Three decades after, Okoye returns with Echoes of the Past

By Tajudeen Sowole

 Apart from very few artists whose impact in the Diaspora are well known in their country of residence and at home, there are others such as returnee Chuks Echiemeze Okoye who have made their marks, but remain unknown in the Nigerian art environment.

  After three decades of sojourn in the Diaspora, Okoye has returned home with Echoes Of The Past, a solo art exhibition, which opens today and ends on July 6, 2012 at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

  During a preview of the exhibition, he narrated how his returning home to share his art with Nigerians was made possible by Chinwe Abara of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC).

  Interaction with Okoye in Lagos showed that he has channeled much of his art into activism, which perhaps led to a seeming lack of visibility for his art, compared to some of his fellow Africans in the U.S. and Europe, who are known in the mainstream art gallery space.

  In fact, he disclosed that he had worked with quite a number of African-American groups, focusing on art education to promote African art and ideals. 

Chucks Okoye’s Great Expectation, acrylic on canvas.

  Coming home with Echoes of the Past, he explained, was a continuation of his mission in the U.S.

  Art, he argued, is first and foremost about educating people on the value and ideals of culture.

  Three decades may seem a long time away from home, but he stated that he still had a strong sense of cultural value of his native Igbo culture.

  He noted, “This is a reflection of my contribution to the world of art and creativity, as well as the impact my artistic expressions has had on modern society. I have used my cultural experiences while growing up in eastern Nigeria in the 1970s and early 1980s as the benchmark for this art exhibition.”

  Some of the works available for the preview are rendered in embossed or relief, either combining painting and sculptural characteristics, which he described as “wall sculpture,” and “framed wood collages.”

  However, his thoughts on values, as seen in some of the works indeed reflect his passion for promoting African values, even in the Diaspora.

  Works such as ‘Ancestral’, ‘Be Fruitful and Multiply’, ‘Great Expectation’ and the theme piece, ‘Echoes of the Past’ underscore the artist’s cultural nostalgia abroad.

  Largely in mixed media, with a hint of subtle abstraction, the artist’s style of populating his canvas with images such as figures or motifs appears like a signature as nearly all the works for the preview, including those presented in soft copies share this feature.

  On his mission to promote African values through his art abroad, Okoye submitted that “a society that does not preserve and promote her traditional values tend to lose an essential part of her history.”

 And, without any pretext, he declared, “my art is African-American.” He explained that these ideals had been promoted with his art at such places as Ramses and The African Origin of Civilization in Dallas, Texas; Black History Month Celebration at the Epcot Center, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; New York Art Expo, and the internationally recognized National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Georgia.”

  Perhaps in recognising Okoye’s zeal as a “cultural ambassador of Nigeria,” his works, as set out in his profile were selected to be used in decorating the walls of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington D.C. and the Consulate offices in Atlanta, Georgia, indicating that he devotes “his time, talent and money to various community and charitable organisations and schools including UNCF, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation NBCF, the Atlanta Minority AIDS Foundation and Georgia’s Sheriff Association — Youth’s foundation. 

  His active involvement in the civic and art communities has earned him countless awards and recognitions around the country and abroad.

 Okoye is a recognised member of the Nigerian Elite Art Society, and he has received recognition from the Consulate General of The Federal Republic of Nigeria for his effort in promoting the talents and cultural heritage of the country and the continent of Africa. Okoye’s collection of art was chosen to adorn the walls of both the Nigeria consulate office in Atlanta and the Embassy in Washington D.C.”

 Okoye studied for two years at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka 1980/81 and proceeded to University Of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma’s College of Fine Arts & Industrial Arts  – Product Design and Painting (1985- 1987).

  His past solo exhibitions include

Ancestral Legacy at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, Dallas, Texas, June 1991; and Reflections shown at Unique Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia in May 1995.

Consequences: Artists in race for glory

 THE African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) and Nigerian Breweries Plc-organised national art competition, which holds yearly appears to have found a stronger platform in encouraging productivity as the fifth edition is based on the process of making art work.

  With the theme, Consequences, the contest this year follows the pattern of last year’s event, targeting what the organisers describe as “Process To Product.”

  At a joint briefing by the organisers, the director of AAF, Azu Nwagbogu, stated that the 2012 edition “aims to further develop the creative approach by contributing to the intellectual content of artistic thought and processes while nurturing the often-neglected skill sets in the art community.”

  Last year, a joint installation work by Uche Uzorka and Chike Obeago won the first prize, among the 12 works selected for the 2011 edition tagged Documenting Changes in our Nation. Mural size mixed media work of Gerard Chukwuma and an assemblage in photography by Olayinka Sangotoye won the second and third prizes in that order.

