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.”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Seasons' Greetings
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
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Call for National Endowment for the Arts
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.
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.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
OLUSEGUN FAYEMI EXHIBITS AT THE NIGER DELTA CULTURAL CENTRE, DELTA STATE, NIGERIA
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.
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.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation: Capacity Building
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.
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.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Spirit of New Oshogbo Art: Artist Rahmon Olugunna
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-
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
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.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
2010 HARMATTAN ART WORKSHOP
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
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
NIGERIAN ART RIVALS THE VERY BEST IN THE WORLD
INVESTING IN NIGERIAN ART
by Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya
being text of speech given at a reception organized by old students of St. Gregory’s College, Lagos, in the United States to the The St. Gregory’s College Alumni Foundation, in New York, on 16th August 2008, where Dr. Onobrakpeya was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award ).
More than ever before, the climate is very favourable for investing in Nigerian art. Nigerian art, traditional and modern, is regarded as some of the best in the world and our artists are creating masterpieces which are being collected in Nigeria and all over the world. There can be no better time than now for anyone intending to invest to step in and make his mark.
But why invest in Nigerian art of all art in the first instance? After all there are various areas open to investment opportunities in our dear country which has been variously described as an emerging market of late. The answer to this may not be far fetched. The very word ‘invest’ means there is a return to be expected by the investor. Art has also earned the reputation, in the way stocks do as commodity that holds value and appreciates over time, and traded when the need arises. Then, I would say, Nigerian art is a unique brand of art. Since the British invasion of Benin a little over a century ago, Nigerian art has come to be appreciated and sought after by collectors all over the world. The Benin and Ife bronze, the Nok terra cotta, the Igbo Ukwu artifacts, to mention a few, are some example of the traditional exquisite art of Nigeria to be found in leading museums in the world. We also have the work of Ben Enwonwu, Erhabor Emokpae, Lamidi Fakeye, Uche Okeke, Yusuf Grillo, and a host of others representing modern and contemporary Nigerian art in the collection of connoisseurs.
Billionaire Paul Getty, a great art collector in his lifetime described fine art as the finest investment one can make. Could he have exaggerated? He spoke of a particular painting he bought for $200 but was worth about a million dollars or thereabout some twenty-five years later. This is how art could sometimes be. In Nigeria, there are different fora where art collectors and artists meet. There are galleries with secondary art market facilities that have emerged on the scene and the art market is fairly organized. The sale of art works has now entered the phase of auctions which help to determine the actual value of works.
Buying or investing in art wisely, though not requiring specialized skills, yet is very necessary for one to go about it carefully especially if one is a novice. An individual must first make up his mind about what media and periods please him most. He should then learn about them, and the more he learns the better. Even people with modest budgets could buy of art that could turn out to be excellent investments in beauty, pleasure and, also in the financial sense. I know several individuals who have paid token prices for works of art, and have then watched the value of their art balloon. This is because it is often possible to buy good art from relatively unknown and lesser artists, and before long the fortune of the artists change and their pieces collected at modest prices suddenly appreciate in value. I also know of Nigerians and foreigners who anytime they are traveling out of Nigeria come to my gallery to buy low priced art. On getting to their destination, they sell the art at good profit.
There is a warning to sound with regard to what I have discussed above. It has to do with the issue of fakes. Fakes, counterfeits or copies exist in Nigeria as they exist elsewhere and this is for the simple reason that people would want to acquire at all cost art pieces of successful artists.
Investing in Nigerian art could be taken to another level different from merely buying art pieces. Investing in art could come in the form of provision of the right equipment, facilities and infrastructure for the artists to work with. Permit me to refer you to what I am doing back home in Nigeria. The Harmattan Workshop is an annual workshop that takes place every year in my home town in Agbarha Otor, Delta state. It is the only informal education setup for the visual art in Nigeria and has been in existence since 1998. We have been privileged to have some individuals and corporate organizations partner with us in this regard, of which the Ford Foundation is in the forefront. Opportunities still abound in the area of provision of other infrastructural facilities like museums especially for modern and contemporary art, biennales like we have in other Dakar, Senegal, Paris, France, India and Brazil. These are areas that are waiting for private investment initiatives and I can say that investors will reap handsomely in these areas. Nigerian artists want exposure through exhibitions abroad. Investors would be rewarded for it when they come into contractual agreement with Nigerian artists.
Over the years (since Nigeria’s independence in 1960), individuals like Sammy Olagbaju, Omo Oba Yemisi Shyllon, Emmanuel Olisambu, Rasheed Gbadamosi, etc, have invested a lot of money to build up enviable collections of works of art. Some have even established NGOs dedicated to art. Taken together, these constitute huge investments in Nigerian Art.
Another impetus towards investment in Nigerian art came with the introduction of art auctions, the first of which was conducted by the Nimbus Gallery at the Muson Centre about five years ago. A second public auction organized by Contemporary Art House at the new Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, in April this year fetched super prices. The event triggered off a wave of new consciousness about art as investment. As the news spread, people like Kenny DaSilva (an old Gregorian) started to dust up pieces which had been lying carelessly in his house. Mr. Remi Lasaki, a stock broker immediately called an art valuer to help assess the value his art. Artists were challenged to produce better pieces, and for the first time in Nigeria, the worth of art works, as real valuables to be desired more than the decorative purposes attached to them, dawned on people. But significantly, dealers and collectors were encouraged to invest more in art with the assurance that sales with good profit were guaranteed.
