftentimes engage and arrest us, because we are drawn to the splendour, motion and emotion these works display.

Not surprisingly, Fayemi’s is not only admired in USA , Hong Kong and Italy where his works have been exhibited, but also in the Lagos arena,here in Nigeria, where they have caught the attention of very discerning and savvy collectors of art. It is on record for instance that one of his artworks a pigmented photograph titled Pure Water, was the very first work to be sold during the 2008 Art Expo, held at the National Museum, Lagos, where over 25 galleries from all over the country, were in attendance, showing the best of their art. His works have naturally gravitated to prestigious Nigerian collections, like those of Sammy Olagbaju and Rasheed Gbadamosi.

His works are destined for more visibility and surely deserve more of our attention. His stature as an emerging art personality has been accentuated first by his publication of 3 acclaimed photographic books which address issues connected to the negative perception of Africa, and secondly, recently through several of his exhibitions not only in Lagos, the cultural epicenter of Art in West Africa, but in distant places like the Niger Delta Cultural Centre in Agbarha-Otor near Warri, where his works were recently shown a month ago. All these attest to his growing fame like the legendary fire of the Harmattan.

This exhibition Ekiti Kete celebrates the bright, the beautiful, nostalgic and timeless cultural essence of our people, and therefore speaks to the heart of our God giving yearning for community. I recommend we all embrace this important Ekiti International artist by each one of us taking home with us one of his artwork. Each one of these art works is a jewel and a compelling testament to Ekiti Kete, Nostalgic Land of knowledge and Beauty.

Mudiare Onobrakpeya is Secretary General of Art Galleries Association of Nigeria, an Officer of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation and Curator of the Harmattan Gallery Lagos, in Nigeria.

MASKS OF FLAMING ARROWS

2010-04-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

Masks of Flaming Arrows

Landmark and important book coming out in September 2010 on the Art of Bruce Onobrakpeya

with important articles and essays by leading art scholars and writers commenting on Nigerian Art
including
Dele Jegede
David Okpako
Toyin Akinosho
Gani Odutokun
Chika Okeke - Agulu
Pat Oyelola
and many more

You can order your copies today

IMPORTANT COLLECTORS OF CONTEMPORARY NIGERIAN ART IN NIGERIA

2010-04-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

LISTING NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER

JEROME ELAIHO
SAMMY OLAGBAJU
NEIL COVETRY
JOHN EDOKPOLO
YEMISI SHYLLON
THE NIGER DELTA CULTURAL CENTRE
MR. AND MRS OBIAGO
RASHEED GBADAMOSI
THE GURANTEE TRUST BANK COLLECTION
NAL MERCHANT BANK COLLECTION

The Legacy: Exhibition of Works by Bruce Onobrakpeya

2010-03-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

Grillo Pavillion Ikorodu

Cordially invite you to
the 2nd Visual Art Fiesta

Titled: BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA THE LEGACY

Bruce Onobrakpeya is widely considered to be the "PRIDE OF ALL NIGERIANS". In 2006, he became a Recipient of "The Living Human Treasure Prize" jointly Awarded by UNESCO and the Nigerian Government. In 2009 he also celebrated 50 years of non- stop Studio Practice in Nigeria

Date: Saturday 3rd April, 2010

Venue: Grillo Pavillion 1, Sule Oyesola Gbadamosi Crescent
off Obafemi Awolowo Way, Oke Ota Ona ( Near Grammer School) Ikorodu, Lagos.

Time: From 11a.m. prompt

Chairman : Professor Yusuf Grillo
Founding Member and First President of the Society of Nigerian Artists

PROGRAMME

11a.m. : Lecture by Prof. Dele Jegede
Department of Art, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.

1p.m. Viewing of Essentials of Bruce Onobrakpeya + his disciples
inside the Pavillion
(Curators - Ejiro Onobrakpeya, Hakeem Balogun, Olu Ajayi and Toyin Tubi)

2p.m. Lunch and Garden Party

3p.m. Interactive Session
( Jahman Anikulakpo, Toyin Akinosho)

RSVP

Ekpo Udo Udoma
080 2336 5579

Ekiti Kete: Exhibition by Olusegun Fayemi

2010-03-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

The Government and Good People of Ekiti State

Will be delighted at your esteemed presence
as you honour us at an Outstanding Art Exhibition and Celebration of our Cultural Essence

The Exhibition is a Solo Exhibition of Multi-Media Paintings and Photographs on Canvas

Titled: Ekiti Kete

By Prof. Alfred Olusegun Fayemi Renowned International Ekiti Artist based in New York

The Exhibition shall be declared opened under the Distinguished Leadership of the Executive Governor of Ekiti State.
His Excellency Engineer Segun Oni

Opening at 10 a.m.
on 28th April 2010

@ The Governor’s Office Reception and Foyer, Oke Baraki, Ado Ekiti,Ekiti State

Guest Of Honour: Barrister Gbenga Oyebode MFR
Chairman Access Bank PLC

Father of the Day: Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, OFR

Exhibition runs till 2nd of May, 2010
9:00 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily

On Saturday and Sundays 2:00p.m. – 4.00p.m.

RSVP only

Bolanle Bruce Mudiare Onobrakpeya
080 33041856 0705-634-6458

Africa Now New York Auction of Contemporary art

2010-03-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams’ March 10th ‘Africa Now’ sale was met with great enthusiasm by both American and International buyers. Taking place at the auctioneers’ Madison Avenue galleries this was the first sale of modern & contemporary African art ever to be held in New York. Consisting of 140 lots the auction featured work by both new and established artists from fourteen African Nations.

As part of the celebrations surrounding the sale the ‘Keep a Child Alive’ charity and Afren partnered with Bonhams to host a reception which took place the evening before the sale.

Giles Peppiatt, Director of African Art says, “We welcomed the opportunity to bring this innovative sale category to New York, and the inaugural sale of Modern and Contemporary art in the United States proved a real success, with top prices paid for exceptional works from some of the leaders in this emerging field. We also thoroughly enjoyed the evening reception held the night before the auction at Bonhams, where leading members of New York’s African community joined us to celebrate this important landmark for the American art market.”

Work by the acclaimed Ben Enwonwu (Nigerian, 1917-1994) lead the way claiming five out of the ten top ten lots, including the first three. The artist’s ‘Dancing Boys’ claimed top lot, achieving $91,500 against a pre-sale of $80,000-120,000 and equaling the current world record.

A new world auction record was set for Bruce Onobrakpeya (Nigerian, born 1932) for a mixed media piece titled ‘Environmental Regeneration’ which fetched $42,700 against a pre-sale of $35,000-45,000.

Other works drawing noteworthy prices were ‘Sabada’ by Yusuf Grillo (Nigerian, born 1934) which brought $57,950 and El Anatsui’s (Ghanaian, born 1944) Ondambo ‘Sculpture I’ which drew $27,450.

The next sale of ‘Modern & Contemporary African Art’ will be held in London in Spring 2011. The illustrated auction catalog for the March 10th sale will be online at www.bonhams.com/us in the weeks following the auction.

Book Review:Nigerian Artistry

2010-03-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Title: Nigerian Artistry
Author: Pat Oyelola
Publisher: Mosuro Publishers, 2010
Page Number: 328
Figures: 431
Reviewer: Sola Olorunyomi
NIGERIAN Artistry is the title that Pat Oyelola gives her new book, but it smacks of an unacceptable humility, for this artistry is itself a signifier of a hidden homophonic referent – a chip of Nigeria?fs art history.

Surely, not designed as a formal pronouncement on art history, the examined art works seem to defy self-effacing authorial intentions: They narrate in settings and mimesis, manners that gesture an art time-line that recedes into antiquity. Even in their supposed inert states as textile, bead works, pottery or metalwork, they evoke creative agencies and, albeit obliquely, date the historiography of artistic production in this land, prior to the Berlin Conference. No doubt, there is sufficient gestation and reflection in this new title, and one gets the feeling that in the process of its coming-into-being it was tested out with students, professional colleagues and the coterie of the art circles in Nigeria.

How else does one explain this journeying back in time that straddles the, circa, 900 BC Nok terracotta head showing elaborate coiffure, 900 AD Igbo-Ukwu beaded bronze ornament, 1000 BC drawing of decorated pottery from Iwo Eleru and an 11th to 14th century AD Anthropomorphic Vessel from the Cross River co-mingling with Adire Eleko, dolls from Argungu and Yinka Davies’ avant garde hair-beads? We are invariably turned witnesses to the acknowledgement of sameness and difference, perhaps only matched by Nigeria’s eco-diversity. Here is the source of the offering’s unusualness; it celebrates juxtaposition: The ancient and the modern, the realist and the surrealist, the sacred and the profane – all flung out in 328 pages for inevitable cohabitation. And in spite of the overt apolitical texture of the book’s presentation, this format underscores a compelling metaphor on Nigeria’s laboured socio-political space.
The scope of Nigerian Artistry is broad and extensive, with a structural pattern that is equally diverse. Both in text and image, it speaks; it speaks exploring body art, textiles, beads and bead-work, pottery, calabash decoration, mat-making and basketry, wood-carving, metalwork and a section on Connections. This is complemented by a detailed biography and index. No wonder it received the endorsement of one of the commanding intelligences of modern Nigerian art – Bruce Onobrakpeya – who described the book as “a narrative epic and a reference work offering comprehensive information on many aspects of Nigerian art.”
In his foreword, he observes that “Like the griot with the memory and raiment of the chameleon, Oyelola takes us on a journey through time and the art of this geographical entity, Nigeria.”

Both author and the subject matter seem inextricably tied to a clime-hypothesis. This complexity is readily evinced in the dynamic unravelling of raw materials and motifs of artistic production across the vast geographical expanse of the country from the evergreen mangrove and rain forest of the south to the increasingly sparse vegetation of the savannah and the northern Sahel. While the forest region may exhibit a greater variety of artistry in wood, pods and vines, an outcome of its vegetation, Oyelola nonetheless directs our attention to a vast array of other cross-cutting products and motifs such as metal work, fabrics and the bead-works and body art. Particularly in relation to body art, she demonstrates the infinite possibility of art, extending beyond the cave wall, murals and calabash to the human body. Wherever these traditional artists had found a platform, they exhibited – such as we find in the section on Body Art where the men, women and children become a canvas for facial inscription, belly tattoo or more. Prominent here are the Fulani, Bini and Yoruba tattoo patterns, which have sometimes been anticipated centuries back as with the bronze pendant from Igbo Ukwu and the Ife bronze head, both showing facial marks dating back 8th-15th century A.D., respectively.

The author provides the informing ethnography and social biography of stylisation. Of hairstyles she gives details on their social and, sometimes, sacred roots. We learn about the modern, high-crested Yoruba women?fs hair-style, a motif that could be found in 19th and early 20th century carvings in the same region. She alludes to the fact that this style is still worn by priests of the deity, Sango, although we know that legendary narrations of this 15th century monarch of Oyo have always acknowledged him in plait. Sometimes, the hairstyle portrays stages in the woman’s life-cycle, as child, adolescent, married, parent and aged. Beyond Nigeria?fs shores, Oyelola also demonstrates transatlantic connections with evidence of the ‘Afro’ hairstyle, and plumbs into the depths of the Civil Rights Movement in America and notable figures like Angela Davis for causative agents. As with this section, all through the book, she stresses process such that the reader could have a fair idea on the procedure of production of a particular style. In this sense, the ‘art-historical’ angle of the narrative keeps popping up as the various exhibits also acquire the status of date markers. One could list some reflecting the current affairs of the times; ever heard of hairstyles with such coded names as ‘Naira and Kobo,’ ‘Kalakuta’ or ‘The War is Over’? Now and again naming could derive from nature: ‘Spider,’ ‘Snail,’ ‘Dog’s Ear,’ ‘Crab,’ ‘Pineapple’, ‘Horns’ and, wait a minute – ‘Snake!’ Such is Oyelola’s sense of detail that you also get a chip of the cultural economy of style production for the would-be hair-artist. She informs: “A skilled hair-artist can operate from her home, the market or a salon: she does not need elaborate equipment to create her styles.”

Nigerian Artistry is a design in breadth and nuance. In exploring the nation’s textile it accounts for, albeit in detail, a wide range of forms. Getting personal now, I think Oyelola’s favourite is the blue vat dye on cotton fabric called Adire; even if her couture is nuanced, I can hardly recall her without a patch of this indigo. She nudges our memory on other such pattern dyeing as tie-and-dye Adire, and reminds that this is the oldest form of resist patterning in Africa although the semantic field of the word Adire has expanded to include any cloth patterned by other forms of resist technique which may include cassava paste or wax batik. Forms of the resist technique include Adire Oniko (tied with raffia), Adire Eleso (tied around seeds, creating small circular patterns), Adire Alabere (done in hand-stitch with raffia) and Adire Eleko (with corn-pap applied for resist patterns).

