Book Review
Title: Contemporary Art in
Nigeria and Ghana
Author: Ester Adeyemi
Publisher Alfred F. Spinnler
Friedrich
Reinhardt Verlag: Basel 2005
Reviewer: Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya
MFR.
This book contains a selection of
the works in the collection of the publisher Chief Alfred F. Spinnler, the CEO
of Swiss Pharma Nigeria Ltd., (Formerly Roche Nigeria) a pharmaceutical company
with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland .
The book has 299 pages with 115
plates representing the works of 40 artists made up of 32 Nigerians, 5
Ghanaians and 3 non-Africans who have either lived or worked in Nigeria at one
time or the other. According to Spinnler, the book was inspired by his passion
as a young boy for Africa, and this was further stoked by his godfather’s
collection of African traditional art, which he acquired from soldiers who went
to fight in different parts of Africa during the Second World War. This was way
back in the 1940’s. However when he came to Nigeria in 1984 as manager of one
of Roche’s Divisions in Nigeria he encountered a new form of art-Contemporary
African Art.
This very fascinating story is
contained as part of the publishers preface to this book. As a follow up to
this discovery Spinnler decided to encourage this new art and the artists that
produced them by supporting the contemporary Nigerian artists. In this wise he
started collecting their works.
In putting this collection into a
single volume, he engaged the services of Mrs. Ester Adeyemi, a Swiss art
historian and a regular art reviewer in Swiss newspapers as well as an
organizer of exhibitions, readings and musical events before she moved to
Nigeria in 1999.
This book, which is published in
German and English, is divided into five sections. The first section contains
all the pre-text materials such as the title page, copyright page, dedication
and table of contents, the publisher’s preface, the author’s foreword, which
includes a brief explanation of Spinnler’s collection and the structure of the
catalogue. Finally in this section you have the author’s Introduction, which is
further divided into seven sections.
In the Introduction, the author
attempts to give a background to contemporary Nigeria Art and a brief review of
the state of art in Africa in the 19th Century. She also looks at
the development of Art education in Nigeria . She explains how Aina Onabolu
persuaded the British colonial government to introduce art in schools. Her
treatise is quite accurate in terms of the general flow of the events as they
unfolded. The author goes ahead to talk about the opportunities for artists to
exhibit in Nigeria , a brief note on the literature on Nigerian art and
peculiarities of Nigerian art.
The second section presents the
Nigerian artists whose works are featured in the catalogue. In this section
each artist’s work is preceded by a brief narrative on the artist followed by a
description and analysis of each of the works shown. The artists featured are:
Tayo Adenaike, Joseph Adeyemi, Samuel Amurawaiye Ajobiewe, Duke Asidere, Jimoh
Buraimoh, Eugene Chime-Age, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Uche Edochie, Emmanuel
Ekefrey, Victor Ekpuk, Obi Ekwenchi, Kunle Filani, Krydz Ekwuemesi, Rom.
Isichei, Osahenye Kainebi, Marcia Kure, Wole Lagunju, Mavua Lessor, Nkechi
Nwosu-Igbo, Christopher Odunkwe, Ebele Okoye, Mike Omoighe, Bruce Ononbrakpeya,
Donald John Onuoha, Chike Onuorah, Ben Osaghae, Kolade Oshinowo, Sam Ovraiti,
Muraina Oyelami, Fidel N. Oyiogu, Emeka Udemba and Tola Wewe.
The third section deals with
expatriate artists who have lived or worked in Nigeria at one time or the
other. In this section you have Cora de Lang, wife of the former Director of
the Goethe Institut, Lagos ; Djamina Linger, a Swiss German who lived in
Nigeria for a year and exhibited her works in 1995, and finally Jonathan
Stoeckle, a Swiss whose parents lived in Nigeria and so visited Nigeria from
time to time. His works are highly influenced by Northern Nigerian scenes.
The fourth section focuses on the
Ghanaian artists namely: Emmanuel Adiamah, Kofi Agrosor, Ablade Glover, Ammon
Kotei and Wiz Kudowor.
The fifth section is the appendix,
which contains the biographies of the artists and their photographs where
available; bibliographical references for further reading, as well as brief
biographies of the Publisher, the Author and the Photographer, Michele Kappeli,
who took all the wonderful photographs of the works in the book.