Another big step with regards to investing in Nigerian art has to do with the renaissance our culture is experiencing as it pertains to celebrating festivals. It involves the use of art by villages, towns, clans and even in our big cities as part of cultural events. A good example is art works in the Osun Grove at Oshogbo which attract a large number of people for all year round sight seeing. These art works include large sculptures, some free standing while others are worked into buildings. They were created by Susane Wenger, the Austrian born lady who has been living in Nigeria for over fifty years. The number of visitors to the town increased when the Osun Grove was given the status of World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Oshogbo success story has inspired both the people and the government to invest in art as a way of empowering the citizenry through tourism.
In the light of the above, here are some basics rules to observe when contemplating investing in Nigerian Art. First, collect works which you like to enjoy. If such works are by contemporary artists, make sure they are signed. The older an art work is the more valuable it becomes; works of older or more matured artists tend to be more expensive. In other works, the name of the artist determines the worth of the works. Art works documented in books and the mass media have better chances of fetching higher prices. All works sent for auctions should have the provenance that would help authenticate them. If you encounter art which look like the Nok Terra Cotta, Ife, Benin or Igbo Ukwu bronzes which you suspect to be very old, show them to the Nigerian Museum or antiquities department where possible. Use the services of experts to evaluate your pieces.
To conclude, I would like to say that we are witnessing a revolution which makes investing in Nigerian Art both pleasurable and profitable. Let us be a part of it.
Thank you.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Okorodus Exhibits Immigraliens at the Harmattan Gallery
By Mary Ekah
The word, Immigraliens, is coined from the word, “Immigrants” and “Aliens”, two words that accentuate the chasm between two worlds. For some reasons, people move around for the purpose of work, for studies, and more specialised 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 and had run an art gallery for that period, feel that with his sculptured Immigraliens series, he would be able to sensitise the public both in Europe and Nigeria on the need to treat immigrants with a little bit of respect.
He started the campaign in June last year with an exhibition held in October on the same theme in Brussels and right now the exhibition is ongoing in his Gallery Labalaba in Antwerp, Belgium.
“I am the only African that runs a gallery in Antwerp, Belguim, and over the years, we have been able to show Africans from all over the continent, mostly African living in Europe and also African artists based in Africa. This campaign must be a two front thing because on the one hand you have immigrants living in Europe and the only thing we can do is to find ways to educate them on the society and also to let society know that when people are immigrants in your country, you should treat them with a bit of respect, even though we aware there are a lot of people who do not contribute in any way to the society. The problem that I have noticed over the years is that everybody seems to be lumped into one sum. So, you are an immigrant, they don’t care why you are there and what made you leave your country”, Okorodus noted.
So with this exhibition here in Nigeria, Okorodus intends to enlighten the government and also the youth on the problems they are likely to face in their final destination.
The immgraliens series are ten in number with each one carrying a mask (its identity). Reason: Okorodus notes that when people leave the shores of their land, they become anonymous. There is a particular sculpture with the words: “Good day sir, I am here, it took a while but here I am, desert crossed, checkpoints dodged, friends lost, always fearful, always hoping. I am here no name, anonymous, no country, just a limbo child, when I am tired I will go back, I come in peace”. This he calls the Limbo Child. “When you don’t have any where to go, you are in a limbo and most immigrants end up in the limbo state. And that limbo state is psychologically damaging to any individual.
“It is really a confusing state and I have seen people in that state for 15 years, and in that time you lose a lot of things and after a while you find that you have not been able to do anything constructive.”
Apart from the sculptured Immigraliens series, Okorodus also has other paintings like Nude Maskerade, Poker Face, Queen of Slums, The Loser, The Joker, and several others.
“Our youths must arm themselves before traveling out of the country and the best way to do is through education. I have a feeling our government is not doing enough in that respect. I might be wrong but I don’t see any sign from the government telling the youths the problems they would face. Let us have people do documentaries showing the dangers of traveling without being prepared”, he said.
“Moreover, if we have a very conducive environment here like stable electricity supply, stable government and most things working, people will not feel the compulsion to want to leave the country. But because we always seek for greener pasture and for a lot of youths, living abroad is the utopia, which sadly is not. I think that if I am able to convince one or two people, I have succeeded. And if those two people also go ahead to spread the message, over time we would begin to see the impact”.
Okorodus is not particularly opposed to the idea of migrating. “Traveling is one of the best education one can give to oneself,” he said. “But it’s necessary to be prepared. That is all I want to get across to people. If everybody stays put in this country how would it be possible to broaden our mind? People should know about the rigours of the journey they intend to take because a lot of people don’t really have the idea of the distance and the terrain. A lot of the immigrant youth that you find in Europe do not have sound education, so they find themselves in a society where a lot of people there are educated and then find it difficult to get good jobs.”
Okorodus, an Itshekiri was born in Lagos and spent much of his adult life in Lagos. He attended the University of Benin where he graduated in 1992 with a degree in graphics and advertising. He worked with The Guardian as a cartoonist before its closure by the military authorities in 1994. From 1994 till now, he has been a full time studio artist. In 2002, he opened his gallery, Gallery Labalaba, an African Art gallery in Belgium. That he had to do because when he got to Belgium. “There was really no strong West African art influence in Belgium. Mostly I saw works from East African region, so I was compelled to open my gallery.”