Oyelola shows that in the hands of contemporary artists like Nike Okundaiye pattern dyeing becomes quite adventurous, exhibiting fresh creativity in form like the modern wax batik Adire, stencilled Adire Eleko and patch-work on denim. The outcrop couture, especially with the admixture of Aso Oke, Akwete, and the hand-woven fabric, has found space along the diverse social rungs in the country. It has received endorsement from royalty as seen in the regal garb, yet in social engagements such as wedding, graduation ceremonies, casual wears and interior decorations, the embroidered cloth has acquired added meaning.

The book equally adopts a similar format in examining mat-making and basketry, recognised as sharing similar methods with the loom tradition of cloth-making. After exploring the more traditional forms of metalwork, wood-carving, calabash decoration and bead-work, the author invites us to a clash of imagination in the section titled Connections. This section is partly peopled by neo-traditional and modern artists, and the author?fs intention seems to be focused on contemporary art-making for primarily aesthetic consideration. She also seems to show the intrinsic interconnectedness of the region’s art across time. And this is a connection that could also be inter-genre in the manner of the works of the master print-maker, Bruce Onobrakpeya, which often derive from textile art, particularly the Yoruba cassava paste resist design. Of this, Oyelola notes: “His works contain direct references to the old indigo cloths through his use of geometric motifs borrowed from them and used as background fillers but he also abstracts design principles from Adire Eleko and employs them in the organisation of the picture surface.”

Connections is the zone of connection of the complex whole of Nigeria’s art and its major artists. It is also a querying moment of notions of originality, tradition and the indigenous. The intertext in this section is quite intricate, sometimes direct, apparent or merely coincidental – stressing cultural universals. For one, on origins, we merely approximate Nigerianess for works whose primeval creators could as well have emigrated from this shores or gone extinct. And on the artifacts, there appears a constant habit of reconstitution of forms. The Esu symbol begins to wear beads at some point in its long journey to contemporary modernity, in the same manner that objects once held sacred and distinguished by courtly habitation have crept into public imagination and use. There are now beaded sheaths for the iron staff of Orisa Oko, a beaded pouch for an Ifa priest – items that would have to be reworked into the narrative verses of divinity and deity.

The diasporic extension of this continuity equally expresses major shifts as seen in the 1990 photograph of the sculpture of the deity, Obatala by Jose Rodriguez. This constant mutation is further seen in the contact between Arabia (11th century A.D.), Portugal (15th century A.D.) and West Africa. The visitors provided raw materials that were reworked. Over time, both raw materials and craft were, sometimes, considered indigenous to West Africa. Benin artists worked extensively with bronze and brass, metal items that do not occur in the ground. This new mode of artistic expression owes its possibility to the alloyed metals derived from copper and tin, in the case of bronze, and copper and zinc, in the case of brass – two imported metal items. These factors underscore the deeply diffusionist potential of cultural production.

Oyelola seems driven by an anxiety to ensure that an historical heritage gets documented appropriately. Apparently she does not want to see known, historical experiences and artifacts later becoming symbols requiring the expertise of decipherers – such as happened with ancient hieroglyphs. Lest our contemporary experience turn a sudden cipher. And early comments have been coming. Louis Oladunmoye, an art historian, thinks the book will encourage creativity among the younger generation and monitor teachers to pattern their students towards ornamental display of Nigerian styles of creativity.

Another colleague of his, Mike Adeoye, reasons that Oyelola’s book is a balanced and profound view of the Nigerian indigenous art industry cutting across all levels of artistic creativity in the country. The artist and art scholar, Peju Layiwola, of the University of Lagos, finds Nigerian Artistry highly illustrative, a good guide to the art of Nigeria, and very much in the mode of Oyelola?fs 1976 publication – Everyman’s Guide to Nigerian Art as it provides an overview of various craft traditions in Nigeria.

The author, Patricia Oyelola (Pat in Nigerian art circles) was born on November 20, 1938 in London. British/Nigerian by marriage, her training was originally in languages. She graduated with a B.A. Honours in French and Latin from the University of London, and has put her knowledge to service in Nigeria.

I wanted to know how she acquired her taste, knowledge and skill. “Through visiting museums early in life”, she quipped.
Much later in life (late 1958), her husband bought her a gift entitled African Folktales and Sculpture, which further excited her interest in African art. Later, Art History was introduced to the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan (1981/82) under Professor Sabiru Biobaku as Director. This was an early teaching component to complement research, the Institute?fs primary mandate. Art History became big and very popular and Oyelola then took a course in African Art from the Department of Archeology. Later she took a Ph.D in Art History from the same Institute. Pat Oyelola feels quite upset about many Nigerian artists who do not document their works, but is quick to make an exception in Bruce Onobrapkeya, whom she identifies as a “brilliant exception.”

Dr. Oyelola takes advantage of this edition to introduce the reading public to many other Nigerian artists. Besides Obobrakpeya, you encounter Sokari Douglas-Camp in her studio, Obiora Udechukwu on The Road to Abuja, Kunle Filani’s Vestiges of the Past and Moyo Okedeji’s untitled soil on canvas motif. Also included are the works of Tola Wewe, Yekini Folorunso, Agbo Folarin, Senabu Oloyede, Ademola Onibokuta, Sangodare Gbadegesin, Nike Okundaiye, Jimoh Buraimoh, Ademola Akintola, El Anatsui, Susanne Wenger and Ulli Beier.

Add to this the rarity of a publisher called Mosuro. The editorial requirements of Mosuro Publishers is rather too rigorous for the hodge-podge that now characterises publishing in the country, hence its titles seem deliberately infrequent. The author had earlier noted that she could not think up a better option than Mosuro, if only as a mark of courtesy to the historical reconstruction of the nation?fs artistry. Headquartered on Magazine Road in Ibadan, Mosuro Publishers is increasingly fanning across the country. In 2008 it came out with A Gift of Sequins: Letters to My Wife by the late idealist Lt. Colonel, Victor Banjo of the civil war fame. And even as Nigerian Artistry berths, it’s doing so with a title from Nigeria’s master of verse, J.P. Clark, whose collected poems, Full Tide, Mosuro has finally put to bed.

Nigerian Artistry strikes one as art, memoried on one another, thereby serving as a constantly evolving aesty and agency. The different genres and sub-genres of styles fehetic loop but also journeying back and forth in time. Is it a coincidence that the last illustrative figure (9.54) is the Sankofa? That sagely bird of imagination in Ghanaian myth and lore, emblematised by a bird looking at its own tail, and urging us to go back and pick...it's not too late...never too late!

Bruce Onobrakpeya: Celebrating 50 years of Professional Studio Practice

2010-03-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya

FULL NAME: BRUCE PAUL ONOBRAKPEYA

DATE OF BIRTH: 30th August, 1932.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria.

NATIONALITY: Nigerian

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Ughelli, Sapele and Benin 1941 – 1951

Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, Nigeria. 1957 – 1962

Studied printmaking techniques at the London Museum. 1966

QUALIFICATIONS

Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts (Dip. F.A.)
Arts Teacher’s Certificate (ATC)

TEACHING AND RESIDENCIES

(a) Arts Teacher, Western Boys’ High School, Benin City 1953 – 1956

(b) Arts Teacher, Ondo Boy’s High School 1957

(c) Printmaking workshops under Ru Van Rossen Organised by Ulli Beier in Mbari Artists & Writers Club, Ibadan 1961, Mbari Mbayo Oshogbo, 1963.

And Department of African Studies Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife 1973

(d) Arts Teacher, St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos 1963 – 1980

(e) Artists-in-Residence in Haystack Mountain of Art and Craft,
Maine, U.S.A. 1975.

(f) Artists-in-Residence (Associate Professor), Elizabeth City State
University, North Carolina, U.S.A. 1979

(g) Artist-in-Residence, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan 1984

(h) Artist-in-Resident, Tacoma Public School, Tacoma, Washington State, U.S.A. 1989

(i) Artist-in-Residence, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare 1991

(j) Artist-in-Residence, 1991 MOJA: An African American Arts
Festival, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A.

(k) Initiated and participated in the 1st Harmattan Workshop at Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. 1998

(l) Organized and participated in the 2nd Harmattan Workshop at Agbarha-
Otor, Delta State, Nigeria, 1999.

(m) Organized and participated in the 3rd Harmattan Workshop at Agharha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. 2000

(n) Organized and participated in the 4th Harmattan Workshop at Agharha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. 2002

Visitor and Guest Artist of UCLA Museum of Cultural History at Exhibition
Ways of the Rivers: An Exhibition of Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

1959 First one-man exhibition, Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria.

1960 Group show of contemporary Nigerian art in the Independence
Exhibition, Lagos.

1962 Art From Africa, Phelp-Stokes Fund, New York.

1965 Commonwealth Exhibition of Art, Cardiff and London.

1967 Biennale of Illustrations, Bratislavia.

1967 Group show of nine Nigerian artists. Show toured London,
Moscow and Warsaw.

1969 International Book Fair, Bologna

1970 St. Andrew’s School, Middletown, Delaware Howard University,
Washington, D.C.

1971 Commonwealth Art Gallery, London.

1972 Gallery, Watatu, Nairobi
Newark State College, Newark, New Jersey
Art Society of the International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C.

1973 Afro Centrum Gallery, Berlin.African Heritage Gallery, Nairobi

1974 Contemporary African Festival, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago,
and Museum of Natural History, New York.

1975 Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Washington, D.C. Sponsored by African-
American, Women’s Association.

1976 Gallery of Litterio Calapai, Glencoe, Illinois.

1977 FESTAC ’77 Lagos.

1977 The Best of Africa, Toronto
Saint Paul in Contemporary Art, Vatican Museum, Rome

1978 Tenth one-man exhibition at the Goethe Institute, Lagos.

1979 Participated in the Sixth International Print Biennale, Cartwright Hall, Lister Part, Bradford, England

1979 Held a one-man exhibition of prints in Amersfoort Holland. The show was arranged by Mrs. DeVries and sponsorship was by DHV of Lagos and Amersfoort. It was opened by Prof. Ru Van Rossem of Tilburg University.

1980 Held a one-man exhibition of prints (with emphasis on printing on metal foil) at the Best of Africa Gallery, Toronto, Canada.

1980 One-man exhibition in Glatt Centrum, Zurish, Switzerland. It was sponsored by CIBA-GEIGY and SGS.

1981 – 1982 One-man exhibition of prints and paintings arranged by Galarie Glahe and opened by Nigerian Ambassador to Bonn H.E. Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi.

1982 Had a one-man exhibition of prints and paintings during the official opening of African Universities Press offices and Warehouse at the Oluyole Lay-out, Ibadan.

1983 Held a one-man exhibition of prints and painting titled Sabbatical Experiments 1978 – 1983, co-sponsored by Goethe Institute (German Cultural Institute) NIJ House, Victoria Island, Lagos, and the Society of Nigerian Artists (Lagos State Branch). The guest of honour at the opening was Susanne Wenger from Oshogbo.

1984 Held a one-man exhibition titled Bruce Onobrakpeya: 25 years of creative search, at the Foyer and Courtyard of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.

1984 Held a one-man show of plastograph, prints and plastocast relief paintings to mark the Netherlands/Belgium Week at Goethe Institute Victoria Island, Lagos.

1986 Exhibition titled Symbols of Ancestral Groves at the Whitney Young Centre (United States Information Service), Lagos.

1988 Exhibition of Sahelian Masquerades, Italian Cultural Institute Lagos

1989 The Sahelian Masquerade was shown in:
Kew Garden London, Greenwich Citizen Gallery near London, and Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington State.

1990 Participation in Group show titled African Contemporary Art-Changing Traditions, organized by studio Museum, Harlem, New York. Participated in the 44th Venice Biennale.

1990 The Horns of Freedom, National Museum Onikan, Lagos in honour of Wole Soyinka at his 50th birthday.

1990 Riegelsberger Gallery Mannheim, Germany. A show of recent art works sponsored by ABB (Asea Brown Boveri).

1990 Unity Through Arts, National Museum Onikan, Lagos sponsored by Guinness (Nigeria) Limited.

1990 Nigeria Images, Annual art show by Society of Nigerian Artists at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

1991 Rebirth, Onime Arts Gallery, Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Mushin, Lagos.

1991 Sahelian Masquerade, exhibition in National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

1991 Sahelian Masquerades, Gibbes Museum of Art Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. College of Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A; African American Gallery Charleston, South Carolinas, U.S.A.