 The process for the 2012 edition, Nwagbogu explained, requires interested artists to submit a written proposal, which expands on the theme “Consequences” as well as specifies each entrant’s chosen medium.

  Like the previous edition, there will be no restriction of genres, Nwagbogu assured. Genres to be explored include painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, installation and video art.

  On the process of selecting entries, Nwagbogu stated: “Based on the submissions, the AAF selection committee will assess all submitted entries and shortlist up to a total of 15 finalists. Shortlisted finalists will be invited to partake in a week-long workshop, led by industry professionals at a retreat. It is at this time that the proposed works will be created; all works created at the workshop will be exhibited and rated by a panel of judges at the Grand Finale event and exhibition.”

 Perhaps to give credibility to the process of selecting the winners, the organisers disclosed that Prof. El Anatsui would head the selection committee.

  And the prizes for winners are: 1st prize – N2,000,000, 2nd prize – N1,500, 000 and 3rd prize – N1,000,000.

 PR Manager, Nigerian Breweries, Edem Vindah, noted that the brewers’ support for the competition in five consecutive years was “not about value to our brands, but to the creative industry and Nigeria at large.”

  Established in 2007, AAF is a non-profit art organisation, which aims to promote the development of African art and artists, with the joint mission of raising awareness of relevant societal issues through the use of creative and artistic expression.

  In carrying out its mission, AAF organises competitions, workshops and exhibitions all aimed at unearthing talent, creating societal awareness and promoting the development of art in Nigeria.

Palestine 'defeats' Israel, U.S,... gets UNESCO Heritage list for church of the Nativity

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Against the agitation of the U.S. and Israel, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage committee yesterday, Friday, June 29, in Paris, approved a Palestinian bid to place the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on its list of sites of World Heritage in Danger.

 It was an overwhelming vote as the 21-member committee met in St. Petersburg, Russia and voted 13-6 – with two abstentions – to include the church and pilgrimage route, located in the Palestinian land occupied territory controlled by Israeli in West Bank, on UNESCO'S list of World Heritage Sites.

  Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi hailed the decision of the world body and argued that the vote was an affirmation of Palestinian sovereignty over the site that marks the place where Jesus was born.

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem in the occupied territory, West Bank, Palestine.

 Expectedly, Israel was angry with the UNESCO vote as Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ilana Stein said the decision “has turned UNESCO into a theater of the absurd.” She added that “this is a sad day for the World Heritage Committee.”

 The U.S. ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said the United States is “profoundly disappointed.”

 For Palestine, the proposal of an emergency candidacy for the iconic Christian site shortcuts the usually 18-month-long process to apply for World Heritage recognition.

 The Palestinian bid had requested for recognition of urgency and “outstanding universal value.”

  Indicting Israel in the application, Palestine noted that lack of regular restoration of the church was due to 1967 invasion by Israel, occupying the territories. The bid also cited difficulties procuring equipment because of lack of free movement imposed by Israeli forces.

 UNESCO admitted Palestine as a full member in October last year.

 With this development, the Palestinians are stressing their intention of making the most of their position, after a failure to join the main U.N. body.

 Ashrawi stated: “The message to Israel today is that unilateral actions will not work and that Israel cannot continue challenging the world despite its powerful allies.”

 Stein, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, criticized those who voted in favor of the Nativity candidacy, saying that “they have given themselves up as pawns in the service of the Palestinians at the expense of UNESCO’s professionalism and good name.”

  Killion warned that UNESCO “should not be politicized. The site clearly has tremendous religious and historical significance,” Killion’s statement said, adding “however, the emergency procedure used in this instance is reserved only for extreme cases.”

After Sotheby's controversial sales, great-grandson of another beneficiary discloses over thirty of 1897 looted Benin art pieces

About two years after Sotheby’s was forced to cancel a proposed sales of some 15th century looted art pieces of Benin origin, another heir of one of the beneficiaries of the 1897 expedition has surfaced as 32 works from the ancient West African city have been donated to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.

  According to the Wall Street Journal and other media sources in the U.S., the 28 bronzes and six ivories are donations from New York collector, Robert Owen Lehman, who is the great-grandson of a famous American banker and collector Late Philip Lehman.

  Mr. Lehman’s great-grandfather, it was reported, founded the defunct investment firm Lehman Bros, and started “buying West African artworks at auctions in the 1950s and has since amassed a prized group of bronze figures from Benin as well as several ivory objects from 15th-century Sierra Leone.” 

A relief plaque depicting a battle scene is one of the pieces donated to the Museum of Fine Arts by Robert Owen Lehman.