Immigraliens:Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture
The Harmattan Workshop Gallery is pleased to invite you as a Guest to an Art Exhibition
Titled: Immigraliens
A Solo Exhibition of Paintings on Canvas and Sculpture
By Godfrey Okorodus
Nigerian artist based in Belguim
and artist of the Harmattan Workshop Experience
opening at 4:00 p.m.
on Saturday 10th October, 2009
@ Harmattan Workshop Gallery, 10 Elsie Femi Pearse Street, Off Kofo Abayomi st, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Guest Of Honour: Chris Parkes
Father of the Day: Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR
Exhibition runs in the Gallery till 19th of October, 2009
9:00 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily
On Sundays 2:00p.m. – 6p.m.
RSVP
Mudiare Onobrakpeya
0705-634-6458
Friday, September 11, 2009
Exhibition
The Harmattan Workshop Gallery is pleased to invite you as a Guest to an Art Exhibition
titled Kaleidoscope
A Solo Exhibition of Paintings on Canvas and Acrylic
By NURUDEEN ODEBIYI
artist of the Harmattan Workshop Experience
opening at 4:00 p.m.
on Saturday 19th September, 2009
@ Harmattan Workshop Gallery, 10 Elsie Femi Pearse Street, Off Kofo Abayomi st, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Guest Of Honour: Barrister Taslim Animashuan
Father of the Day: Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya MFR
Exhibition runs in the Gallery till 29th of September, 2009
9:00 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily
On Sundays 2:00p.m. – 6p.m.
RSVP
Mudiare Onobrakpeya
0705-634-6458
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Ibiebe Alphabets and Ideograms
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
This book has introductions by Drs. Richard Singletary and Pat Oyelola.
The Ibiebe series by Bruce Onobrakpeya features his invented script of ideographic geometric and curvilinear glyphs. The designs reflect the artist's knowledge of his Urhobo heritage, rich in symbols and the proverbs they elicit, as well as his appreciation of Chinese, Japanese, Ghanaian and Nigerian calligraphy. Onobrakpeya invented and refined this script called Ibiebe from 1978 to 1986, when he revisited in his art, ideas linked with traditional religion, customs and history. The artist clearly delights in the script's forms and visual qualities as well as its power to communicate.These ibiebe ideograms which are often abstract, also lend themselves to calligraphic, painterly and sculptural presentation.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Recent works by Bruce Onobrakpeya
1)Suffering Masses
Medium: Water colour painted digital Print
Size: 123.5 x 91.5c.m
Date2005
2)Scavaging In a Lost paradise
Medium: Mixed Media and installation
Size: 215 x114.5 c.m.
Date : 2006
3)Name:Environmental Regeneration
Medium: Mixed Media
Size: 153 x196 c.m.
Date 2005
Monday, August 31, 2009
Portfolio of Art and Literature
Portfolio of Art and Literature, is a compendium of pictures and extracts of literary works by Bruce Onobrakpeya. The artworks in the portfolio are illustrations or visual interpretations of poems, short stories and folk songs by various African authors mainly of Nigerian descent, as well as some of his writings and translations. These illustrations are important ways of reaching a wider audience through portfolio sets that can be circulated like books, but have the added advantage of having detachable contents that can be taken out of the cases and exhibited on walls like free standing pictures especially for use for art collectors, museums and libraries.
Art collectors, bibliophiles, the reading public including children will find the compendium educational and entertaining, and more importantly would serve them as indispensable pictorial and visual representation of works of literary giants like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi and Tanure Ojaide who are a few of the writers, whose works have been very successfully illustrated by the artist Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya.
The portfolio of Art and Literature has a limited edition of just 75 copies, and is also available in soft cover, and covers a period of works done by the artist from 1960 to date.
Available in Limited Copies
Price $18,000.00 (Eighteen thousand U.S. dollars only)
Contact: Bofound.ng@gmail.com
Friday, August 28, 2009
International Art Expo Nigeria 2009
 |
| Mudiare Onobrakpeya and Chief Nike Okundaye at Art Expo in Lagos |
This year's art fair shall feature different genres of art including installations and photography, and will attract about 35 galleries across Nigeria and have participation from several countries in the West African sub-region including Ghana, Togo and the Republic of Benin. It is also expected that over 100 artists cutting across several generations of artists will feature works of arts through the galleries.
The event will be opened formally at the National Museum Onikan, Lagos, Nigeria, on the 22nd of August, 2009 at 12.00 noon. According to the President of AGAN, Chief Frank Okonta who is also the proprietor of Nkem Gallery, there will be an opportunity for all those who love art to come and see the richness of Nigerian, and indeed West Africa's dynamic and robust visual arts market. The Nigerian Art fair proposes to be one of the most prestigious international contemporary art fair in Africa, and will take place for a second year running in Lagos, Nigeria's visual art capital.
According to the organizers, over 1000 art works including paintings, sculpture, photography, prints and installations, will be on display through the galleries, and much like established Art fairs around the world, for instance the Art Expo New York and ARCO-Madrid, it is hoped that the Nigerian version will ultimately become one of the biggest art shows in Africa. The intention is to create an art marketplace that will offer the general public an opportunity to see great art presented in a professional manner and setting. Whether you're a seasoned collector diversifing your portfolio of visual artworks, interested in adding to the allure of your home's interior design, or simply an art enthusiast interested in viewing the latest trends in the visual arts, This year's art fair in August 2009, will have something for everyone. This year's show is expected to attract about 10,000 guests, about double of 2008.