1992 Zaria Art Society Exhibition: New Consciousness, ABU, Zaria.

1992 Through the Sands of Time, Didi Musuem, Victoria Island, Lagos.

1992 Bruce Onobrakpeya : A retrospective. One of the events which was organized by Society of Nigerian Artists to mark the artist’s 60th birthday at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos.

1993 The Spirit in Ascent accompanied with a 270-page monograph, a press conference and a symposium were sponsored by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and launched by Chief Philip Asiodu, Hon. Secretary of Petroleum and National Resources at the NIIA Victoria Island, Lagos. The Society of Nigerian Artists was a co-organizer of the events.

1993 Grapholies – Abidjan Biennale ‘93

1994 Inaugural Group Show at the Pushkin Art and Antique Gallery Victoria Island, Lagos

1995 Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa – Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. One of the events of Britain’s global showcase Africa ’95.

1996 Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa – Malmo Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden. Ivorex Engravings including the Shrine II entered for the Seven Stories About Modern Art exhibited in London and Malmo.

1997 Richard Singletary Collection, Partsmouth, U.S.A

1998 Wise Art Gallery, Norfolk State University, U.S.A.
Christine Gerlach Show, German Community, Abuja, Nigeria.

1999 Exhibition of prints and paintings Alliance Francaise, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Promoter of Nigerian Art-Goethe Institute, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Christine Gerlach Show, German Community, Abuja, Nigeria.

1999 1st and 2nd Harmattan Workshop Exhibition, Aina Onabolu House, National Gallery of Modern Art, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

1999 Amos Tutuola Show – Folklore inspired art in Honour of the novelist – Aina Onabolu House, National Gallery of Art, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

2000 Exhibition of paintings, prints sculptures, installations etc by Otu-Ewena Artists, Aina Onabolu, Building National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos.

2001 Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis – Tate Modern Gallery London.

2002 3rd Harmattan workshop Exhibition, Aina Onabolu Building, National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos.

JULY 2002 Exhibition of paintings, Sculpture Mixed Media prints ceramics and installations by Otu-Ewena Artists International, Aina Onabolu, Building National Theatre Complex, Iganmu. Exhibition was in honour of Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya at 70.

AUG 2002 Bruce Onobrakpeya : Window Into his Art: Retrospective Exhibition of selected works from various periods of his artistic career spanning 1957 to date, held at the National Gallery of Art , Aina Onabolu Building, National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos

AUG 2002 Participated in Exhibition organized by African Foundation for the Arts in conjunction with the Society of Nigerian Artists in Exhibition in honour of Tonie Emordi at Mmili - Mma Gallery Victoria Island, Lagos.

SEPT 2002 Exhibition: RHYTHMS OF THE FORGE: A presentation of the fourth Harmattan Workshop Series (Agbarha Otor), at the French Cultural Center, Kingsway Road ,Ikoyi, Lagos. The presentation comprised lectures demonstrations, seminar and exhibition of artworks selected from the Four Harmattan Workshops so far held i.e. 1998,1999,2000 & 2002.

SEPT 2002 Exhibition: JEWELS OF THE CRUCIBLE: This exhibition presented works produced at the 4th Harmattan Workshop, showcasing recent developments in jewelry bronze casting, wood carving and several other media. Works of the Otu Ewena Artists International were also shown at the Nimbus art Center, Maitama Sule Street, Ikoyi Lagos.

OCT 2002 Participated in Exhibition: RHYTHMS OF FULFILMENT organized by Akwa Ibom Chapter of the Society of Nigerian Artists. Exhibition was in honour of Bruce Onobrakpeya at 70 and was opened by Governor Victor Obong Attah of Akwa Ibom State and featured the works of over 30 artists.

NOV 2002 Exhibition: 7th INTERNATIONAL GROUP SHOW AND ART FESTIVAL. This exhibition was organized by the Global Culture Center in collaboration with National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Enugu, featuring several artists from all over the world including Japan.

2002 Ways of the Rivers: Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta: Showed Installation Akporode at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Exhibition expected to tour various cities in the U.S.

2003 Portfolio of Art and Literature. Exhibition / Book Launch at Nimbus Gallery,
Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos.

2005 Commonwealth Show (CHOGM), Abuja

2005 Art and Democracy, a group exhibition mounted during 5th anniversary of Democracy in Nigeria; held at Nelrose Hotel, Asaba, Delta State.

2006 WHERE GODS AND MORTALS MEET. - New York, Columbia and Washington D.C., U.S.A.

MAY 2006 Jewels of Nomadic Images, held at Quintessence Gallery,
Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos.

MAY 2006 Dakar Biennial for Arts (Dak’Art 2006)Dakar Senegal.

FEB 2007 Living Masters Exhibition, coordinated by Mydrim Gallery, Held at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

APRIL 2008 Auction / Exhibition organized by Arthouse Contemporary Limited, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

2008 October Rain. Society of Nigerian Artists (S.N.A) group exhibition – Held at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos.

NOV 2008 Auction / Exhibition organized by Arthouse Contemporary Limited, at Civic Centre,Victoria Island, Lagos.

MAY 2008 Art Expo, organized by Art Gallery Association of Nigeria (AGAN) in conjunction with National Gallery of Art (NGA), held at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos.

APRIL 2009 Auction / Exhibition organized by Arthouse Contemporary Limited, at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

March 2010 Africa Now. Auction/ Exhibition at Bonhams, Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.

APRIL 2009 Africa Now. Auction / Exhibition at Bonham, London, United Kingdom.

3rd April 2010 Retrospective Exhibition of Bruce Onobrakpeya titled : The Legacy at the Grillo Pavillion in Ikorodu, Lagos Nigeria.

APRIL 2010, African Art Auction 1 organized by Nike Art and Culture Foundation Lagos, Nigeria

APRIL 2010 Terra Kulture/ Golden Jubilee of Nigeria Art Auction, Lagos, Nigeria.

MAY 2010, 'Evolving Currents", Art exhibition in celebration of 50 years of Nigerian visual arts in honour of 50 years of Independence. Exhibition was organized by Iroko Art, Abuja, Nigeria.

15th MAY, 2010. Africa Auction/ Philip de Pury and company, New York, U.S.A.

AWARDS, APPOINTMENTS AND PRIZES

i) Scholarship to Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria to study Fine Art, 1958.

ii) Third Prize, Gottschalk Textile Competition NCAST, Zaria, 1559.

Founding Member of Society of Nigerian Artist, 1964

iii) Honourable mention for Children Book Illustration, Bratislava, 1967.

iv) Culture America – United State of America Travel Award, 1970

v) British Council Award to visit London Art Institutions and Museums, 1969.

vi) U.S.A State Department Award to tour America on Programme America Culture, 1970.

vii) Pope Paul VI Gold Medal for Painting Life of St. Paul’s 1977.

viii) Fulbright-Hays Award by America CIES (Council for International Exchange of
Scholars), 1979

ix) Fifth Triennale – India Award of Silver Medal and Twenty Thousand Rupees, 1982

x) Presented to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, 1982.

xi) Certificate of Honour in recognition of distinguished services contributed to the development of Nigerian Art by the Council of Management of Asele Institute, Nimo, Anambra State, Nigeria, 1985.

xii) 1985 Solidra Circle of Lagos (Founded 1947) Award for having excelled in Printmaking and Deep Etching, Lagos, November 1985

xiii) Mentioned in the Czekosovak encyclopedia, 1986

xiv) Travel grant by British Council to study and tour Britain, 1987

xv) Appointed Board Member of Nigerian Copyright Council, Lagos, August, 1989.

xvi) SNA (Society of Nigerian Artists) award in recognition of contribution November, 1989

xvii) Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters by the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, November, 1989

xviii) United State Information Service Travel Award to attend the opening of the exhibition of Contemporary African Art – Changing Traditions, The Studio Museum, New York, January, 1990.

xix) Classique Magazine – Star Award of achievement for contribution immensely to society on Night of a Hundred Star, 11th August, 1990.

xx) Bendel State Merit Award 1990 -- A Certificate of Merit and Gold Medal in recognition of outstanding contribution to the development of Bendel State (Nigeria) a humanity in Arts and Culture, November,

xxi) Member of International Jury which adjudicated Zimbabwe Heritage ’91 in Harare, July 24th toAugust 2nd, 1991.

xxii) Delta State Government Award for Excellence, 1995.

xxiii) President Saddam Hussein Travel Award to visit artists, art institutions, cultural and historic places in Iraq.

xxiv) Award – Glimpses of Our Stars.

xxv) 4th Annual Distinguished lecture, National Gallery of Art, 1999.

xxvi) Mentioned in The News Magazine’s “People in the News” – A survey of 100 outstanding Nigerians of the 20th century.

xxvii) Outstanding Pioneer of Nigerian Art Award by the Fine Arts
Students’ Association of the Obafemi Awolowo University (May 2002).

xxviii MFR (Member of the Order of the Republic of Nigeria) 2002.

xxix) Art Master Per-Excellence award by the St. Gregory’s College Old Students Association Ikoyi Lagos. In grateful recognition of outstanding contribution to the Development of the Nation. St, Gregory’s College Old Students Association (1928-2003 set). January 26 2003.

xxx) Grand Fellow of Nigerian Art Award. In recognition of his achievements as the artist’s teacher, father, mentor and founder of Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF) and on whose instance the Harmattan Workshop is held for the improvement of artist skills. Society of Nigerian Artists (S.N.A.), Akwa Ibom State chapter. September 23 2004.

xxxi) In recognition of his contributions to the promotion of Art and Artists in Nigeria. -School of Art and Design, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Nigeria.

xxxii) Honours Award. In recognition of outstanding personal accomplishment, as an internationally acclaimed artist and distinguished alumnus given by Western Boys High School, Benin City old boys association, Lagos State branch. 2006.

xxxiii) Lifetime Accomplishment Award for Arts by Delta state Tourism Board. March 2006.

xxxiv) Honours Award for Promoter of Nigerian Culture through Visual Arts. National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC). March 30 2006.

xxxv) Living Human Treasure. In recognition of invaluable contribution in the area of “Artist-Traditional Craftsmanship”. Award given by Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with UNESCO. May 2006.

xxxvi) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution to the development of Nigerian art industry by African Art Resource Centre (A.A.R.C.). December 9 2006.

xxxviii)Outstanding Art Promoter award in commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Department of Fine Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Nigeria.

xxxix) Lifetime Achievement Award by St. Gregory’s College Alumni Foundation. U.S.A. August 18 2008

Master of the council of the Guild Award. Presented by the Guild of Professional Artist May 2009.

WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

University of Lagos Library, Akoka, Lagos.
Catholic Chapel, University of Ife, Ile-Ife
St. Paul’s Church, Ebute-Metta, Lagos.
National Gallery of Modern Art, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.
St. John the Evangelist Church, Shogunle, Ikeja.
Museum of African and African-American Art and Antiquities, Buffalo, New York.
Eda Lord Demarest Memorial African Art Collection, University of Redlands.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Vatican Museum, Rome.
National Museum of African Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Hvittrask Suomi – Finland (Eliel Saarinen’s Studio Home and Exhibition)
Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja.
Leader of Victory Museum, Baghad, Iraq.

MONOGRAPHS

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA Published by Robert Barde, The Best of African
(Nigeria’s Master Printmakers) Art Gallery, Canada, 1979

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: Published BY Oscar Kneubuehler, NGA Apapa Lagos and Dr. J. Waidvogel (CIBAGEIGY) AG Basel, 1980.

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA Sabbatical Experiments (1978 – 1983) with Introduction by Prof. Babatunde Lawal by Ovuomaroro Art Gallery, Lagos, 1983

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA 25 Years of Creative Search with Introduction by C.O. Adepegba, Ovuomaroro Gallery, Lagos, 1984

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA Symbols of Ancestral Groves with Introduction by Prof. Babatunde Lawal Ovuomaroro Gallery, Lagos, 1985.

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA Sahelian Masquerades, Ovuomaroro Gallery, Lagos, 1985.

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA Print Notes and Comments No. 8 (Portfolio of Contemporary Nigerian Print), Published by Ovuomaroro Gallery.

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA The Spirit in Ascent,
Introduced by Dele Jegede,
Ovuomaroro Gallery, Lagos.

BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA Poems and Lithograph Lagos, 1992
(Print Notes and Comments No. 9) Ovuomaroro Gallery.

BOOKS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA

ACHEBE, CHINUA No Longer At Ease, Heinemann, London

BABALOLA, ADEBOYE Iwe Ede Yoruba, Apa Kini, Longmans of Nigeria 1961

DELISS, CLEMENTINE Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa,
published by White Chapel Art Gallery, London, 1985.

EKWENSI, CYPRAIN An African Night’s Entertainment, AUP Lagos, 1962

EKWENSI, CYPRAIN Juju Rock, AUP Lagos.