   In December 2010, Sotheby’s was forced to cancel a proposed London sales of six Benin artefacts, including an ivory-made pendant mask of Queen Idia, in the London, after an outcry and protests over the questionable acquisition of the works.

 Works in the Sotheby’s cancelled sales were from the descendants of Lionel Galway, an army officer whose efforts led to the looting of the Benin Kingdom in 1897. Late Colonel (Sir) Lionel Henry Gallway (he later changed his surname to Galway) was the Deputy Commissioner and Vice-consul in the then newly created Oil Rivers Protectorate.
   Few hours ago, all the news sources monitored suggested that Lehman’s donated works are from the 1897 looting of Benin.

  Another online news medium states: Highlights include a 15th-century bronze bust of a young man with tightly braided hair and almond-shaped eyes, his lips forming a subtle frown. The work, Commemorative Head of a Defeated Neighboring Leader," once stood on an ancestral altar as proof of past triumphs. Also in the group of donated works is a stylized royal portrait from the late 16th century, Commemorative Head of an Oba, which shows the ruler's head chin-deep in a collar made from coral beads and capped with a crown made from braided strings and other beads.

 The Boston museum is planning an exhibition of the works.

  

Most interesting however, the Boston museum management was quoted as arguing that the gifts met all legal standard. Senior curator of African and Oceanic Art of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston museum, Christraud Geary stated: “We have looked at the legal situation here at the museum and we’ve come to the conclusion that the gift meets all of our standards.” 

 She said there was no official claims for the works, and Rogers agreed there has been no claim made.

The museum’s director, Malcolm Rogers said “What entered my thinking was that here was a wonderful opportunity to move into the public domain objects which hadn’t been seen for decades and which spoke so wonderfully of the great African culture.”

Citi Volunteers boosts museum’s cataloguing capacity

By Tajudeen Sowole

 In the common goal of preserving the past, the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos has found partnership with a community development initiative, Citi Volunteers In Nigeria.

  A project of Citibank, the Citi Volunteers In Nigeria initiative, assisted the Lagos Museum in digital cataloguing of its vast collections by donating computers, printers and air-conditioning systems.

  Other areas of assistance include rehabilitation of the storage system of the museum’s shelves as well as parts of the complex.

  The occasion was the 200th year anniversary of Citi Bank, under the theme Celebrating Our Past and Defining Our Future.

  Shortly before the presentation of the equipments, curator of the museum, Mrs Vickie Agili noted that “the assistance which Citi Bank offered, to rehabilitate the storage area, where the bulk of the collections are housed, is probably the best help anyone can give to a museum because if we lose the collections, then we lose the material evidence of our nation’s history and cultural heritage.”

 Agili noted that with 36 museums under the management of National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), across the nation, government needs the private sector to support its activities in the preservation of the nation’s vast collections.

  She commended the Citi Volunteers for their choice of the theme Celebrating Our Past, Redefining Our Future, arguing that it “could not be more relevant here in our museum where we learn and celebrate Nigeria’s past as a prelude to understanding and dealing with the future.”

  Chief Country Officer and Managing Director of Citibank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa. stated that Citi Bank chose the Lagos Museum for its 200th year celebration “based on our understanding of archiving and keeping records.”

MD, Citibank, Mr Emeka Emuwa handing over one of the donated electronic cataloguing equipment to the Curator of the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, Mrs Vickie Agili and Assistant Director, Museums, Mrs Edith Ekunke…recently

  Emuwa added, “This restoration project is one that truly speaks to the theme of our 200th year celebrations, Celebrating Our Past and Defining Our Future. The preservation of our nation’s historical artifacts will ensure that future generations are able to connect and understand our country’s history.” 

  According to the Vice President,

Public Affairs Officer, Nigeria and Ghana,

Ogochukwu Sylvia Ekezie, the event “is Citi’s seventh annual Global Community Day in 92 countries around the world, and with nearly 100,000 Citi volunteers. The museum is part of 1,300 service projects that benefit local communities across the world”. 

  She explained that more than 500 volunteers were involved in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt that came out to mark the day and give their time. “In Port-Harcourt, Citi provided much needed water storage and treatment systems for the museum, while Citi Abuja volunteers marked the day at the Cyprian Ekwensi Arts & Cultural Centre with children from Bema Home for the Less Privileged.”

  Ekezie stressed that the initiative, as a “Global Community Day event, serves as a yearly opportunity for Citi employees, alumni, family and friends around the world to gather as one to demonstrate a shared commitment to its communities.”