The art fair is a collaboration of Art Galleries Association of Nigeria (AGAN) and the National Gallery of art. AGAN is a new body that was set set up in 2008 to bring all galleries in the country together under one umbrella. It membership cuts across the country. Conservative estimates of contemporary African art market for the visual arts has been placed at between 25 and 50 million Euros annually internationally, with an estimated market growth rate of about 12 percent annually.
Friday, August 14, 2009
August Artistic Retreat in Agbarha-Otor, Delta State.
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
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: 17th – 31st August, 2009
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 : P.K. Da’Silva 0803 3100 344
Or Moses Unokwah: 0703 343 3065
Friday, August 7, 2009
Books on African Studies by Ovuomaroro Press
BOOKS PUBLISHED BY OVUOMARORO GALLERY PRODUCTION AND PRESS
1. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: NIGERIA'S MASTER PRINTMAKER -Wendy Lawrence. 3 11 Colour illustrations. BEST OF AFRICA -TORONTO 1979. Out of Print.
2. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: SABBATICAL EXPERIMENTS 1978-1983 (EXHIBITION OF PRINTS AND PAINTINGS) with introduction by Prof. Babatunde Lawal. 7 B/W 8 Colour illustrations
OVUOMARORO GALLERY, LAGOS 1983. Out of Print
3. UCHE OKEKE: ART IN DEVELOPMENT -A NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE. -Editor Leclair Grier Lambert 101 Pages 81 B/W illustrations. Asele Institute Nimo/AfricanAmerican Cultural Centre, Minneapolis 1982 $15.00
4. OFFERINGS FROM THE GODS
Text by Dele Jegede 68 Pages 48 B/W illustration. Published by Society of Nigerian Artists, Lagos State Chapter. 1985 Out of print.
5. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: SYMBOLS OF ANCESTRAL GROVES -(Monograph of Prints and Paintings 1978 -1985) with introduction by Prof. Babatunde Lawal. 256 Pages, 182 B/W 3 Drawings 60 Colour illustrations, essays, interviews, notes and comments, biographical and bibliographical notes. 1985. $25.00
6. AFRICA ON HER SCHEDULE IS WRITTEN A CHANGE -Barbara Haeger 105 pages 13 B/W illustrations African Universities Press 1981. $10.00 each.
7. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: SAHELIAN MASQUERADES -Monograph of prints and paintings Edited by Safy Quel 132 pp 17 colour and 155 B/W and line pictures, Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1982. $20.00
8. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: 25 YEARS OF CREATIVE SEARCH. -Introduction by C.O. Adepegba, 57 pages 51 B/W pictures, Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1984. $8.00
9. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: THE SPIRIT IN ASCENT. -Introduction by Dele Jegede 279 pages, 110 full colour reproductions, 186 Black and white reproductions.
Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1992. $45.00
10. THE ZARIA ART SOCIETY: A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS. -Edited by Paul Chike Dike and Pat Oyelola with essays by Cornelius O. Adepegba, Oloidi, Don Akatakpo and Jacob Jari 298 pages 302 B/W reproductions and 133 colour reproductions. A publication of the National Gallery of Art 1998. $45.00
11. AGBARHA-OTOR 98 AND 99: A CATALOGUE OF FIRST AND SECOND HARMATTAN WORKSHOP EXHIBITION 84 pages; 127 B/W and 33 colour reproductions curated by Mike Omoighe, Ovuomaroro Gallery Production 1999. $10.00
12. AMOS TUTUOLA SHOW: A FOLKLORE INSPIRED ART IN HONOUR OF THE NOVELIST; Edited by Mudiare Onobrakpeya and curated by Mike Omoighe and Toyin Akinosho; 40 pages 25 B/W and 32 colour reproductions. Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1999 $8.00
13. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: POEMS AND LITHOGRAPHS print notes and comments No.9. Introduced by Bruce Onobrakpeya 49 pages 48 B/W line reproductions; Ovuomaroro Gallerypublications 1989. $8.00
14. GLIMPSES OF OUR STARS -AN INTIMATE ENCOUNTER WITH NIGERIAN LEADING ARTISTES by Oji Onoko 468 pages, 99 B/W reproductions. Published by All Media International Ltd. 1999. $20.00
15. FORTY YEARS OF BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA IN CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ART: THE PORTRAIT OF A VISUAL ARTIST. -Edited by Mudiare Onobrakpeya and Uche Abalogu with introduction bySimon Ikpakronyi. A Collection of 26 essays on Bruce Onobrakpeya 70 pages, Ovuomaroro Gallery Production 2000 $5.00
16. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: PORTFOLIO OF ART AND LITERATURE, Catalogue. Edited by Pat Oyelola Poems and Extracts from various literary works 56 pages 30 illustrations in colour and B/W Ovuomaroro Gallery Production 2003 $ 10.00
17. ONOBRAKPEYA by Richard A. Singletary. - 78 pages 143 colour reproductions The Ford Foundation, The Institute of International Education 2002 $40
1. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: NIGERIA'S MASTER PRINTMAKER -Wendy Lawrence. 3 11 Colour illustrations. BEST OF AFRICA -TORONTO 1979. Out of Print.
2. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: SABBATICAL EXPERIMENTS 1978-1983 (EXHIBITION OF PRINTS AND PAINTINGS) with introduction by Prof. Babatunde Lawal. 7 B/W 8 Colour illustrations
OVUOMARORO GALLERY, LAGOS 1983. Out of Print
3. UCHE OKEKE: ART IN DEVELOPMENT -A NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE. -Editor Leclair Grier Lambert 101 Pages 81 B/W illustrations. Asele Institute Nimo/AfricanAmerican Cultural Centre, Minneapolis 1982 $15.00
4. OFFERINGS FROM THE GODS
Text by Dele Jegede 68 Pages 48 B/W illustration. Published by Society of Nigerian Artists, Lagos State Chapter. 1985 Out of print.
5. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: SYMBOLS OF ANCESTRAL GROVES -(Monograph of Prints and Paintings 1978 -1985) with introduction by Prof. Babatunde Lawal. 256 Pages, 182 B/W 3 Drawings 60 Colour illustrations, essays, interviews, notes and comments, biographical and bibliographical notes. 1985. $25.00
6. AFRICA ON HER SCHEDULE IS WRITTEN A CHANGE -Barbara Haeger 105 pages 13 B/W illustrations African Universities Press 1981. $10.00 each.
7. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: SAHELIAN MASQUERADES -Monograph of prints and paintings Edited by Safy Quel 132 pp 17 colour and 155 B/W and line pictures, Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1982. $20.00
8. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: 25 YEARS OF CREATIVE SEARCH. -Introduction by C.O. Adepegba, 57 pages 51 B/W pictures, Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1984. $8.00
9. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: THE SPIRIT IN ASCENT. -Introduction by Dele Jegede 279 pages, 110 full colour reproductions, 186 Black and white reproductions.
Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1992. $45.00
10. THE ZARIA ART SOCIETY: A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS. -Edited by Paul Chike Dike and Pat Oyelola with essays by Cornelius O. Adepegba, Oloidi, Don Akatakpo and Jacob Jari 298 pages 302 B/W reproductions and 133 colour reproductions. A publication of the National Gallery of Art 1998. $45.00
11. AGBARHA-OTOR 98 AND 99: A CATALOGUE OF FIRST AND SECOND HARMATTAN WORKSHOP EXHIBITION 84 pages; 127 B/W and 33 colour reproductions curated by Mike Omoighe, Ovuomaroro Gallery Production 1999. $10.00
12. AMOS TUTUOLA SHOW: A FOLKLORE INSPIRED ART IN HONOUR OF THE NOVELIST; Edited by Mudiare Onobrakpeya and curated by Mike Omoighe and Toyin Akinosho; 40 pages 25 B/W and 32 colour reproductions. Ovuomaroro Gallery production 1999 $8.00
13. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: POEMS AND LITHOGRAPHS print notes and comments No.9. Introduced by Bruce Onobrakpeya 49 pages 48 B/W line reproductions; Ovuomaroro Gallerypublications 1989. $8.00
14. GLIMPSES OF OUR STARS -AN INTIMATE ENCOUNTER WITH NIGERIAN LEADING ARTISTES by Oji Onoko 468 pages, 99 B/W reproductions. Published by All Media International Ltd. 1999. $20.00
15. FORTY YEARS OF BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA IN CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ART: THE PORTRAIT OF A VISUAL ARTIST. -Edited by Mudiare Onobrakpeya and Uche Abalogu with introduction bySimon Ikpakronyi. A Collection of 26 essays on Bruce Onobrakpeya 70 pages, Ovuomaroro Gallery Production 2000 $5.00
16. BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA: PORTFOLIO OF ART AND LITERATURE, Catalogue. Edited by Pat Oyelola Poems and Extracts from various literary works 56 pages 30 illustrations in colour and B/W Ovuomaroro Gallery Production 2003 $ 10.00
17. ONOBRAKPEYA by Richard A. Singletary. - 78 pages 143 colour reproductions The Ford Foundation, The Institute of International Education 2002 $40
A Master and his Workshop (Bruce Onobrakpeya)
By Tam Fiofori
Dr Onobrakpeya is undoubtedly one of Agbarha-Otor's most famous and accom-
plished homeboys. He was born at Agbarha- Otor in 1932. Humour, humility and generosity are the long-established and well-known hallmarks of Papa Bruce as the Nigerian art community fondly calls him.
Enquiry into his background solicited spontaneous long laughter, and then sustained chuckles, to punctuate his typical modest answer.
"Son of a farmer. An Urhobo man trained in the Delta and Benin, taught in Ondo, then went to study Art in Zaria and then taught art for many years at St.Gregory's College, Lagos. Retired now, to do what pleases me. Something that I like very much is to pass on the little I know to give confidence to the next generation that are coming after me- that life can be interesting, that they can achieve "
their goals, that our art in the country, which has been very important in the past, can also be very important now and take it’s rightful place in the world. What I am doing with the Harmattan Workshop, is really a way of paying back what I have enjoyed."
Bruce Onobrakpeya has enjoyed an extremely high and sustained international
acclaim for well over three decades.. Conveniently classified as one of the Zaria rebels jn contemporary Nigerian art, Onobrakpeya graduated in 1961 from the then newly established Nigerian College of arts, science and Technology (later to become Ahmadu Bello University) in Zaria where he specialised in painting and graphic art. He then obtained postgraduate Art Teacher's Certificate in 1962.
He is the most notable printmaking artist in Africa. In addition to the production of world-famous works, Onobrakpeya has made Art history for his experiments with various aspects of printmaking techniques, which yielded distinguished world-accepted results. Master printmaker and artist, Onobrakpeya is currently Nigeria's most collected, internationally exhibited and documented contemporary artist and doyen of the creative community.