HAEGER, BARBARA Africa: On Her Schedule is Written A Change AUP, Ibadan 1981

NIGERIAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE, 1969 May Your Kingdom Come,Geoffery Chamman, London

NWANKWO, NKEM Tales Out of School
(Cover illustration), AUP, Ibadan.

NZEKWU, ONUORA AND Eze Goes to School (Cover Illustration),CROWDER, MICHAEL AUP, Ibadan, 1986.

ONADIPE, KOLA Magic Land of the Shadows,AUP, Lagos, 1970

ONAPIDE, KOLA Sugar Girl, AUP, 1964.

T.N.O. QUACOOPNE West African Religion, AUP,Ibadan, 1969.

TAIWO OLADELE The Hunter And The Hen, AUP, Ibadan, 1969

SOYINKA AND FAGUNWA A Forest of a Thousand Demons, Nelson, London.

UWEMEDIMO, ROSEMARY Akpan and the Smugglers, AUP, Ibadan, 1965.

DESSERTATIONS AND SOME REFERENCE MATERIALS on Bruce Onobrakpeya

AIPOH, MARY ANNE U. Religious Themes in Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Works,
An unpublished dissertation presented to the Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Arts, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, as part of the fulfillment for the Degree B.A. (Fine Arts) 1983, 53 pages.

FULLANI, GIOVANNI (E) San Paolo Nell” Art Contemporanea (Musei Vaticani (1977) page 112,176

FALUADE, GBOLAHAN The Art of Bruce Onobrakpeya (Unpublished Essay submitted to the Department of Fine Arts in partial fulfillment for the award of B.A. (Fine Art)
University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, June 1979) 59 pages.

FOSU, KOJO 20th Century Art of Africa, 1986 published by Gaskiya Corporation Ltd., Zaira, Nigeria.

JEGEDE, DELE Trends in Contemporary Nigerian Art, A Historical Analysis, unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University Press Bloomington and London 1973.

MOUNT, MARSHAL WARD African Art: The Year Since 1920, Indiana
University Press, Bloominghton and London, 1973.

ODUFEJO, C.M. SUNDAY The Art of Bruce Onobrakpeya as I See it in 1975,
(unpublished HND thesis, Yaba College of Technology), June, 1976 88 pages.

OKEKE EZE, EMMANUEL Bruce Onobrakpeya – A Research into the Print
Experiments of a Contemporary Nigerian Artist (unpublished Bachelor of Arts thesis, University of Nigeria, Nsukka), 1976, 92 pages.

OKEKE, UCHE Art in Development – A Nigerian Perspective
published by the Documentation Centre, Asele Institute Nimo, Nigeria and African American Cultural Centre, Minneapolis, U.S.A. 1982, 91 pages.

UDOMA EKPO UDO Non-Naturalistic Representation in Contemporary
Nigerian Paintings (A Study of Styles and Trends), an unpublished Master of Arts Dissertation, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 1989.

OLAOSEBIKAN W.A Cultural and Creative Arts: A Source Book for
Teachers, Evans Brothers (Nigeria Publishers) Ltd., Ibadan, page 38, 60, 112, 116.

OYELOLA, PAT Every man’s Guide to Nigerian Art, Nigeria. Magazine special publication, Lagos, 1976

Nigerian Artistry, with forward by Bruce Onobrakpeya Mosuro Publishers 2010

SPRING, CHRISTOPHER ANGANZA AFRIKA AFRICAN ART NOW Published by Lawrence King, 2008, pg 246-251

SIKPI, GREGORY KOFI History of Contemporary Nigerian Art (Unpublished Bachelor of Arts Degree thesis, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, July 1988)

WAHLMAN, MAUDE Contemporary African Art, Chicago, 1974

ROLF BROCKMANN, GERD HOTTER Szene Lago, Reise in Eine Afrikanische,
Kultermetropole, Trickster Verlag 1994.

WALKER, JAMES The Black Experience in Canada, published by the
Ontario Education Communications Authority, 1979, page 80.

WILLET, FRANK African Art, Thames and Hudson London, 1971.

VERNICEM. KELLY, Nigerian Artist: A who’s who and Bibliography,
Published JANET L. STANLEY for the National Museum of African Art Branch Smithsonian Institution Libraries Washington, D.C. by Hans Zell London, 1993.

STANLEY, JANET L. Arts of Africa – An Annotated Bibliography
Volume I & II African Studies Association Press, Atlanta, 1992, 1993

KENNEDY, JEAN New Currents, Ancient Rivers: Contemporary
African Artists in a Generation of Change, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. U.S.A.1992.

HANS D’ ORVILLE Leadership for Africa, edited, 1995 (Editor)

DUNCAN,. CLARKE African Art, Random House, New York.

PICTON, JOHN Image and Form (prints drawings and Sculpture from Southern Africa and Nigeria) School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) University of London 1997.

REVUE, NOIRE Nigeria: African Contemporary Art, No. 30,1998.
(Jean Loup Pivin) Editorial

JAMES SHOAF TURNER The Dictionary of Art, MacMillian Publishers Limited, 1996. (Editor).

NZEGWU NKIRU Contemporary Textures, Multidimensionality in
Nigerian Art ISSA 1999.

CATHERINE KING Views of Difference: Different Views of Art Yale University Press, New Haven & London in association with The Open University 1999.

SIDNEY LITTLE FIELD KASFIR Contemporary African Art – Thames & Hudson
London & New York 1999.

ISHOLA-LEMOMU, KUNLE Bruce Onobrakpeya 1990-2000 Unpublished
Dissertation for the award of the Bachelor of Art Degree, Lagoke Akintola University, Ogbomosho 2001

PAMELA MC. CLUSKYAnd ROBERT FARIS THOMPSON Art from Africa-Long Steps Never Broke a Back Seattle Art Museum and Princeton University
Press 2002.

MARTHA G. ANDERSON And PHILIP M. PEEK Ways of the Rivers: Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta. UCLA Fowler Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles 2002.

Richard Singletary Bruce Onobrakpeya U.S.A. 2002

JEWELS OF NOMADIC IMAGES, with essays by Peju Laiwola, Ekpo Udo Udoma and Olu Amoda, published by Ovuomaroro 2009

Nigerian Artistry: Written by Pat Oyelola with foreward by Bruce Onobrakpeya, published by Mosuro Publishers 2010.

Forthcoming Publications

Sept 2010, MASKS OF FLAMING ARROWS, with essays by Dele Jegede, David Opkako and Gani Odutokun, Ovuomaroro publishers, Nigeria, 2010.

Films and Documentaries

FILM Kindreds Spirits: Contemporary Nigerian Artists, Smithsonian World Washington, D.C. U.S.A.

The Magic of Nigeria, Produced by Delka/Polystar directed by Ola Balogun.

Recalling the Future Art by Joanna Grabski, Produced and directed by Claudine Pommier Executive Producer Cheikh Tidiane N'diaye./Arts in Action Society(Vancouver, Canada)2002.

The Harmattan Workshop Experience: The Journey so far: film and documentary on 10 years the Agbarha- Otor Harmattan workshop Experience produced and directed by Bruce Onobrakpeya, 2009.

Nigerian Artistry

2010-03-01T02:37:00.001-08:00

Nigerian Artistry
Patricia Oyelola
328 pages
Figures: 431
Binding: Hardback
Date Available: March 2010
Price N9,500

Copies available at the Harmattan Workshop Gallery
ISBN: 978 978 484 12 14

Nigerian artistry is a unique, thoroughly researched and richly illustrated guide on different art forms in Nigeria. Reading Nigerian Artistry is like travelling through Nigeria.

'... a narrative epic and a refeference work offering comprehensive information on aspects of Nigerian art. Rich in images, it is easy and interesting to read. Pat Oyelola takes us on a journey through time and the art of this geographical region called Nigeria. We can understand... how these art forms with their techniques and styles have been affected by the dynamics of change thus becoming poorer or richer'-Bruce Onobrakpeya

Author Biography

Pat Oyelola, an avid lover of arts, has a degree from London Unversity and holds Masters and Doctorate degrees with specialization in African art History from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, where she was a senior fellow for many years. She is also the chairperson of the Editorial Board of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, which has many publications to it's credit, including the Harmattan Workshop Catalogues.

El ANATSUI'S COMMENTS AND RESPONSE TO RECENT PRINCE CLAUS AWARD

2010-02-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

LAUREATE'S COMMENTS
ON THE PRESENTATION OF THE 2009 PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS AT THE DUTCH EMBASSY. VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS, NIGERIA.

One of the key criteria used in selecting awardees by the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, is that a laureate's work should have a positive effect in a wider cultural and social context. I am, therefore, honoured and gratified by this award and the recognition it confers on my work. I suppose awards are to be esteemed not only for what they represent, but also for what they do. Awards or prizes, for instance, aid in marketing an artist's work, as they act as a catalyst to public recognition or serve as seals of approval. When the African-American writer, Alice Walker, published The Color Purple and it was catapulted to best-sellerdom by The Pulitzer Prize, it made her to replace Shakespeare on many American 'campuses in the 1990s as obligation literature.

While prizes are laudable, in themselves they do not alter the course of global aesthetics as Picasso or Van Gogh did. For some art prizes serve as public events; while others, and I believe this is true of The Prince Claus Award, help to create a' new kind of public space. This award: because of its overriding concern for concepts and activities relevant to culture, development and environmental issues, brings to the fore people who desire to communicate with and engage the broadest possible public

Art is about originality, pointing toward new futures - never inward-Iooking, complacent or conservative. Creativity is the joining of man and material. The bark of the papyrus became a new life-form when the ancient Egyptians transformed it into paper before then; writing was done on clay tablets. The artist must thus look to his environment, the natural and the manmade, as sources of inspiration and material.

The fact that a particular material or object began its existence as one thing and then reincarnated into another, demonstrates the cycle of life's continuum: birth, death and rebirth. Almost all religions adhere to the belief that nothing truly "dies"; but transforms anew to life in other forms' and worlds. Reincarnation is therefore a necessity of and for all entities, animate or inanimate. Recycling or reincarnating in art practice is art imitating nature, and has less to do with "poverty" and "Third World need" them the existence of a plethora of choices with which to experiment. What emerges are works of art, which may be evocative, even arresting, but originate or relate primarily to items which seemed gritty and marginalized, what, some may relegate to waste or trash. Clearly, the richness of our environment constantly reminds us of numerous alternatives, which challenge us to see, rather than look, think, rather than presume, and thus act creatively to connect with our public. I believe The Prince Claus Award underscores these concerns and more.

Thank you.
EI Anatsui
Professor of Sculpture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 18 December 2009

Nigerian Artistry by Pat Oyelola

2010-02-06T04:41:00.000-08:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation and Mosuro Publishers

Invite you to the presentation of Pat Oyelola's

NIGERIAN Artistry

Date : 27th March 2010

Time: 3.30p.m.

Venue: Harmattan workshop Gallery

10 Elsie Femi Pearse street

Off Kofo Abayomi, V.I.