The style of the author is free
flowing and makes for easy reading. There is indeed evidence of intensive study
and in terms of dates and other specific facts she cannot be faulted. In terms
of research, the information in the book is certainly well researched. There
are 73 bibliographical references for further reading, and from a perusal it
would appear that there is evidence of a clear understanding in the area of the
historical development of contemporary art in Nigeria and Ghana . It is also
interesting to note her observations of the differences between Nigerian and
Ghanaian Art. In Adeyemi’s analysis of the art scene in Nigeria , she described
Ben Enwonwu as “ developing two art styles of painting, one academic, the other
African.” While one appreciates that she is trying to emphasize the fact that
Enwonwu’s works vacillated between western style realism and stylized forms
akin to traditional African art, her statement seems to suggest that African
art is not academic.
Her reference to the Sango
monument in front of the NEPA (now PHCN) building as the Nepa Monument takes away
from the context within which the statue was produced. While the author is
correct in saying that the statue represents the Yoruba god of thunder, the
correlation of the NEPA building being the head office of the nation’s national
electricity corporation is de-emphasized thereby making the choice of Sango as
subject for that commission lost. This would have helped to strengthen her
discussion on the contributions of Kenneth Murray, who was Enwonwu’s teacher
and the emphasis he (Murray) placed on drawing from African tradition for
subject matter.
Her description of the state of
media coverage of the arts may also have been a little over exaggerated; it
would appear that today the media is doing more coverage of the visual arts.
Most newspapers cover the arts in their columns and now on both government and
private television there is an increased coverage of the visual arts. However
like always it is still not enough. There is also an off-handed description of
sculpture as an art form that has dwindling chances of survival in her essay on
The Structure of The Catalogue. Although it is true that more
exhibitions are dominated by paintings and a greater number of artists engage
in paintings, it is not entirely true to say that sculpture, even though not as
popular as painting, is diminishing. There are Nigerian artists who are
practicing sculpture at a serious level and they are getting commissions. Many
state and local governments have commissioned sculptures for outdoor spaces
while individuals are equally commissioning works most especially statues and
busts for their homes.
The catalogue section is well
presented and the pictures are well placed on the pages with only the captions
neatly placed on a straight line below the pictures. The artistic styles of the
artists vary in theme, materials and conception. There however appears to be no
attempt to present them in any analytical order. The artists are just presented
in alphabetical order. While on its own, there is nothing wrong with that, it
nonetheless gives the impression that all the artists are at the same level in
terms of age and artistic practice. While one appreciates the fact that Adeyemi
being a foreigner may not be familiar with the Nigerian contemporary art scene
and she actually admits not making any attempt to classify the artists, she
should at least attempt some sort of art historical process. 40 artists who are
certainly not within the same age bracket nor are they from the same background
nor did they even start practicing at the same time should not be lumped
together. Dividing the artists into groups would have helped readers and
scholars have a good art historical perspective of the collection.
Indeed there is a dearth of
appropriate literature on Nigerian contemporary art, but this is not to say
that there is no literature on current developments. Increasingly more books
and publications are coming out. The National Gallery of Art for instance has
published a few books on contemporary Nigerian Art. But these are not as
frequent as one would have liked them to be. I also think that it would be
unfair to say that in the past 20 years government has not supported any art
initiatives. The National Gallery has supported art projects in the past and
they are still doing so. The major challenge is how to get more attention as
always no money is ever enough.
The book Contemporary Art in Nigeria
& Ghana definitely stands out because it is the first attempt in Nigeria by
an individual collector to put his art collection of a specific region in one
volume for public consumption. It is indeed a vital contribution to knowledge.
The publisher has exhibited a broad and robust perspective of the art of the
region. The book has been able to provide information that could be used in
studying Nigeria and Ghana’s contemporary art. It highlights some of the key
players who are practicing now. It also provides some in-roads to Africa’s 20th
Century art, as well as gives an insight into the art of the 21st
Century. This volume also helps to promote the artists featured and create for
them a sense of fulfillment, while scholars will have an opportunity to see
works by the artists that will not be in the public domain.
It would however be misleading to
assume that the works in this collection ultimately represents the contemporary
art of both countries. Most of the Nigerian artists featured either live and
practice or exhibit frequently in Lagos. There are several other artists in Nigeria
who practice outside Lagos. In the same vain, it would not be surprising if the
same could not be said of the Ghanaian art scene. The publisher himself admits
that he only bought the artworks that appealed to him. This therefore means
that what we see in this volume are actually the publisher’s preferences, which
are personal to him. It would therefore be more appropriate to have titled the
book The Spinnler Collection of Contemporary Paintings from Nigeria and
Ghana .
After all has been said, I
congratulate the publisher on his foresight and tenacity. I also thank the
author for the extensive research, which she undertook to produce this volume
that should be an essential document for scholars, students, collectors and
general interest readers. I therefore recommend the book to all and sundry.