  She listed regions covered by the Citi Volunteers projects as the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and North America, noting that in each country, participants “lend their time, skills and expertise to concentrate on local community needs, including financial inclusion, college and career mentoring, neighborhood revitalization, housing, disaster relief and environmental protection”.

  For example, in Hong Kong, 4,000 volunteers are said to be partnering with 13 NGOs to host a wide range of community service and fundraising activities for the elderly, underprivileged children and families, and other under-served groups. 

  In the U.K., “more than 1,400 volunteers will take part in 47 different service projects, including park revitalizations and painting community centres. In Spain, close to 100 people ranging from 4 to 99 years old would take part in a fundraising event called the Citi Mini Olympics.

  More than 1,000 volunteers in Pakistan will take part in the Citi 200 Community Carnival benefitting patients of a local cancer hospital. In Kenya, volunteers in Nairobi will partner with Habitat for Humanity’s Maai Mahiu Internally Displaced Persons project at Naivasha, which seeks to provide decent, durable and permanent house.

How American artist and culture activist imprinted on Lagos art school's space

It's Brett Cook's thoughts on Nurturing People and Ideas, a collaborative project tagged Sharing Culture/smARTpower. 

Cook's Nurturing People and Ideas mural installed at the New creative Arts complex next to the Faculty of Social sciences was part of commemoration of the university’s 50^th Anniversary.

The Nurturing People and Ideas mural painting at the Creative Arts Dept of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Nigeria.

 Cook says: Nurturing People and Ideas is a multi-faceted process of community building that includes the collaborative development of a large-scale public artwork at the University of Lagos, featuring University of Lagos students, staff, and community.  Facilitated by American artist Brett Cook during his six-week residency in Nigeria as part of the U.S. Department of State’s smARTpower initiative, Nurturing People and Ideas represents Cook’s evolving conception of collaboration and art making as a framework for transformation that includes social relevance and localized solutions.  The culminating public Mural represents a synthesis of participant generated photographs and writing from the 2012 Sharing Culture/smARTpower Workshop at the University of Lagos, April 2012.

  Central to Cook’s practice and evidenced in the lectures and workshops he led in Lagos and Ibadan, social collaboration transcends individual privileges where separate expectations are replaced with equality, and collective self-interest. By creating experiences of dynamic demographics, with exercises that everyone can create in, there is a collective unification, a support of new community that is inclusive in its being.  At the center of the exercises are an artistic representation of partnership and a considerate example of international community engagement to nurture people and ideas.

  Detailed Project Description and History

In 2012 The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Bronx Museum of the Arts launched smARTpower, a new initiative that sends 15 American artists and artist teams to 15 countries worldwide to engage in people-to-people diplomacy through the visual arts.  This new initiative builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power diplomacy,” which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case the visual arts – to bring people together and foster greater understanding.

  American artist, educator, and healer Brett Cook will visit Nigeria for a total of 6 weeks under the joint partnership of the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York, and the Women and Youth Art Foundation in Nigeria (his first visit was from April 9 –May 30, 2012.) In a four-day workshop at University of Lagos, participants used progressive educational philosophies and diverse contemplative exercises to highlight how art can be a force for personal discovery and mutual understanding. In the process, participants reflected upon personal identity within their diverse and overlapping communities, culminating in the collaborative creation of artifacts (drawings, writing and photos), digital documentation, a community celebration and public artwork that expresses a variety of cultural and aesthetic positions.

Nurturing People and Ideas Portraits - Seeing Self in Community Public Artwork

During the University of Lagos workshop, participants worked in groups to collaboratively create and present 26 original photographs (one for each letter of the alphabet) that reflected their notions of community. The work demanded dialogue and cooperation, and encouraged both collaborative learning and individual autonomy. Chosen photos from this exercise were then used as inspiration for personal reflection statements about nurturing people and ideas in the world – this year’s theme for University of Lagos’ 50th anniversary.

  Based on preliminary site evaluations, two digital layouts were created for consideration for the permanent painting installation. Both proposed digital “sketches” feature photos and writing created by workshop participants from the above exercise. 

  Image 1: This image features busts of three men and two women looking upwards with slight smiles – they are confident and hopeful and yet also humble and kind, connected to each other through their close proximity, gaze and emotion.  They are ringed by quotations by other participants that highlight ideas of mutual understanding and nurture, as well as invoking introspection. The work includes students, community supporters, and faculty of varied gender together, suggesting the complexity of UNILAG’s learning community – that when taken in consideration with the smARTpower project, has local, national, and international scope. 