Lagos

Chairman

Omo-Oba A.O. Odimayo

Presenter

Chief Odunayo Olagundoye

Reviewer

Dr. Kunle Filani

RSVP
Mudiare Onobrakpeya
0805 654 4281

PASSAGE: TOYIN OGUNTONA

2010-01-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

Oguntona: A deathly blow for creative arts
Written by Tonie Okpe
Saturday, 09 January 2010 04:38
This is to all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new ‘epiphanies’ of beauty, so that through their creative work as artists, they may offer these gifts to the world”. These were the words of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II in his 1999 letter to artists of the world. Professor Toyin Oguntona, after several years of productive studio practice life, coupled with the vocation of a teacher, especially at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for over four decades, has now moved on to eternity, but his works abound.
One of his profound statements that keep echoing in one’s mind is, “The life of an artist is mainly directed by packaging after so much work has been created, so you need to package both your works and yourself such that whenever you are called upon to make a presentation or show, you would be ready”. Oguntona lived his life to the fullest, with such pronouncements that guided his work etiquette[s] like a creed, so much so that younger artists and academics admired him not only from afar, but also from visiting his studio whenever he was working.
Aside from several solo exhibitions both at home and abroad that spanned years, Oguntona also participated in several group exhibitions and art workshops producing and showing a diversity of textile works. His academic art training for postgraduate degrees abroad did not deter him from carrying on as a studio artist on return from such sojourns, so while teaching, researching and supervising students, he created time not only to produce works of textile design, but also to author practical guidebooks as a way of further expand the frontiers of knowledge in his subject area.
His sudden death during the early hours of Thursday, December 24, 2009 came as a shock to many, both in Zaria and at his last location in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, and even to members of his family who knew he was fast recovering from a protracted illness. Although he has gone to greater heights, his words will forever remain in the minds of his close associates and his works will also continue to be a source of inspiration for several persons who constantly witnessed his creative moments.
After retiring from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria’s Department of Industrial Design in 2003, he went further to midwife and recruit staff for the new Department of Fine and Applied Arts at Ago-Iwoye, subsequently leading the programme to its first National Universities Commission accreditation exercise through hard work and dedication to the profession.
His last solo exhibition soon after he left Zaria opened in September 2003 at Nimbus Gallery in Ikoyi, Lagos, during which he showed several new works in mixed media while keeping the tradition of his textile design training and practice. Dr Bruce Onobrakpeya in his forward to the catalogue of that show opined thus: “Of the few individuals who have given enviable leadership in either the education of artists or in the practice of the profession of art in contemporary Nigeria, Toyin Oguntona can easily be one of them…An advocate of professionalism, he has never hidden his disdain for artists who do not practise”.
That show probably provided the inspiration to form the Ibogun Group of Artists with Oguntona himself as “Godfather” and other exponents like Kenny Badaru, Johnson Oladesu and Yetunde Fashoro, among others, culminating in his last group outing christened, Opening Glee, an exhibition of the group at the Gateway Hotel in Ota, Ogun State in December 2004. He wrote the Creative Necessity in the catalogue accompanying that show and explained that, “The motivation for the formation of this group is drawn from the principle of Herbert Read: …Perfection of Art must arise from its practice, from the discipline of tools and materials, of form and function…Art must be practised to be appreciated and must be taught in intimate apprenticeship….”
Born in Lagos in 1940, Professor Toyin Oguntona had part of his elementary education in Lagos and secondary education in Benin City, Edo State. After a brief spell in the civil service of the then Western Region, he proceeded to University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana for his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 and graduated in 1965. He later worked with FIIRO, Oshodi, Lagos from 1965 to 1972 during which he went to Pakistan on a Commonwealth scholarship to study a diploma course in textile technology from 1967 to 1969.
On his return, he joined Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1972. In 1976, through the facility of the Federal Government Scholarship and Ahmadu Bello University Study Fellowship, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA for further postgraduate studies from 1977 to 1981 culminating in the award of Master’s and Doctorate degrees in art education.
Toyin, as he was fondly called by his peers, participated in many group and solo exhibitions in Nigeria and abroad. He rose steadily to the position of Professor of textiles in 1990 through hard work and dedicated service. In 1991, he had a solo exhibition and a textile workshop in Zaria under the auspices of the Better Life for Rural Women Programme. In 1997 also, he had a similar workshop under the auspices of Family Support Programme in Abuja.
In April 2004, he relocated to Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye where he served as Head, Department of Fine and Applied Arts and Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Technology, College of Engineering Technology at the Ibogun Campus until his death in December 2009. He was married with children. Adieu, Toyin.
Okpe is a sculptor and Professor of Contemporary Sculpture at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Harmattan Holds creativity for Nigeria's Golden Jubilee

2010-01-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

Harmattan holds creativity feast for Nigeria’s golden jubilee

By Ozolua Uhakheme

Fifty years ago, he was among the Zaria Rebels from the premier art school, the Nigerian College of Arts and Science, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University), who participated in the art exhibition at the independence Trade Fair in Marina, Lagos. This year, Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya will lead a pack of seasoned artists to celebrate Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary at the Harmattan workshop in Agbarha-Ottor, Delta State.

Beyond that, the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF), organisers of the workshop, is considering running the event for nine months in the year to provide greater opportunity for artistic growth.

"What we intend doing is to progress in such a manner that the workshop can run for upward of nine months in a year. And we are also considering hiring a resident director, a curator and an outfit that will take charge of these events all - year round," Onobrakpeya said. He added that the centre has fulfilled its social role within the Niger Delta region.

According to him, the workshop has, in the last eleven years done very well. He noted, however , that the growth of every human endeavour should be gradual and upward. "And if we have done this consistently for eleven years, then we have done very well," he added.

Onobrakpeya, who acknowledged that he learnt much from the various artists who have participated in the workshop since inception, lamented the paucity of funds which hindered expansion of the centre and its support for foreign participants.

The annual Harmattan workshop, a retreat where artists meet to think, work, experiment and share ideas to sustain creative inspiration for the development of visual art, has evolved into four sessions, beginning from February 14 till August 2010.

The first three sessions are February 14 to 27; February 28 to March 13; and March 14 to 27, 2010. The August leg of the workshop, according to a statement by the foundation, is for artists who wish to develop their inspiration without any supervision as was the case in the three previous sessions.

Holding at the Niger-Delta Art and Culture, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, the 12

th edition of the workshop promises to be very exciting. Renowned visual artists such as the immediate past president of Society of Nigerian Artists, Kolade Oshinowo; Chief Jimoh Buraimoh, Ndidi Dike and Jide Adeniyi Jones, have indicated their intentions to be part of the workshop. Also, artists are coming from across and beyond Nigeria to work, rub minds and share experiences. Author of Nigeria’s Who is Who in the art, Janet Stanley, is expected to be at the workshop.

The workshop sessions will feature painting, mixed media printmaking, textile, metal construction, stone carving, ceramics, jewelry, photography, wood carving and leather craft; with two themes for lectures and presentations. The themes are Uhanghwa: 50 years of artistic creativity in Nigeria, and Eghwere: Hunting.

The Harmattan workshop, founded in 1998 by Onobrakpeya, an experimental artist, is an informal educational setup inspired by the series of workshops organised by Ulli Beier at Ibadan, Oshogbo, Ile-ife and the Haystack Mountain School of Arts and Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, USA, which Onobrakpeya attended in the 60s and 70s.

It is arguably the flagship programme of the BO F, a non governmental organization. Apart from the eight weeks intensive programme (of two weeks per session), the Harmattan workshop is literarily active all year.

The galleries, which exhibit within the complex collection of art works (traditional and modern), including those of Onobrakpeya, are open to the public, students and researchers. There are enough accommodation facilities for groups and individuals. With permission, alumni members are allowed to work in the studio, using the available, particularly the etching presses, during the off season. Schools and other groups are similarly admitted for special programmes.

The Harmattan workshop is instructive and interactive, allowing for people of different backgrounds to gain theoretical and practical experiences from each other.

Facilitators, who are carefully selected are also participants who engage in their own creations during the session but are looked up to by participants for leadership and instruction during the workshop. Special crafts programmes are designed to enable some of the participants acquires skills to make a living.

Among them are Kunle Adeyemi, Dr. Peju Layiwola, Folu Folorunso, Ademola Williams, Adeola Balogun, Prof. John Agberia, Sam Ovraiti, Prince Nathaniel Momoh, Oladapo Afolayan.

Other activities that will hold during the workshop include exhibition of photographs, Reflections by Olusegun Fayemi, a Prof. of pathology at the New York University, USA, Eghwere, a mixed media installation by Bruce Onobrakpeya and eight on-going solo and group art exhibitions.

Interested participants are expected to obtain forms from Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation at 41, Oloje Street, Mushin, Lagos or 10, Elsie Femi Pearse Street, Victoria Island, Lagos upon payment of N15,000 or N10,000 (student) to Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation’s account Number 0151050000020 Union Bank PLc. Also, January 7, 2010 is deadline for submission of papers for the workshop while applicants are expected to complete all processes before January 31.

Angaza Africa

2010-01-06T03:29:00.000-08:00

BOOK REVIEW

Angaza Africa
Author: Chris Spring
Publisher: Laurence King
ISBN: 9781856695480
1st Published: 2008
336 pages |
Price: N15,000

Chris Spring's book on African art is a 336-page compendium of contemporary practice in Africa.The brief introductory section showcases group practices from communities such as the Fantasy Coffins of Teshie, Ghana, and other art movements from East, through West, to North Africa.

However, the book is primarily about individual artists, the major thrust of the book being to introduce the reader to the author's view of African art. For a book that attempts to cover continental Africa with a sampling of the works of some 63 artists, this can only be a personal collection, speaking as much to the taste of the curator as to the variety of the art on the continent. This is especially so because the artists featured are sometimes no longer working in Africa. Yet, the work that has been assembled within these pages depicts a comprehensive mix of paintings, sculptures, installations and performance art from an intensely vigorous pantheon. Bruce Onobrakpeya, El Anatsui, Chris Ofili.. Those who come to this book with entrenched ethnographic expectations from African art will have their sop, but the collected artists have moved in quirkily distinct directions with both brilliance and individuality.

The quality of the art reproductions succeed for the coffee-table, but the insightful commentaries that accompany them also provide a sustained philosophy of art as the artists grapple with all the big issues. The 7 million idle guns left over after the Mozambican civil war engage four artists, Kester, Fiel dos Santos, Hilario Nhatugueja and Adelino Mate, who worked on Bishop Sengulane's Swords into Ploughshares project, recycling small arms. The work of South African artist Willie Bester is also consciously political - from the recycled metal sculpture, For Those Left Behind, and the vigorous mixed-media piece, Transition. Congolese, Cheri Samba explores this tradition with his Little Kadogo (Child Soldier) and La Chulte du 3e Baobab. Yet, the haunting pieces are intensely personal. - Like the dreaminess of Gemuce's Grandmother and Granddaughter, or the regal, sphinxlike intricacy of Mohamed Bushara's Untitled, 2006 etching - which was also the cover art of 's debut print edition.

The icons of African art are represented here alongside their less famous - and by this evidence - not less talented compatriots. From Jane Alexander's unsettling mannequins to Yinka Shonibare's hilarious ones. From Algeria, through Sudan to Uganda... it is barely possible to take the pulse of African art in 336 pages but Chris Spring has done so sensitively and with curatorial flair in this important book.

2009 Activities in Summary of Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation

2009-12-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation

The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation (BOF) is an artist led non-governmental organization formed in 1999. BOF's mission is to engender the growth of art and culture through the provision of opportunities for artists to improve themselves through skills acquisition and empowerment, also it seeks to promote and develop public interest in the visual arts by creating awareness for the intrinsic values of African art and its benefits to society. The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation has been an enduring player in the visual arts scene since its inception in Nigeria. It has organized the Amos Tutuola Show, Lagos (2000), the Annual Harmattan Workshop since 1998, and participated at the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) Exhibition, Abuja (2003), Art & Democracy Exhibition, Asaba, Delta State (2004), and the Harvest of the Harmattan Retreat Exhibition organized in collaboration with the Pan African University, Lagos (2004) amongst other programmes. In 2009 BOF collaborated with the Art galleries Association of Nigeria, in the 2009 Art Expo, and the National Gallery of Art organized ARESUVA

Workshop Activities

HARMATTAN ART RETREAT

This year BOF in the month of Feb and March 2009 successfully held the 11th Annual Retreat of Arts called the Harmattan Workshop Series. This remarkable feat should be seen in the context of the fact that The Harmattan Workshop has become the longest running and most consistent annual workshop of its kind in anywhere in Africa. Consistent in the sense that it has taken place on a yearly basis since 1998 except in 2001 at Venue: the Niger Delta Cultural Centre located in Agbarha-Otor, Delta State. The retreat each year welcomes visual artists from all over the world. This year visitors and participants to this artistic retreat hit an all time high of about 1000 from all around the world.
Also for the first time in the summer month of August, between 17th – 31st August, 2009, accommodation and studio space was provided for the 2 weeks where artists could work independently or with other artists without any distraction. This summer pilot test was well received and will become an annual residency for independent artists in the summer months.

Harmattan Gallery

Activities recorded an increase at the Harmattan Workshop gallery situated in Victoria Island, More than in the previous years the gallery registered more activities as art exhibitors, collectors, art collectors, art critics and enthusiasts registered their presence there. The gallery has also made it’s mark as an important centre for viewing art, and as a platform for artistic dialog and discuss. The following exhibitions were recorded during the period.

Spirit of New Oshogbo Art: Artist Rahmon Olugunna : 9th to the 19th of July, 2009.

Exhibition by folklorist painter Rahmon Olugunna, a second generation artist of the famous Oshogbo School of Art.

Rahmon Olugunna, showed 32 vibrant works of oil on canvas in sizes as large as 42 inches x 36 inches. Despite his long apprenticeship to the painter Rufus Ogundele for several years, his recent works indicate an important and innovative departure from the Oshogbo extraordinary Experimental Workshop art style, championed by Ulli Biere in the 60’s, that has produced frontline painters like Adebisi Fabunmi, Muriano Oyelami and Twins Seven Seven amongst others.
The exhibition was opened by Prince Yemisi Shyllon, an avid collector of modern and intriguing art from Nigeria. This exhibition ran for 10 days at the Harmattan

KALEIDOSCOPE : AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY NURUDEEN ODEBIYI 19th to the 29th of September, 2009.