Practising art and teaching art have been old twin passions in Bruce Onobrakpeya's life. Apart from his long stint at St Gregory's College, he has been an art consultant and resident guest artist in many institutions and colleges in Nigeria and abroad. These include the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan (1984), the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, U.S.A. (July 1975), Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina, U.S.A. (August 1978). He was artist in Residence at the National Gallery of Art Zimbabwe, Harare and at MOJA: An African American Arts Festival, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. both in 1991.
The idea for a Harmattan Workshop germinated over time, nourished by his lasting experiences as a teacher and art-workshop participant.
"My primary interest for teaching," he recalls, "and most importantly my interest for teaching in an informal environment was stimulated in Nigeria in the 1960s when I attended the Ulli Beier and Ru Van Rossem Mbari Mbayo workshops
in Ibadan, Oshogbo and Ife and the Haystack Maine workshop in the ' early 1970s in the United States of America. I liked what I went through in these workshops because they helped me bring out things in me, which were not fully developed when I was a student. I realised that being exposed to an informal workshop situation can bring out other possibilities which might change an artist's
direction from what the artist learnt as a student, to what real art is. What I have at the Harmattan Workshop is something I think will help people, whether they are already practising professionals or beginners, be themselves and bring out the potentials hidden in them that may not have been discovered through the normal, regimental art education:'
Onobrakpeya is also keen to emphasise that the Harmattan Workshop is not set-up to rival educational institutions. "We do not issue certificates that can be used to get jobs," he explains. "The Harmattan Workshop is aimed at helping the art institutions and government. We are just doing a bit to make sure that what the government cannot see to do and, what they don't have interest in, is not lost."
The first Harmattan Workshop was held in Agbarha-Otor in 1998. The curriculum of courses offered naturally included Onobrakpeya’s specialty, printmaking, and many other popular and not-so-popular art forms. There were just 14 participants in 1998. Now, yearly, an average of between 60 and 70 artists participate. Initially, the workshop was for one session of two weeks, and as from the 4th Harmattan Workshop in 2002 it was restructured into two consecutive two-week sessions. The workshop is also no longer free and now attracts a modest fee of N10, 000 per session inclusive of tuition, accommodation and board.
Just fewer than 400 participants have attended the seven annual Harmattan Work- shops. According to Ekpo Udo-Udoma, Administrator of the BOF and Coordinator of the Harmattan Workshop, the first workshop (in 1998) offered courses in printmaking, stone carving, painting (oil and water colour) and
mixed media. By the second one, metalwork ; and ceramics were introduced and in the fourth., bronze casting and jewellery. He introduced textile in the fifth, photography in the sixth and this year, digital art. "Progressively, we are introducing new things and we hope to continue," Udoma says, adding that, "Dr Bruce is interested in introducing blacksmithing and beadwork. "
What Onobrakpeya calls a principle of synthesis has determined the expansion in the courses offered at the workshop. "New techniques are introduced every year because we want to revisit techniques we are losing as well as bring in other ideas from outside. There are some other things done outside that we think can be added to our own artistic traditions here, to propel us forward in the business of artistic creativity. When these two ideas are married,
there is bound to be a new force which will bring our art to international prominence as great works, in our own lifetime and, in the future heighten the quality of the life we are living."
Bruce Onobrakpeya's many innovations in printmaking were results of "acidic accidents" and consequent experimentation to achieve permanent new techniques that have stood the test of time. This spirit of improvisation and innovation has become an essential principle of the annual Harmattan workshop sessions.
"Yes, printmaking is the main thrust of what we do at this workshop," Onobrakpeya admits. "It is the improvisation in materials for the development of printmaking that has led to a lot of things and techniques that we now experiment with at the Harmattan workshop."
Over the years, he has gathered younger Nigerian artists who have
distinguished themselves In their various fields to be facilitators and teachers at
the workshops. "We have brought in people in other fields of art who are also experimenting in their own areas and achieving a lot of very good results. Like Oladapo Afolayan who started the Stone Carving session in the workshop. He has actually brought back a lost tradition of stone carving in Nigeria. We had the Ikom and Esie monoliths, which are traditions of stone carv ing that died. Afolayan, who teaches at Auchi Polytechnic, has been transferring this skill and interest to the participants in this workshop at Agbarha-Otor. Many people who have gone to Art School and have never carved before have had the opportunity to try stone carving here, and the knowledge of this lost tradition has been brought back to life."
Instructors made every participant to carve stone at the first workshop. Subsequently, it has evolved into a specialisation, though over the years the number of participants in stone carving has been dwindling. Stones that are suitable for carving are found in Kogi and Kwara in the Jebba area. In addition, Nigeria's one thousand and one varieties of stone include marble. Tools and materials are the major constraints stone carvers face.
"What the Harmattan workshop has successfully done is to demystify stone carving," Afolayan postulates with measured pride. "When sculptors who are inquisitive and attracted try it, they all promise to try it for longer periods next time. We have been able to discover talent in Andrew Onobrakpeya who is a site supervisor at the Centre and Godwin Onobrakpeya who is based in Lagos. Both have been able to make steady progress and some sales of their stone carvings. The entire essence of stone carving is to create beauty, create something from within to express yourself. We make a statement."
Olu Amoda and Mike Omoighe, lecturers at the Yaba College of Technology, have both been facilitators in Metal Sculpture and Mixed Media respectively at the workshops. Onobrakpeya regards them as "experimental artists who use various media to express themselves." Amoda has attended many art workshops in Nigeria and around the world.