  Image 2: The second digitally prepared layout features the same group fully figured and viewed from behind as they look upwards, with quotations that float around them.  Without being able to see the faces of the models it is their body language, inferred gaze, and interlocking arms that covey the sense of interconnectedness and support that the selection of accompanying quotations complement. As we, the viewers, stand behind them, we come to see that they could be anyone and from many walks of life, anonymous leaders or committed community members who could just as easily be ourselves.

  Community Celebration:  A culminating social collaboration celebration on Friday June 8 as part of the permanent installation “dedication” features collaborative exercises that continue the work of the smARTpower project including the initial coloring of 2 new portraits, and miscellaneous collaborative craft experiences.

  Project Timeline
April 14 – 18, 2012 - Phase I

smARTpower Collaborative Workshop, The Parapet at the Main Auditorium Building, University of Lagos.

May 4 – 18, 2012 - Phase II
Video documentation, editing, and painting fabrication in USA.
May 25 – June 8, 2012 - Phase III
Public Installation of Nurturing People and Ideas Permanent artwork at UNILAG

1 time reconvening of smARTpower workshop June 6, 2012, location TBA
A culminating social collaboration celebration on Friday June 8 as part of permanent installation “dedication” featuring, the initial coloring of 2 new portraits, and miscellaneous collaborative experiences.

  Resources necessary for installation with UNILAG and WY Art Foundation:

Cherry Picker Lift 5/25 – 6/8

Electricity for digital projectors for 4 nights, 3 heavy-duty extension cords

1 large ladders

Sound for June 8 dedication/celebration

Painting Materials (rollers, roller pads, prep paint, trays, gloves)

10 large tables for Friday June 8 Dedication event.

   I don’t know if there is a Facilities or Grounds department at UNILAG, but those are frequently places that I work with in the installation of my work in schools and at universities.  If any of the materials listed can be provided, that would be great.

  Brett Cook Biography
My work cohesively integrates the breadth and depth of my diverse experiences with art, education, science, and spirituality. For over two decades I have produced exhibitions, curricula, and events widely across the United States, and internationally.  My use of participatory ethnographic strategies, progressive educational pedagogy, and community organizing connect my work to exceptionally wide audiences. My museum work includes elaborate installations that make intimately personal experiences universally accessible. My public projects typically involve community workshops and collaborative art, along with music, performance, and food.  I have received numerous awards, including residencies at the Skowhegan School in Maine and the Studio Museum in Harlem.  In 2008 I held the Lehman Brady Joint Chair Professorship in Documentary Studies at Duke University and the History Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  In 2009 I published Who Am I In This Picture: Amherst College Portraits with Wendy Ewald and Amherst College Press. I am currently visiting professor at the San Francisco Art Institute.  My work is in private and public collections including the Smithsonian/National Portrait Gallery, the Walker Art Center, and Harvard University.  

Yusuf Grillo Pavilion celebrates Dale

David Dale

When mixed media master, David Dale, who survived stroke attack last year, returns to the public glare with a soiree, his art and life will be celebrated.

 The art soiree, being organised by the three years old centre for art resource, Yusuf Grillo Pavilion, will feature an exhibition of Dale’s works at the pavilion’s annex, South West, Ikoyi, Lagos on Sunday, July 8, 2012. 

  Unveiling the Grillo Pavilion’s new medium and concept of promoting art, few days ago, the founder, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi assured that “the soiree will be a first-of-its-kind, featuring the artist’s recently created works, and expected to attract a coterie of artists, collectors, critics and enthusiasts.” It will also be Dale’s next solo outing since his 2007 show titled Update, held at Quintessence, Falomo, Lagos.  

 Grillo Pavilion, named after one of Nigeria’s living masters, has held four editions of a yearly art fiesta at its headquarters, Kunbi Haven, Ikorodu since its establishment in 2009. So far, all the four artists celebrated such as Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko and Prof Uche Okeke are of the former College of Arts, Science and Technology (now Ahmadu Bello University) Zaria.

  Dale, a younger generation of the revered Zaria art school appears more passionate about the soiree as he disclosed that “I used to work for two hours a day, but recently, I have been working up to six hours, just to get works ready for this event.”

  Out of over 30 works expected to be on display, 21, according to the organisers, were produced in 2012. Such works include five of original engraving, original foil, beads and stained-glass as well as three large foils.

  Other works, the coordinator, Mike Omoighe said, would be sorted from donors who “hopefully will loan us the works.”

   Dale, Omoighe stressed, deserves to be so honoured “as he was the artist who, in the 1970s, returned regular art exhibitions to the Nigerian art scene.”

  Working in over 23 media, and still counting, Dale, 64, notes in his artist statement saying, “If a door slams shut, it means that God is pointing to an open door further down: to dry one’s eye and laugh at a fall and baffled, get up and begin again.”