Nurudeen Odebiyi, is a member of the famous Yaba School of Art and also an alumnus of the Harmartan Workshop retreat. He showed 34 works in various sizes, that mirror some facets of the Nigerian and 21st century West African Society. All of the works were created between 2007 to date and done on oil on canvas and acrylic media.

Nurudeen is a product of several artistic influences, the most recent being the Harmattan Workshop Experience, where he attended the artist retreat and Workshop in Delta state in 2004. This experience according to him “gave me tremendous confidence to keep working as an artist, and also expanded my facility to work in several media, and draw ideas not only from urban Nigeria, but also from the countryside.” His works also showed a distinct admiration for the painting styles of Yusuf Grillo and Ablade Glover, 2 important artistic personalities in West Africa, influences which no doubt may have seeped into his works since his painting days at the famous Yaba Art school.
Last year, he was one of the guest artists featured by the Harmattan Gallery at the 2008 Art Expo which was held at the Lagos museum.

The exhibition was opened by Barrister Taslim Animashuan, a collector of Nigerian art, who lives in Nigeria, and has known Odebiyi since his days at the Yaba Art School.

Immigraliens : By Godfrey Okorodus: 10th October – 21st October.
An exhibition of paintings and sculpture : This solo exhibition featured works by Okorodus who is a Nigerian artist based in Belguim.
His exhibition titled , Immigraliens, is coined from the word, “Immigrants” and “Aliens”, two words that accentuate the chasm between two worlds. For some reasons, according to him people move around for the purpose of work, for studies, and more specialized forms of knowledge or political asylum across borders. But for some reasons, a lot of them lack the legal means to embark on such journey and therefore devise other means, including illegal means to ensure they embark on the desperate search for greener pastures. Most often, they are regarded as illegal immigrants in the countries they move to and are usually discriminated against. So they keep moving on and on without definite destinations.
Over the years, living in Europe as an African artist, Godfrey Williams Okorodus has seen first hand the problems that immigrants encounter.
“People come to Europe for different reasons and sometimes when they get there, their aspirations are not met and so they are left in the hand of the authorities who torture them.”
Okorodus who has lived in Europe for about seven years, attempts that with his paintings and sculptured Immigraliens series, he would be able to sensitize the public both in Europe and Nigeria on the need to treat immigrants with a little bit of respect.

This exhibition later traveled to ARESUVA in Abuja, where it was seen by an International audience in the month of Dec. 2009.

Book Launch and Film Production

New Book : Jewels of Nomadic Images
First published: 01/June/2009

DETAILS
439 b/w and colour illustrations196 pages
ISBN: 978-2509-57-4
Binding: Soft Cover
Publisher: Ovuomaroro Studio Press
Subject: African Studies

The book Jewels of Nomadic Images narrates a compelling story, mostly through its richly illustrated pictures, of the immensely fertile artistic landscape of Africa, as seen through the eyes of award winning artist Bruce Onobrakpeya. He seems to be affirming too, that Africa has emerged from its colonial past, and is once again asserting its own identity.

HARMATTAN WORKSHOP DOCUMENTARY FILM ON NIGERIAN ART

Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria 2009
Executive Producer: Bruce Onobrakpeya
Time: 22minutes
Date August 2009

This is a documentary film on the Annual Harmattan Workshop Retreat, now in it's 12th edition, takes place at the Niger Delta Centre Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. It captures various activities connected to the workshop, which has been described as one of the longest running workshop experiences in Africa.
The Harmattan Workshop is a forum where artists have been meeting since 1998 to learn skills, experiment, and exchange ideas for growth, particularly in the visual arts. This was initiated by Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya in Nigeria. The inspiration for its creation came from workshops he attended at Ibadan, Oshogbo and Ile-Ife directed by Ulli Beier in the 60s and early 70s, and the Haystack Mountain School of Arts and Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, USA in 1975, under the directorship of Frank Merrit.

Over the years the Harmattan Workshop has grown to involve local and international participants, creating a network for artistic and cultural development. The documentary shows interviews with Prof. Perkins Foss, Bruce Onobrakpeya and several participants of the workshop Experience, and shows clipses of very rarely seen panoramic shots and views of the studio, workspace and workshop areas inside the Niger Delta, which was designed by noted architect Demas Nwoko, an old friend of Bruce Onobrakpeya.

COLLABORATIONS

BOF COLABORATED AND PARTNERED WITH SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS, BOF collaborated with SNA, VASON, Bonhams Auction House, National Art Gallery of Art and Art House to mention but a few.

International Art Expo Nigeria 2009: Aug 22-30, 2009

The Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, Art Galleries Association of Nigeria (AGAN) in conjunction with The National Gallery of Art, (NGA) Abuja, staged from Aug 22-30, 2009 the International Art Expo Nigeria, which was the second art fair of its kind in Nigeria. This fair took place at the National Museum Onikan, Lagos. The fair is conceptualized to be an annual event for the Visual Arts sector, and a tool for promoting Nigerian visual art market to the international market.
This year the Harmattan Gallery celebrated it’s founder Bruce onobrakpeya’s 50 year of active studio practice, by featuring the works of 2 International Nigerian artist, namely Olusegun Fayemi, an experimental photographer based in New York, and Godfrey Okorodus from Belguim. About 40 galleries across Nigeria showed artworks, with over 100 artists cutting across several generations of artists featuring works of art through the galleries. Also in participation was the West African country, Republic of Benin.

The year ended with the 2009 presentation of the Prince Claus Fund award to the Nigerian/Ghanaian artist El Anatsui at the Dutch Embassy in Victoria Island on the 18th of Dec 2009. The award was accompanied by a modest purse of 25,000 euros, a befitting tribute to an artist whose works, while in Nigeria in the last 35 years has influenced a lot of younger artists. The event was attended by several dignitaries including the chairman of BOF, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya who celebrated this year 2009, 50years of artistic practice in Nigeria. In the words of the chairman of BOF, “El Anatsui’s work has not only impacted on several upcoming artists, but his work continues to impact on, even his peers. It is this kind of relevance and creativity that institutionally the Harmattan workshop Series strives to rekindle and replicate in the contemporary art of Africa.”

Seasons' Greetings

2009-12-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

Wishes You a Beautiful Christmas

&

New Year full of Joy & Prosperity!

Thank you for your patronage throughout the year.

Warmest Greetings

Harmattan Workshop Gallery

10 Elsie Femi Pearse street,
Victoria island Lagos, Nigeria

website: www.bofoundation.org

email: Bofound.ng@gmail.com

Call for National Endowment for the Arts

2009-12-20T09:20:00.001-08:00

Abati's views exactly coincide with my thoughts on the weakness of our government in not having a special fund set aside for the Arts and Humanities. Without a fund of this nature, one of the logical consequences is that, as a nation we cannot expect long term sustenanace of truly prodigious talent in the arts.

Happy reading

Guardian Newspapers

Editorial
Friday, December 11, 2009

Lessons from the Kennedy Centre
By Reuben Abati

THIS week in Washington DC, United States, politics extended a warm handshake to culture in typical American tradition, as President Barack Obama at the 2009 Kennedy Centre Awards honoured five icons of the American cultural establishment: Grace Bumbry, the opera singer, Dave Brubeck, the jazz musician, Mel Brooks, the writer and director, Bruce Springsteen, the rock star and actor, Robert de Niro. The Kennedy Centre Awards is one of the major recognitions of the contribution of cultural figures to the definition and promotion of American culture and spirit.

To an ordinary American, the Kennedy Centre event may seem routine, for at every turn, the American political establishment acknowledges the value of culture and its capacity to humanise, even more importantly, its embodiment of the essential American spirit. So it is that prominent American actors and actresses are sent to the war-front to inspire the boys and cultural figures see themselves as national ambassadors. Brubeck and Springsteen were cultural ambassadors for the US during the Cold War years. They used their music to sell America.

It was both fear and respect for arts and culture that resulted in the McCarthy inquisition of the fifties when artists who showed any kind of Communist leaning were labelled enemies of the United States. Without any doubt, America has had its own difficult moments and there are probably many Americans who distrust the Political Establishment's seeming romance with the Cultural Establishment. But the understated truth is that, either overtly or covertly, writers, actors, journalists, sportsmen, film directors, scholars, indeed anyone involved in the art of cultural expression are co-opted into the American Project.

It is not necessarily America's nuclear warheads that define it, but Coca-Cola, CNN, its architecture, its musical geniuses, poets and so on. No Presidential inauguration for example is complete without poetry and music. Because America does not joke with its cultural producers, it is able to capture the world through their genius. On Sunday, December 6, it was not just five performing arts icons that were honoured in Washington, DC, it was the entire American cultural establishment. The honorees were treated to dinners, to performances and to Presidential attention and tributes. An American President who listened to Brubeck's music as a young man, another President who had read Robert Frost or Toni Morrison, or Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams or F. Scott Fitzgerald is likely to have a sense of nation and a bigger sense of humanity and of the American Age. "We worked really hard for our music to be part of American life and our fans' lives... So it's acknowledgement that you've kind of threaded your way into the culture in a certain way. It's satisfying", Bruce Springsteen, 2009 Kennedy Centre honoree said.

The first stanza of this statement may be borrowed and put in the mouths of any major Nigerian artist or cultural worker. The difference is in the second stanza: the absence of acknowledgement, the kind of acknowledgement that America showers upon its cultural icons. Nigeria may be a problematic country (no regular electricity supply, corruption walking on high stilts, ethnic dissension, sectarian crises, doubts about the country itself), but it is way ahead and ranks with some of the most privileged countries in the world in the area of human talent. Cultural producers advertise the infinite capacity of human imagination and the creativity of individual talent.

Nigeria has more than a fair share. This after all is the country of Orlando Martins, the Nigerian who acted in British movies more than 60 years ago. It is the country of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, J.P. Clark, Ben Okri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Niyi Osundare, Hubert Ogunde... We have men and women could beat the drum so well even spirits would assume human form and dance. We have fine artists who can turn space into living images - this is the country of Ben Enwonwu, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Chris Ofili, Akin Fakeye, Yusuf Grillo, Aina Onabolu, Ladi Kwali... Our rich cultural lives have been transformed into a thousand lyrical images through sheer artistry.

For generations, ordinary Nigerians have had their lives enriched by home-made music of various genres. It is with great excitement that Nigerians, who know, recall the music of Rex Lawson, Osita Osadebe, Oliver de Coque, Sir Warrior, Nico Mbarga, Inyang Henshaw, Bobby Benson, Roy Chicago, Victor Olaiya, Zeal Onyia, Ebenezer Obey, Orlando Owoh, King Sunny Ade, Sonny Oti, Dan Maraya, Shina Peters, Prince Adekunle, Haruna Isola, I.K. Dairo, Ayinla Omowura, Yusuf Olatunji, ... If these were Americans, they would have been honoured many times over and properly iconised for their expansion of the scope of human freedom and creativity. Recent successes in the movie industry in Nigeria, that is Nollywood, have generated much interest appropriately and it is a phenomenon that is worth celebrating.

There has also been similar explosion of talent and genius, albeit of uneven and tentative quality, in the hip hop genre. Nigeria can equally boast of sports men and women, architects, journalists and so on who over the years have helped to define the Nigerian spirit and shape identities. Next year, when Nigeria celebrates its 50 years of independence, a few of those cultural workers will be remembered, their posters will be displayed, but it shall be a hollow recognition put together for effect, not necessarily because there is a proper acknowledgement in official corridors of the value of the arts as great vehicles for national development.

Every serious country treats its artists with respect. As it is in the United States, so it is in Germany, the United Kingdom and even modern-day China and Japan etc. It is not an accident that those societies where cultural workers are oppressed and their art, repressed are often underdeveloped or jinxed. The scope of human freedom in a society can be measured through the quality of environment for cultural expression. The attitude in Nigeria over the decades in official circles, has been to treat cultural workers as beggars or interlopers who must be controlled. Cultural symbols are left to waste, opportunities for constructing the architectonics of our collective heritage are squandered. Nigerians know about Elvis Presley. In the United States, he is revered in god-like fashion. When Michael Jackson died, Nigerians mourned as if a part of their lives had been excised.

At the 2009 Kennedy Awards event, President Barack Obama, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, since 1978 and even longer, acknowledged the supremacy of the cultural side of things: "These performers are indeed the best. They are also living reminders of a single truth - and I am going to steal a line from my wife Michelle here - the arts are not somehow apart from our national life, the arts are the heart of our national life." There are Nigerian performers too that are truly the best in conveying the truth. Excellence is represented by the poetry of Soyinka, J.P. Clark, Christopher Okigbo, Niyi Osundare, Odia Ofeimun, Ogaga Ifowodo, Funso Aiyejina, Tanure Ojaide... Nothing can be more soul-lifting than an encounter with an Onobrakpeya or Enwonwu. Fela is Nigerian. But there is no official monument in his honour. There is no official library where anyone can access the evergreen works of our musical icons.