During the first session of the 5th Harmattan workshop in 2003, Amoda facilitated the workshop's first Metal Sculpture course. As part of the workshop's outreach programme, they invited 12 welders from Agbarha-Otor to participate in a special one-day session in the Metal Sculpture section. Amoda's verdict was that, "the outreach provided local craftsmen who operate in the area an opportunity to learn some new ideas they could apply to their welding practice."
The quality of life in the environment and community that house the Arts Centre and Workshop venue is of paramount importance to Dr Bruce Onobrakpeya and the Foundation. The role of art and the Centre in environment and community building is well entrenched into the activities of the Centre and the Harmattan workshops.
Mrs Olabunmi Ola-Afolayan, lecturer at the Department of Fashion and Clothing Technology at Auchi Polytechnic, is the Workshop facilitator for Textile. This year's Workshop was her third in a row. She is happy certain prejudices are dying and confident of the level of skills the workshop has to offer. "Although textile production in Nigeria has always been considered a ladies' profession we now have men too. What we do here is to teach them skills faster. We get participants directly involved with the practical aspects. At the workshop, participants can choose and acquire their skill faster."
Mrs. Ola-Afolayan facilitated Textile and Machine knitting at this year's Workshop. Her mixed class included artists, lecturers, learners and participants from Agbarha-Otor. Within one week, the participants' textile products were on exhibition. They were eager to assess their workshop experience.
For Mrs Pamela Cyril-Egware, lecturer, Fine Arts Department, Federal College of Educaion Technical, Omoku, Rivers State, it was her first-ever Harmattan workshop. "I have had the opportunity to mix with other artists and to get involved in the more professional aspect of art. I feel fulfilled as 1 have learnt new techhiques from commercial artists in printmaking and textiles as well." The economic prospects of textile production are bright and attractive to people who want to be self-reliant.
The Foundation invited girls and women from Agbarha-Otor to participate in the 2005 Textile and Machining Knitting two-week course. Miss Endurance Ovwighoriemu, an 553 student and Miss Felicia O. Evue, a teacher, were among the respondents. Pupil Ovwighoriemu declared that her future interest is to make and sell textiles. Miss Evue was ecstatic. up have learnt a lot being here and it has made me happy to be part of the 2005 Workshop. I can now make adire for sale, and eventually as a teacher I will teach my students." These three female participants gave unanimous credit to the skill-acquisition capacity of the Harmattan workshop as well as its outreach.
For Onobrakpeya, there are essential duties the Centre and Workshop must perform for their environment and community. It is all about being duty bound. "If an Arts Centre is established in this environment, it is a Centre which now stands to develop the environment and the community. So, the outreach programme is one of the first fruits of this development. It is a programme to bring art to the community. Our presence here also gives a sense of pride to the people in the community. We employ people in the environment as field workers, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, studio and workshop assistants, cooks and night watchmen. Our presence here is really a strong instrument for the development of this environment. Our outreach programme goes beyond Agbarha-Otor; we want to develop a wider environment and bigger community."
The magnetic field of the Harmattan workshop has been growing. There have been female academics from France and the United States, attending as participants cum researchers. From within the old Mid-West region it has attracted participants from Ughelli, Warri, Auchi Polytechnic, Abraka, Sapele and Benin. Participants have also come from Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Nsukka, Uyo, Zaria and Jos. All of which prompt Onobrakpeya to clarify. "Our idea of community is a very large geographical area which may include the entire Nigeria. That is the outreach.programme.
The mix of participants for the first 2005 session featured unusual firsts. For the first time two sisters, both full-time artists of note, Mrs Juliet Maja-Pearce based in Lagos and Miss Klara Nze based in Abuja, attended the Harmattan Workshop. Mrs. Maja-Pearce in her first participation registered for ceramics and printmaking, while her younger sister, participating in her third Harmattan Workshop, concentrated on oil painting and printmaking. There was some royalty too, in the person of Mrs Egbe, a grand daughter of Oba Akenzua II of Benin, who participated in printmaking.
One distinguished visitor was Perkins-Foss, author of the book and on-going International Exhibition on the Urhobo -When Gods and Mortals Meet, now an Urhobo Chief and long- time good ;friend of Dr Onobrakpeya and the Foundation. For the second 2005 session, there were for the first time, participants from Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Cote d' Ivoire.
Onobrakpeyas assessment of the workshop's impact is pragmatic. "It is gaining ground internationally. Eventually, we want to be able to cater for South and East African artists and the whole international art community."
Raymond 0 Onodje, a University of Benin- trained Textile Designer and Art Teacher with the Post-Primary Education Board is from Agbarha-Otor and a real veteran of the Harmattan workshops; having attended all seven. His learning curve from the annual workshops is remarkable. "I was a crude and raw artist fresh in the principles in Art when I participated in the first Harmattan Workshop in 1998. At the workshops, I have now found out that there is more to art than school principles. We come here to share ideas and there is a lot of professionalism. The basic essence was to experiment and we have exploited this to the fullest. I have gone from textile to stone carving and I discovered some innate ability. I discovered a lot of hidden feelings for stone carving. I learnt to be more precise with my feelings and expressions. I have acquired a lot in the area of experience."
Samuel Ovraiti, a former Lecturer at Auchi Polytechnic, now a full-time studio artist, has been the facilitator for painting (oil and water colour) in many workshops. A well-renowned artist in his own right, Ovraiti highlights the interac- live techniques, which generate success in the painting courses. "We are here
to work together trying to find out new and better ways of expressing ourselves and also trying to learn from other, and older, people informally. It is a form of de-schooling. It is an opportunity for participants to enhance themselves by talking with people in their field who may not be doing things the way they do them." Ovraiti recalls that once it was a new and naIve painter whose works generated very useful discussions.