   He argued that success, as perceived by some people, is not responsible for being “vain, egotistic and self complacent,” rather “it makes them for most part, humble, tolerant and kind.”

  For Dale, deriving satisfaction in his work is the ultimate success.

  He added: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. The man of virtue makes the difficulty to overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration. There is more in life than increasing its speed. In each of us, there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves.”

Founder, Grillo Pavilion, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi (left) and David Dale

  Dale’s ommissioned works include a stained-glass at Our Saviour’s Church in Onikan, Lagos; mosaic for St. Agnes Church, Maryland, Lagos; a mural for the MTN Building in Ibadan, Oyo State. His works adorn both private and public collections.

  Born in 1947 to an English father and a Nigerian mother, Dale’s debut solo show was in 1972 at Gong Gallery, Lagos.

Sheath your swords, dOCUMENTA 13 opens in Afghanistan today

National gallery, Kabul, Afghanistan

 For the first time, one of the biggest events in the art world's calendar, dOCUMENTA 13, holds outside Germany, in addition to its traditional Kassel home shows.

   While the Kassel section opened few weeks ago, 27 artists from 13 countries are gathering today June 24 to July 19, 2012 at the National Gallery Kabul, and Bamiyan in Afghanistan,. The Kabul and Bamiyan event is in collaboration with the Goethe Institut, Afghanistan.

  The breakdown of artists and the countries represented include Afghanistan (13), Argentina (1), France (1), United Kingdom (1), Egypt (1), USA (3), Germany (3), Italy (2), Mexico (2), Belgium (1), Lebanon (1), Poland (1), South Africa (1).

 Other parallel events outside Kassel hold in  Cairo, Egypt and Canada's Banff National Park.

 Kabul, according to the organizers will host an exhibition, film series and part of a photo collage whose second half can be seen in Kassel.

Directed by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, the organisers explains that the 2012 edition explores spaces and places where rebuilding collapsed interests and recovery are of immediate priority.

  Christov-Bakargiev says “War creates facts, but art, too, creates fact of a different order, and art has a major role to play in social processes of reconstruction through imagination. The first documenta opened in 1955 after a terrible period of dictatorship and conflict. Although different and dissimilar to what has happened in Afghanistan, experiences are shared in the moment of rethinking one’s society, at the juncture of where art is felt to be autonomous and an international common language of shared ideals and practices.”

 With a target to attract more than 750, 000 visitors to the western German town of Kassel over its 100-day run, the main event was projected to attract more than 245 artists, scientists and curators from 55 different countries, displaying along a route through the city, winding through art galleries and churches to more unusual locations such as a cinema, and outdoors.
 On the 2012 edition, and the argument about what art and content,  Christov-Bakargiev states: "What some of these participants do, and what they 'exhibit' at documenta may or may not be art. However, their acts, gestures, thoughts, and knowledges produce and are produced by circumstances that are readable by art, aspects that art can cope with and absorb," explained Christov-Bakargiev to the press on Wednesday. "The borders between what is art and what is not art are becoming less and less important."

That is also a concept: "Documenta is a state of mind."

Work from anthropologists, biologists, theorists, engineers, political activists, a hypnotherapist, a psychoanalyst and a zoologist will be included in the show which deliberately plays with the question of what is art.
  Visitors expecting a fun, cultured day out could find themselves instead challenged though, as the event's artistic director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev explained that "documenta in Kassel is intentionally uncomfortable, incomplete, nervously lacking.”
 "I think confusion is really wonderful," she added.
  "What these participants do and what they exhibit at documenta may or not be art," said the US-born Christov-Bakargiev. "The boundary between what is art and what is not has become less important."
  Participants include Germany's Rosemarie Trockel, who erected a "House for Pigs and People" at the 1997 edition, and South African painter and film-maker William Kentridge.
 China's Song Dong will unveil a garbage heap that has already been completely colonised by freshly grown grass while Frenchman Pierre Huyghe will be showing off a compost heap.
 An ambitious plan to display El Chaco, the world's second heaviest meteorite weighing 37 tonnes, was eventually abandoned. Instead, the attempt will be documented.
 Kassel, in the central state of Hesse, hosts the world-famous documenta art fair every five years.
 German President Joachim Gauck was there to mark the occasion, arriving early on Saturday. He was greeted by crowds of excited art-fans waiting in one of the city's main squares before taking a tour of the Fridericianum museum which is hosting part of the documenta.
     Christov-Bakargiev's concept of art is most closely allied to "antagonism." Her aversion to everything traditional, conventional, to the art exhibited at classic institutions, is so pronounced that everything else is secondary. This is evident in her writings and speeches.