Bobby Benson used to be the soul of party life in Lagos. His club on Ikorodu road (Caban Bamboo/Hotel Bobby) was the epicentre of culture. In another country, that building would have been preserved and a proper cenotaph erected in Bobby Benson's memory. But it has since been pulled down. It became a watering hole for miscreants and an urban planning nuisance. Soon, it will be replaced by a church or bank - two signs of the times. Fela used to live in a place known as Kalakuta Republic around Mushin. It should have been preserved. But no one has thought of that. All our artistes, dead, dying and living, have been forgotten. When they are remembered by the state, either at public events, or during the annual National Honours Awards, or the equivalents in the states, they are treated as if they are being done a favour. The gesture is more about the politician, or ethnic politics, or profit, not the artist.

Hence, many of the artistes are not even interested in the acknowledgement of their contributions by governments that have failed the people. China Achebe rejected his National Award for example. The Nigerian Establishment can learn a lesson or two from the way America treat its cultural heroes and this, in spite of American contradictions. Our country must move from the Age of Darkness to the Age of Enlightenment and beyond. It is only in the Dark Age, where Nigeria seems trapped, that government would put a noose around the neck of a Ken Saro-Wiwa and snuff life out of him, without proper trial, without fair hearing.

It is a sign of Darkness that in 2009, a government agency called INEC will use public funds to place newspaper advertorials to abuse Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka for daring to criticize electoral commission and its boss. The D.O Fagunwa family had a memorial event for the writer a few days ago, at the University of Lagos; there was no official acknowledgement. Our ballot box-snatching, vote-rigging politicians, who should know, have never heard of D.O. Fagunwa. So, don't ask them about Amos Tutuola either, or Christopher Okigbo. The spread of cultural illiteracy is worsened by the refusal to teach history in Nigerian schools. In many states, history is not in the curriculum. A country where history is a taboo subject buries its own memory and commits the sin of forgetting.

Nothing prods the memory and our conscience more than culture and the arts. It is why America reads poetry at every Presidential inauguration. It is why the streets of America are littered with stone-marks of historical locations and moments. It is why the Germans preserve the birth places and living quarters of their cultural icons. It is also why the struggle for saving Nigeria must be pursued in addition to other necessary battles at the cultural front. There is a National Museum in Onikan, Lagos. It is more famous as a parking lot; with about N100, you can park your car there while sorting out business in the neighbourhood. On weekends, the grounds are hired out for those endless owambe parties. There is no point attempting a comparison with the equivalents in other parts of the world.

Another sign: recently, Prof. Dora Akunyili, the Information and Communications Minister drew the ire of Nollywood actors and producers when she accused them of portraying Nigeria negatively in their movies, by focusing on voodoo and crime. This is typical Nigerian response to culture and the arts. But the expectation that culture must serve the purpose of propaganda, as dictated by officialdom, is wrong-headed. The starting point for government should be in the shape of more meaningful engagement with the cultural sector.

Nigeria cultural producers need encouragement in the form of policies, initiatives (such as Endowment Funds) and institutions which promote talent and freedom, not restrictive laws which are targeted at the exact opposite. Now and again, we hear stories of Nigeria's "best" living in penury, completely forgotten by the society that they had served so well with their talents. If Dave Brubeck, 89, and Mel Brooks, 83, were Nigerians they would have long been forgotten. The difference is one of culture and social values.

OLUSEGUN FAYEMI EXHIBITS AT THE NIGER DELTA CULTURAL CENTRE, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

2009-11-07T01:24:00.000-08:00

EXHIBITION TITLED: REFLECTIONS AT THE NIGER DELTA CULTURAL CENTRE, AGBARHA –OTOR, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA. FEB AND MARCH 2010.

Olusegun Fayemi is a professor of pathology at the New York University, and also self taught experimental multi media artist and photographer with over 35 years experience in the area of photography. He is very widely travelled inside and outside Africa. This exhibition titled REFLECTIONS is primarily a social documentary of Sub Saharan Africa, and will show 32 works.

According to Fayemi

“My art articulates what I find as the realities and essence of contemporary Africa and Africans. These images traverse a wide spectrum in the rhythm of the daily lives of the African: from the resplendent attire of the African woman in Djenne market to the teeming thousands of people at Oshodi market; from the somber atmosphere in the subterranian churches in Lalibela to women dressed in brilliantly coloured aso-ebi dancing to popular praise songs in Anglican church in Abeokuta; from children playing with home-made toys to crowded classrooms across the continent; from pounding yam in Accra to grinding grains in Addis Ababa, from street minstrels and itinerant musicians in Lagos to street and open air dancing in Dakar. While many of these images are universal, others are distinctly and uniquely African in content and flavour revealing timeless narratives of how Africans live and the nuaces that shape their lives.”

His exhibition will be accompanied by 2 exhibition catalogues

Window to the Soul : Photographs celebrating African Women (Albofa Press, NY)
Voices from within: Photographs of African Children Albofa Press, NY)

Fayemi has exhibited in North America at the
Califonia State University, Fullerton, CA.
Cincinnati Musuem Cincinnati Ohio 2008
Temple University Philadelphia

In Nigeria at the
Quintessence Gallery 2008
Art Expo at the National Museum 2008 and 2009
Goethe Institut Lagos 2009

He is married with children.

Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation: Capacity Building

2009-10-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation: Educational and Capacity Building Activities

The objective is to solicit funds for the various areas of activities of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation BOF), which namely are

1. Documentation and Research into Contemporary Nigerian Art.
2. Industrial Attachment/Training Facilities.
3. Artist in Residence Facilities.
4. Exhibitions of Artworks and Seminars.

The need has arisen to provide and preserve a lasting legacy for even generations unborn of Nigerians of the artistic works and aesthetic artistic visual landmarks (paintings, sculptures, etchings, drawings, prose) and of the renowned Nigerian artist, who has worked as a professional artist, a period preceding even preceding Nigeria's political independence.

The second need is to preserve over 2000 pieces of unique antiques and artifacts valued at several tens of thousands of dollars collected by Bruce Onobrakpeya all through his professional life as an artist, at various phases of his career, some of these collected as far back as his student days in Zaria in Northern Nigeria, pieces of folk art, that may have served as a basis for inspiration and models for his contemporary pieces and Designs, in his chosen medium of print making and painting.

Thirdly creating an educational forum, where artists can in a non-formal way interact, through a forum for sharing, skill and talent recognition and exchange of ideas in individual and group discussions with several Artists at different levels of professional development

Finally to make available research results and documentation materials on contemporary Nigerian art Available to all, hat different levels of students can benefit from this vast and extensive resource base of books collected in the area of the visual art and Nigerian contemporary art collected by Bruce Onobrakpeya since his student days in Zaira, Nigeria in the 1950's.

the plan will be to have

A Gallery of Contemporary Art
Folk Art Museum for the Civilization of the Niger Delta
Annual Hamattan Workshop Series/Exhibition/Lectures and Seminars Documentation Centre Reference Library

1. Bruce Onobrakpeya Collection of Experimental Art Works The aim of the collection is to preserve and display for public enjoyment and studies fine examples of Bruce Onobrakpeya's art works produced through the process called "experiments" and "metamorphosis". The collection will have drawings, plates, moulds and pieces which are not necessarily finished, but are valuable because they show various stages of artistic development. The collection will come from Bruce Onobrakpeya's donation and from donations or loans by my family and in future collectors. This permanent display will not be limited to Agharha-Otor, some of the pieces will be shown at the Lagos Annexes of Papa Ajao and Ejigbo.

2. Collection of Folk Art (Folk Art Museum) The collection of over 2,000 pieces of folk and antique art which has been gradually assembled over the years, is for the purpose of study and inspiration,
for creation of art works. The objects come mainly from Nigeria and West Africa hence the subtitle "

The Museum of the Civilization of the Niger Delta" Pieces from other parts of Africa are also in the collection. These will increase with time, although the main focus will always be West Africa.

Bruce Onbrakpeya's Collection of Contemporary Art: The collection is made up of art works of Nigerian and foreign artists already in my possession. It will focus on the historical development of Nigerian prints. It will grow with the acquisition of unique example of art pieces including those which emerge from various art workshops like the Annual Harmattan Workshop Series.

Harmattan Workshops
The Agbarha-Otor centre will run annual workshops which will primarily introduce techniques to interested participants who will
be invited from time to time. The workshops will also serve as forum to bring artists together both to share ideas and inspire one another. This workshops have been proven to provide a forum for interaction, skill and talent recognition, as different artists will converge at the Workshop each year, to encourage the exploration of artistic expr-essions .The Workshop also proposes to be a focal point for the new art forms of expression, and traditional ones to create a synthesis. This synthesis will have components whichintegrate ever- evolving technology. In so doing this workshop will become a forum for continually defining new ideas, and at the same time facilitate the celebration various art cultures in Nigeria and elsewhere.

5. Library and Auditorium/Conference Centre as a temporary measure, space will be created in the first phase for reference books and an auditorium. Unprecedented increase in the costs of library books, periodicals and materials have made library development a serious concern for a lot of libraries across the country. The Bruce Onobrakpeya Reference Centre is no exception. Eventually proper Library and Reference Centre will be built to house a library as well as create forum for seminars, symposia, slide shows, lectures, films, folktales and musical demonstrations. This will be invaluable to student and scholars. For research and dissertation writing, documentation and seminars.

6. Ejigbo Annex (extension of the studio and gallery at Papa Ajao, Lagos) will cater for industrial a trainees, and Artist in Residence or exchange schol
ars. A new feature to be introduced will be the running of print edition by studio master printmakers or by guest artists themselves.
The results of these are plentiful and numerous

The Folk Museum
The collection shown side by with Bruce Onobrakeya pieces will aid the study and understanding of creative process founded on the philosophy of synthesis. The collection of the folk art works and evidence of material civilizat
ion which is an on-going process, will also serve as reference to folk and contemporary literature.

The Harmattan Workshop There will be Annual artistic retreats tagged The Harmattan Workshop. This will the gap for an educational forum where artists ca
n interact and share ideas in a non formal environment and benefit from the beauty of the environment of the Delta.

The Bruce Onobrakpeya Collection: The fairly wide gamut of the different techniques/media of Bruce Onobrakpeya will be experienced under one roof. The various era and period that have characterizedhis works will be displayed and made available for all and sundry to see.

Library and Conference Centre: Library and Conference Facilities Reference materials and cutting edge books on African art and other areas will be available for students at various levels to benefit from. These will include slides, journals periodicals monographs etc..

Artist in Residence Facilities This will allow for artist in Residence facilities where scholars and visitors or exchange programs can come and work up to 3 months.
These programmes and including the infrastructure have become so capital intensive and increasingly difficult to continue. By wholly or partially contributing your gifts or donation to make it possible to purchase the technology, equipment and
infrastructure development needed for the activities.

You are invited be a friend and help the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation meet the challenges of building a strong institution, founded on the alternate education style of seminars, symposia, workshop, residency programmes and exhibitions. your generous support to this course will ensure that many budding artists will not only have a fulfilling career, but will also become a positive influence on the society.

Together we can make a long-term commitment that will help the BOF continue its programmes of training, and nurturing first class artists.

Spirit of New Oshogbo Art: Artist Rahmon Olugunna

2009-09-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 25th July 2009

FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: IFEOMA FAFUNWA
0803 525 1016

GALLERY: HARMATTAN GALLERY
MUDIARE ONOBRAKPEYA
0705 634 6458

HARMATTAN GALLERY WELCOMES THE SPIRIT OF NEW OSHOGBO ART : AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY RAHMON OLUGUNNA

The Harmattan Workshop Gallery is pleased to announce it’s first exhibition for the summer months of 2009, an exhibition of the vivid and folkloric art of painter Rahmon Olugunna, a second generation artist of the famous Oshogbo School of Art.

Rahmon Olugunna, will show 32 vibrant works of oil on canvas in sizes as large as 42 inches x 36 inches. Despite his long apprenticeship to the painter Rufus Ogundele for several years.Despite his long apprenticeship to the painter Rufus Ogundele for several years, his recent works indicate an important and innovative departure from the Oshogbo extraordinary Experimental Workshop art style, championed by Ulli Biere in the 60’s, that has produced frontline painters like Adebisi Fabunmi, Muriano Oyelami and Twins Seven Seven amongst others.