Clement Emodah, a ceramics expert and lecturer, has been the facilitator
for six consecutive ceramics sessions. Emodah admits that even in the
polytechnics and universities, ceramics does not attract many students. All the same, there have been encouraging breakthroughs for ceramics at the Harmattan workshops. He is rightly proud about the modern efficient kiln he and his friends have finally built at the Centre, an improvement on an earlier basic kiln. He explains, "The presence of the new functional kiln is the fulcrum and the centre of ceramics production, because if you produce any work and you don't fire it, it is not ceramics. In this workshop, we will now be able to do a good bjscuit firing followed by a good glaze firing. We can now produce ceramics of standard that can compete with any other work in the world."
As would be expected, printmaking is the most popular course at the Harmattan work- shops. The opportunity of learning from the master himself; whose innovative techniques and works have become world famous, is always attractive to participants. Onobrakpeya still teaches printmaking at Harmattan workshops. Outstanding professional artists who had earlier studied printmaking under him as interns also ably assist him. One such artist is Lara Ige-Jacks. Onobrakpeya describes her as "a very strong painter with wonderful strokes." She is also a print- making addict armed with a Masters degree from England. Ige- Jacks was the facilitator for printmaking at the first session of this year's workshop. Moses Unokwah, a graduate of Auchi Polytechnic and a long-time studio assistant at Bruce Onobrakpeya's Ovuomaroro Gallery and Studio in Papa Ajao, Lagos assisted her.
The Niger Delta Art Centre in Agbarha-Otor is the result of the expansion project for the Lagos-based Ovuomaroro Gallery and Studio of Dr Bruce Onobrakpeya. When the space in the Lagos Studio could no longer comfortably accommodate Onobrakpeya's students and assistants, he decided to set up the Agbarha- Otor Centre as an extension project a decade ago and, before the start of the annual Harmattan workshops. The main block of the new Centre, designed by Onobrakpeya's contemporary and fellow artist, Demas Nwoko, is very user- and visitor-friendly. It houses the prestigious Museum-Gallery and provides both exhibition and workspaces.
Onobrakpeya explains that, "the Art Centre embodies many things. The Gallery and Museum section is another aspect of the work of the Centre. It is necessary that some of the things that are produced, either here or else- where, are kept as an example of excellent things that students and people can learn from, either now or hereafter. We will construct places to e house artefacts."
It is now customary that months after the one-month long Harrnattan workshop sessions, a selection of some of the best art works produced in the various disciplines are collected and exhibited in a grand manner in Lagos. This has helped to raise the artistic profile of the Harmattan workshops, while also yielding needed revenue to administer the Centre and workshop.
The Centre and Workshop get some funding from Ford Foundation. Individuals like Perkins Foss and many others help either through direct financial donations or by buying art works from the Centre and Workshop.
What then, is the current state of the contemporary art scene in Nigeria? Four centuries ago, when the Europeans first encountered Benin Art, bronze and ivory works, they never believed that black Africans made such excellent art pieces. Since then, have there been the same cross-cultural responses from Europe and America to the work of the Bruce Onobrakpeya's generation of modern Nigerian contemporary artists?
Onobrakpeya answers in parable. "The Western people, like the tortoise, think they have all the wisdom in the world. The tortoise gathered all the wisdom, put them in a calabash, and was trying to climb up to hide it so that nobody else would have any wisdom. Some- body then said to the tortoise, look, put that calabash behind you so that your hands and legs will be free to help you climb better. He did it, and later realised that he did not have all the wisdom in the world. What the West did to us was that first they gathered our artefacts and took them away. The beauty of those artefacts inspired their own artists. With colonialisation, we started to practise art in the modern way, and they said we were aping the West. When we do things that are very, very traditional, oh they say we are copying our past. So, you never can win. But we went on and never stopped. Now... now, the West is recognising Nigerian and African artists as a force in the 21st Century."
Bruce Onobrakpeya has graciously received the long loud applause of respect and appreciation from the international art world, and he is ready to take a bow away from further limelight. He is Chairman of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, which is an instrument, and government statute that has built donor-confidence. The aims of the Foundation include a project to help with developing the different ideas that are connected with artistic and cultural development in Urhobo land, Nigeria and the rest of the world.
The Foundation serves as an instrument to accomplish these goals and protect the future of the Centre and the Harmattan workshops.
Onobrakpeya is confident that the future of the Centre and Harmattan workshop are well assured even without him being involved. "The future is very bright. This place has come to stay. What we are doing now is grooming people who have been here and enjoyed the facilities and opportunities, to take over the Centre. What I am asking them is to be ready to take over and carry on the good work we think we are doing here. In all this, I am very thankful to God, and I accept in all humility all he has given me, and pray that I be Ied on to accomplish his will and, pray that someone more able should take over the affair and develop it on divine lines."
Onobrakpeya is confident that the future of the Centre and Harmattan workshop are well assured even without him being involved. "The future is very bright. This place has come to stay. What we are doing now is grooming people who have been here and enjoyed the facilities and opportunities, to take over the Centre. What I am asking them is to be ready to take over and carry on the good work we think we are doing here. In all this, I am very thankful to God, and I accept in all humility all he has given me, and pray that I be Ied on to accomplish his will and, pray that someone more able should take over the affair and develop it on divine lines."
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