The participating artists, however, are much less theoretical. At the beginning of documenta, it's fair to say that Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev herself appears to be a central piece of the art spectacle. But not so much so that the show collapses under the weight of her theoretical constructs.

 hristov-Bakargiev invited 160 artists to Kassel. Tino Sehgal, the London-born artist with an Indian father who currently resides in Berlin, is one of them. A choreographer and economist as well as professional artist by trade, Sehgal creates "a fleeting work of the art world and works consistently to produce the non-material" in his performances, at least according to the curators. And so his works play to Christov-Bakargiev's conceptions. Visitors look at, listen to and reacquaint with their own selves.

 

Aderinsoye... a muse with Water and reflection

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE

 PAINTER Aladegbonbge Aderinsoye recently joined other artists to stress the importance of drawing skills.

     With the theme, Nothing But the Truth, these concerned artists held a show to promote draughtsmanship in art.

  But why this emphasis on drawing skills? For Aderinsoye, drawing goes beyond art; it has a scientific perspective too. The artist explains this in Water and Reflection, his solo show which opened at the Yusuf Grillo Gallery, Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) Lagos, on Thursday 21, June and ends on July 8.  

   “It’s a show that aims at reawakening drawing and painting,” he says, expressing himself in watercolour, charcoal and pencil.

  Aderinsoye had shown his skills on canvas, particularly with mixed media in one of his past four solo shows, A Visual Representation: An Anthropological Study of Ilara-Mokin (2010) at the same venue.

     And in his current outing, he is also pushing ahead that medium, making diverse statements with it.

   Some of the landscape pieces, to a large extent expose Aderinsoye’s slim escape from the swimming medium, producing quite a rich fluctuation of aesthetic between lines and shades. And that he also attempts to depict a shimmering surface of river in some of the works such as Digging Deep, perhaps, shows an artist, who would not succumb to the rigid and dreaded dictate of watercolour.

  However, in the figural works such as Look At Me, Coming To Agreement, the water and paper medium proves a bit difficult just as Aderinsonye, too, appears too ambitious. And thanks to his drawing skill, which gives him space to ventilate, using highlight to shape out some of the figures.

  Alternative medium of visual expressions such as conceptual art, which often include installation and performance arts, may not necessarily be escapists, as some would argue, but just a sign of the dynamics of art.  Aderinsoye says, “I have no issues with artists, who implore such medium, but it becomes incomplete without the fundamental of art, which is the skill to draw.”

  He argues, “no matter what career you chose, if the basic spoken and writing English is missing, even as a graduate, you can’t go far. You know some graduate cannot construct simple good English. Such defects will surely affect their career.”

   Using draughtsmanship, which is fundamental to art, as an analogy in analysing the developmental challenges facing Nigeria, the artist argues that without the basics, nothing can be done. “For example, it’s impossible for President Goodluck Jonathan to perform well, because the foundation and the structure of government is weak, even before he was elected.”

  He brings in scientific analysis of painting, water and reflection, yet within creativity and passion for the basics of art. This, he says, goes to interpret human adventure in the context of master-apprenticeship or father and child chains. On each situation, “when the master or the father dies, the legacy is continued by the child because the fundamental has been laid.”

    In 2008, Aderinsoye had a two-man show titled Times Of Life at Yabatech; MFA Painting Exhibition at University of Benin (Uniben), 2006; A Nation and Her Strokes of Policy (Yabatech).

Weird art of body painting goes legal tussling

 As painters and photographers from 44 countries gather in Austria next month for World Bodypainting Festival, Zoe West, a New York nude model who posed in body painting for artist Andy Golub at Times Square files a legal suit against the city.

A body painting work of 2-piece jean and vest on a female model

  West claims her rights were violated when cops arrested her after a public body-painting project last year. Her lawyer, Ron Kuby argued “It is not illegal to be naked in New York as long as you are doing it for the purpose of a play, exhibition, performance or show.”
West, 22, posed at West 44th Street on Aug. 30, 2011. An hour later, some cops arrived and moved the multicolored human body (canvas) of West into a set of handcuffs, and out in a police van.
Without charges, she was released about two hours later.

A model of canvas-body during a bodypainting festival

And somewhere else, the World Bodypainting Festival 2012 is about to explode. HERE.

Africa's pioneer TV broadcaster, Segun Olusola passes on at 77

Africa's First TV broadcaster, Chief Segun Olusola

The patriarch of Nigerian culture and pioneer TV broadcaster, Chief Segun Olusola passed on yeserday, at 6 p.m. on Thursday June 21, 2012. A very active culture activist, he suffered a brief illness until yesterday.  Born March 18, 1935, and living a life full of activities in the entire culture sector and other branches of endeavour, he passed on at 77.