The artist calls this forthcoming exhibition, which is also his first solo “The New Spirit of Oshogbo Art” and attempts to incorporate many of the elements of style and composition of classic modern Oshogbo art into his creations. His works, not surprisingly have themes and titles that celebrate his Yoruba worldview like Spirit people, masquerades, women, animals etc…and are often clearly treated as semi or full abstractions, with outline colours of mostly black, large brush strokes of blue and indigo colours, that can also be found in the famous tye dye cloth from Yorubaland called Adire Eleko.

Rahmon’s works according to Ifeoma Fafunwa who now lives in Nigeria, are characterized unlike a lot of his Oshogbo forebearers art, by confident images, which show sure brush strokes, that have colours of high complementality. These tonal colour qualities give a certain sense of vibration in his art, which are quite reminiscent of muted neon lights. A notable departure from earthy colours that have almost always defined the Oshogbo painters Examples of this rendition and colour appeal in his art, can be found in Monkey in the Forest, Little Leopard, Three women and Shango People.

She continues by saying “Rahmon’s works have for a couple of years now begun to enjoy quite a following since his professional start at the Lekki market, where his works were first spoted and noted as distinctively art and not craft,…..more art-lovers have since taken to to his style which often times have drawn it’s inspiration from natures beauty, his culture and heritage”

His folkloric paintings are now in the permanent Collections of the Richard Singletary Gallery, in Portsmouth, Virginia, the collection of Chike Obianwu., and some of his works are included in the important collection of Torch Taire in Nigeria, not to mention a number of prominent collectors in the UK.Worthy of mention is that his recent works represent a departure from his native Oshogbo style, this departure, may have been accentuated by his recent stint of almost 24 months travel, away from Oshogbo, freelancing, showing and exhibiting in several galleries, in U.K., and by so doing opening himself to new design formats and cultural cross influences, that may have seeped into his art.

Rahmon’s works, are clearly a welcome development to the immensely fertile artistic landscape of Oshogbo paintings, which have provided him, with a fertile bedrock and pedestal for his growth and development, as an important second generation Oshogbo artist. His art shows an eloquent command of subject matter, and indeed powerful interpretations of many Oshogbo imagery, Yoruba folklore and world view, that have been widened by his thoughts on canvas.

The exhibition will be opened by Prince Yemisi Shyllon, an avid collector of modern and intriguing art from Nigeria. This exhibition will run for 10 days at the Harmattan Gallery from the 9th to the 19th of July, 2009. The Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday 10:00 to 6:00. and Sundays 2:00 to 6:00.

-END-

HARMATTAN GALLERY WELCOMES N. ODEBIYI

2009-09-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

HARMATTAN GALLERY WELCOMES KALEIDOSCOPE : AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY NURUDEEN ODEBIYI

The Harmattan Workshop Gallery is pleased to announce a solo Exhibition of the works of painter Nurudeen Odebiyi, a member of the famous Yaba School of Art.

Nurudeen Odebiyi, will show 34 works in various sizes, that mirror some facets of the Nigerian and 21st century West African Society. All of the works have been created between 2007 to date and done on oil on canvas and acrylic media.

Nurudeen is a product of several artistic influences, the most recent being the Harmattan Workshop Experience, where he attended the artist retreat and Workshop in Delta state in 2004. This experience according to him “gave me tremendous confidence to keep working as an artist, and also expanded my facility to work in several media, and draw ideas not only from urban Nigeria, but also from the countryside.” His works also show a distinct admiration for the painting styles of Yusuf Grillo and Ablade Glover, 2 important artistic personalities in West Africa, influences which no doubt may have seeped into his works since his painting days at the famous Yaba Art school.

Many of Odebiyi’s works in this exhibition seem to suggest, his fascination for urban beauty, culture and his heritage. Themes connected to the celebration of feminity, like fragmented Headgear, Dancing in the Sun and, Party Time, are explored in his work. His piece New Mode of Transport, Oshodi, Hustle and Bustle show how good governance has changed the face of transportation in the city of Lagos, over the last couple of years. Finally Thirst, Reflection and Untitled show his concern for our deteriorating environment. His paintings which are clearly located in modern society, demonstrate his powerful interpretations of his Lagos and indeed West African world view, that have been widened by his thoughts on canvas.

Odebiyi is perhaps at his best showing shapes, forms and colours in his art, that shows a portrait of everyday people. His palette is one of mostly warm colours, whch are often applied in thick and heavy layers of non transparent colours. They show his delight in the quality of sunlight found in the tropics. He has also in the exhibition, shown an inroad into experimenting in cubism, a style which was made popular by several great western artists.

Since leaving the advertising industry where he worked straight after art school, for several years, with such artists as Oguigo Edosa, Oyerinde Olotu and Kehinde Sanwo in 1992, Odebiyi has now become a full time studio and freelance artist with an impressive career record of several group shows. They include shows at Giraj Gallery, Geobi Gallery, and the inaugural maiden show held by Mydrim gallery in Ikoyi Lagos. In 2004, he also exhibited with several renowned artists at the Harmattan Workshop Exhibition titled Harvest of the Harmattan Retreat, which took place at the Pan African University, Lagos. Last year, he was one of the guest artists featured by the Harmattan Gallery at the 2008 Art Expo which was held at the Lagos museum.

The exhibition will be opened by Barrister Taslim Animashuan, a collector of Nigerian art, who lives in Nigeria, and has known Odebiyi since his days at the Yaba Art School. This exhibition will run for 10 days at the Harmattan Gallery from the 19th to the 29th of September, 2009. The Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday 10:00 to 6:00. and Sundays 2:00 to 6:00.

2010 HARMATTAN ART WORKSHOP

2009-09-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

The 12th Harmattan Workshop
Agbarha-Otor 2010
1st Session: February 14th- 27th, 2nd Session: February 28th -13th, 3rd Session: March 14th - 27th 2010.
Venue: Niger Delta Cultural Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State.

Workshop Sections
Painting, Printmaking, Metal Construction, Wood Sculpture, Stone Carving, Mixed Media, Textiles, Leather Craft, Jewelry, Drawing, Ceramics and Photography. There will be seminars, film shows and excursions. (Certificates will be issued to participants.)

Workshop Fees: N15, 000.00 per non student participant; N10,000.00 per student participant.
$300.00 for international participant.
( Fee covers 2 weeks accommodation and supply of materials only. )
Payments should be made to: Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation acct. no. 0151050000020 Union Bank.
Only bank tellers evidencing payment would be accepted for registration.

Presentation of Papers
Interested participants who wish to present papers on Workshop themes are to apply the Workshop registrar at least 48 hours before date of presentation. Papers presented are strictly to adhere to Workshop themes.

For enquiries contact:
The Director
The Harmattan Workshop
Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation
41, Oloje Street
Papa Ajao, Mushin,Lagos
or
10, Elsie Femi Pearse Street
Victoria Island, Lagos.
0806 079 5466, 0705 634 6458 or 0803 310 0344.

DOCUMENTARY ON NIGERIAN ART

2009-09-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

HARMATTAN WORKSHOP DOCUMENTARY FILM ON NIGERIAN ART

Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria 2009
Executive Producer: Bruce Onobrakpeya
Time: 22minutes
Price: $10.00

The Annual Harmattan Workshop Retreat, now in it's 12th edition, takes place at the Niger Delta Centre Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. It has also been described as one of the longest running workshop experiences in Africa.

The Harmattan Workshop is a forum where artists have been meeting since 1998 to learn skills, experiment, and exchange ideas for growth, particularly in the visual arts. This was initiated by Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya in Nigeria. The inspiration for its creation came from workshops he attended at Ibadan, Oshogbo and Ile-Ife directed by Ulli Beier in the 60s and early 70s, and the Haystack Mountain School of Arts and Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, USA in 1975, under the directorship of Frank Merrit.

Over the years the Harmattan Workshop has grown to involve local and international participants, creating a network for artistic and cultural development.
The documentary shows interviews with Prof. Perkins Foss, Bruce Onobrakpeya and several participants of the workshop Experience, and shows clipses of very rarely seen panoramic shots and views of the studio, workspace and workshop areas inside the Niger Delta, which was designed by noted architect Demas Nwoko, an old friend of Bruce Onobrakpeya.

FILM ON NIGERIAN ART

2009-09-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

HARMATTAN WORKSHOP
Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria
Introduction by Bruce Onobrakpeya
Executive Producer: Bruce Onobrakpeya

The Harmattan Workshop, a forum where artists have been meeting since 1998 to learn skills, experiment, and exchange ideas for growth particularly in the visual arts was initiated by Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya in Nigeria. The inspiration for its creation came from workshops he attended at Ibadan, Oshogbo and Ile-Ife directed by Ulli Beier in the 60s and early 70s, and the Haystack Mountain School of Arts and Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, USA in 1975 under the directorship of Frank Merrit.

Over the years the Harmattan Workshop has grown to involve local and international participants creating a network for artistic and cultural development.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ART

2009-09-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ART
by Bruce Onobrakpeya

I am a great believer that the artistic community will begin to fully realize the promises of this nation, when it recognises the economic empowerment that can come from the enlightened use of the arts to leverage change for the good of the entire Nigeria.

OPENING
Entrepreneurship in art maybe defined as the innovativeness and endeavours of any person to bring artistic products to the market over time with a goal of securing profit. The main goal of the entrepreneur should be to add value to the production of cultural goods like fine art works, textile etc.. in a way that make them extremely attractive to the customer, to make them want to acquire these products. Entrepreneurs are also people who enjoy the opportunity to change the world around them. They often do this by looking for areas where they can render services, to the generality of people who may not be having their needs met at all or well enough, especially in the cultural and artistic sphere. Successful entrepreneurs are therefore necessarily problem solvers, as they convert opportunities, which when solved, bring products or services to the market, that add value or premium to the lives of the customer, and by so doing make profit.

MIDDLE
Traditionally the artist has done quite a number of these activities without giving serious thoughts to them. But a cursory look at many developed societies, indicate a landscape where there are a lot of people actively involved in the enterprise of art.

The areas of opportunities are clearly in exhaustible, however new trends seem to exist in several areas.
The opportunities that exist to bring new products to the market are generally at 3 levels, which the entrepreneur can take advantage of

Individual Collectors: People often purchase fine art for their personal enjoyment, whether for themselves or the enjoyment of others such as when they give gifts. Decisions regarding how much money should be spent and what kind of piece, will be appropriate, how many pieces will be purchased are often made.
This means that the entrepreneur has the opportunity to focus the needs of the individual, and help to select works. The specific knowledge of lifestyle, preferences and needs, will enable the person to give customised attention to these clients, and in the process add value through their services to the collector.

In this category will be art dealer galleries, and art advisors who generally earn a commission from the value of artwork purchased.

Corporate Collectors: Corporations, small companies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, purchase the arts primarily to decorate their workspace. They also give commemorative gifts to their corporate guests. Professionals are often hired to recommend particular artworks that meet a certain set of pre determined criteria set up by the company. Larger businesses may also invest in art as a means of making use of additional cash in hand. Fine art purchases are generally made when there is a major event that requires documentation through art, such as with the opening of a new headquarters, or other corporate milestone. Occasionally, Corporations have been known to buy art for investments, with large portfolios of a wide variety of art in their collection. The entrepreneur will do well to take advantage of this kind of ample opportunity to present artistic products and works of fine art.

Government At different levels whether local government, City, State or even National. The government is involved in the purchase of arts. Election of a new government, anniversary celebrations, hosting of festivals, announcements of new parks, squares, town halls or public facility, and even visiting dignitaries from abroad, create occasion to celebrate and create memorable events. This should generate a tremendous opportunity for art entrepreneurs. These events bring in quite a wide range of people, and often times the government is interested in impressing it’s citizenry through the use of art that is capable of engaging and impressing it’s people. Commissioned city squares, art in building interiors and souvenirs and various forms of documentation, create these opportunities.

Not surprising we can suggest that people who have skills or are engaged in the following areas amongst others, have opportunities to leverage the fine arts especially for profit. Galleries/Dealers, Art Advisory Services, Curatorial Services, Frame makers, Interior Design Experts, Insurance Agents, Tour guides, Book craft /Magazines Publishers, Auction Houses, Event planners to mention but a few.

CONCUSION

What is clear is that the artist like most professionals of today, need s a lot of cross training in areas other than creativity. This will guarantee a more robust platform for the arts to thrive, the artist must be prepared to take courses and classes in business, management, law, and be alert to new ideas. In doing this, we will begin to move closer to a time when most artists, will be empowered as Entrepreneurs in the Art. Indeed if history is anything to go by, the creative inspirations of the civilizations of Nok, Igbo- Ukwu, Ife , Owo, Benin and the lower Niger, also have provided a continuum in creative goods and the evolution of Nigeria contemporary art that should be a fertlile ground for Entrepreneurship in the art to thrive.

Thank you