Onobrakpeya on Creativity Moving Nigeria Forward

SHORT ADDRESS BY BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA DURING “CREATIVITY MOVING NIGERIA” (An Evening of Celebration of Creative Industry in Nigeria) Eko Hotel Lagos November 28, 2014 Your Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Fellow artists, Members of the press, Eminent Ladies and Gentlemen. I thank Mr. President for this recognition of our work. We appreciate his great interest in the creative sectors and for all that his government has been doing to elevate our sectors to a higher level where they. can continue to play an optimum role in the development of our country Nigeria. The occasion provides me the opportunity to plead with Mr. President to look into two areas which need urgent attention to facilitate and accelerate the growth of the arts sector. The first is the implementation of the National Endowment for the Arts which would include social welfare for the artists and grants to empower them to take care of their various associations and carry out projects.   The second is the building of infrastructure to showcase artistic products.  Top on the list is the National Gallery of Modern Art.  This is in fact long overdue.   There is also the need for Artists’ communities within the various estates being developed in our cities. In closing I say a very big thank you to Mr. President for his special greetings to me during the celebration of my eightieth birthday and during the award to me by Smithsonian Museum of African Art in the United States of America. Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank Mr. President for graciously writing the foreword to my latest monograph “The Masks of the Flaming Arrows.” I ask Mr. President to kindly accept a complimentary copy of the book which I like to present to him as I step down from the podium. Thank you Sir. Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen.

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BY HONOREE BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA, WASHINGTON DC

50 YEARS ANNIVERSARY MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BY HONOREE BRUCE ONOBRAKPEYA, WASHINGTON D.C.

Dr. Johnnetta Cole and the advisory Board of the National Museum of African Art, special guest Drs. Camille and Bill Cosby, Eminent Ladies and gentlemen.

I am happy and very grateful for being an honoree during the celebration of fifty years of life of the museum of African Art Washington D.C. I thank the museum for the honour.

It is a great recognition and a crown for a lifelong effort in my creative endeavours.

The honour is also recognition of the hard work of different people and groups who are dedicated to the building of artistic personalities and relevance, for the visual art particularly the old and modern African art.

 I hold the award on behalf of my family for whom my restless work as an artist has denied my time and funds. I also hold it for my friends, fellow artists, individuals and corporate sponsors, cultural engineers including the press.  It is an affirmation that their labour continues to yield positive results.

I congratulate the museum of African Art for her golden jubilee.  May she continue to grow in the development of the visual art from Africa and Diasporas to the benefit of the entire world.

Thank you

Bruce Onobrakpeya

Smithsonian Museum of African Art

Washington D.C.

November 7, 2014