  Chief Segun Olusola will be remembered for four major achievements: in broadcasting, he became the first African television broadcaster when TV debuted in Africa with its first transmission in Nigeria at the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), Ibadan in 1959; he was an actor, playwright and a founding member of The Players of the Dawn, an amateur theatre outfit that held sway until 1959, prior to the emergence of the 1960 Masks, a more professional theatre outfit established by Prof. Wole Soyinka; in Diplomacy, he was the longest-serving Ambassador of Nigeria to Ethiopia (1987 - 1993).
 He was reputed as a Culture Ambassador who employed the instrumentalities and functionalities of  arts and culture to drive Diplomacy. In Humanitarian circle, he was moved by his experiences as a diplomat when he dealt with many critical refugee issues, to eventually found the African Refugees Foundation in 1993 shortly after his service as Ambassador.

 

 Chief Segun Olusola at a culture function

Olusola was an art connoisseur whose family gallery, Ajibulu-Moniya Gallery transformed into a full-blown commercial gallery open to public to date.  
  He is survived by his wife, Chief Mrs. Beatrice Fehintola Olusola; his children: Ms. Aderonke Ajibulu-Moniya, Mr, Jimi Olusola III, Mrs.Toyin Laditi, Mr. Sabitu Olusola, Mrs. Toyin Adejumo and Mr. Samuel Olusola; his immediate younger sister, Chief Mrs. Biodun Kehinde and others. Burial arrangement will soon be announced by the family.  

Painterly Wild About Life with an expatriate

By Tajudeen Sowole

FROM an expatriate, Celeste de Vries, who shares her passion in naturalism painting, comes a contribution to conservation of the eco-system in Nigeria.

Vries, a South African, who is also the General Manager of an electronic security company based in Lagos, expresses a combined art and science skill in her first solo art exhibition titled Wild About Life, which opens tomorrow at Watersworth Gallery, Lekki-Phase One, Lagos.

Bringing her studies of wild life garnered over decades from when she was under 10 while growing up in South Africa, and infusing such into a self-taught art skill, Vires, indeed, exudes some level of understanding of nature.

In media such as acrylic, oil pastel and charcoal, she renders images that celebrate the rich nature of Africa.

Lion, one of Celeste de Vries’ work

 Vries disclosed that 20 per cent of the proceeds from the exhibition would be donated to the conservation of the critically endangered species in Nigeria. In what looks like a games reserve capture, acrylic on canvas rendition of action scene involving an elephant chasing off irritant vultures will certain evoke passion from viewers. Titled Angry Elephant at River, what exactly is the larger animal angry about?

The flock of vultures, it appears, are being chased away by the elephant “from the river where it intends to take a drink.” Scenes such as this, the artist disclosed, “are very common in some of parts of South Africa.”

Again, the alertness of one of Africa’s most cherished species, the Lilac breasted Roller reflects the artist’s understanding of nature.  In charcoal, sketched on textured paper, the birds are perching, and also having a “clear view of approaching snakes,” via the bare branches.

 AFRICA’S rich eco system has astronomic perspective, so Vries’ African Skies series explain in acrylic on canvas. She notes that with “an abundance of water and powerful thermals, the African skies produce some of the most incredible cloud formations.”

On the diverse flora and fauna in Africa, which she expresses in the piece 5 Lavender, “the sweet fragrant cure to depression and stress just reached a new height in calm,” she said. It’s depicting the “varieties of lavender on a soothing green background which is serenity itself.”

Still on the flora and fauna comes Lobster Claw Crazy, said to be about “200 variations, found in tropical areas all over the world.” But Vries must have been surprised to see these plants all over Lagos.

Quite significant is Wild About Life, for both the artist and Watersworth Gallery: it’s the artist’s first solo anywhere in the world and the gallery’s first exhibition. The curator and director of the gallery, Chinaza Orji said the gallery “is pleased to present the work of Celeste, which is the first show in our solo exhibition series.”

She described Vries’ use of the medium implored as “capturing the essence of both the wild life depicted in them as well as their natural surroundings. Every piece has a life of its own and one connects the animal or scene and its mood instantaneously.”

Coming from a privileged background, which gave her the opportunity of traveling widely appears to have enhanced her understanding of nature. This is captured in her profile thus: “throughout her life, she has traversed the African continent. Her passion for Africa and the rich diversity of its fauna and flora is evident. She brings to us a taste that demonstrates a creative flavour nurtured through her travels of this marvelous continent, obviously keenly aware of her environment.”