'France will return another seized-artefacts of Nigerian origin'

By Tajudeen Sowole

Aside the Nok statuettes returned to Nigeria by the French Embasy in Abuja yesterday, another set of artefacts of Nigerian origin  - also illegally exported to France – will be presented very soon, French Ambassador, Jacques Champagne De Labriolle has disclosed.

De Labriolle stated this much during the presentation of the Nok terracotta pieces seized in France in 2010. The artefacts were collected on behalf of Nigeria by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Nationall Orientation at Reiz Hotel, Abuja.  
"Let me announce that we will meet again in a few weeks from now, when we will return another statuette, which was seized by the French Customs in another development unrelated to the first one. This statuette is not a Nok terracotta statuette,' but a soapstone statuette of Esie origin," De Labriolle stated:
 
Earlier, he argued that the return was "made in accordance with international law, and within the framework of a French policy aiming at fighting illegal imports, and especially illegal imports of cultural goods." 

DG NCMM Mallam Yusuf Abdallah Usman,Minister of Tourism and Culture High Chief Edem Duke,French Ambassador Jacques Champagne De Labriolle during the return of the seized works.

  It was also explained that the statuettes were seized in France, by the French customs near Paris, in August 2010.
  The return was coming about six months after another set of Nok terracotta pieces of Nigerian origin were intercepted by the Home Security Investigation (HSI) of U.S. Although the seized works in U.S. were yet to be returned to Nigeria, it is believed that "technically, we are in repossession since the works are already in custody of Nigeria Consulate in U.S"

The Honourable Minister High Chief Edem Duke

traced the collaboration between Nigeria and France to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the prohibition of illicit trade in Cultural property and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on stolen and illegally exported cultural objects.

"Nigeria and France have collaborated under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the prohibition of illicit trade in Cultural property and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on stolen and illegally exported cultural objects over the years," Duke stated. He argued "that the return of these Nok pieces is yet another attestation to the collaboration between Nigeria and France in Cultural and Heritage matters spanning over several decades." 

The Director-General of National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Mallam Yusuf Abdallah Usman traced the history of most of Nigerian artefcats illegally acquired abroad. 

"There were two waves of collection of Nigerian Artifacts. The first wave was during colonial period first by invading forces of imperial Britain such as the Benin Punitive Expedition of 1897 and later by western anthropologists who carried out field work in various parts of the country.  The second wave of collection was in the 1960s and 1970s when the civil war provoked large exodus of our artefacts through our borders with neighbouring countries."

  Usman described the current returned  artefacts as the "third wave" of looted objects, "The flight was from Togo.  In all likelihood therefore these artifacts left this country in recent times.

This brings us to the 3^rd wave of exodus of Nigeria artifacts which is the illegal excavation and looting of heritage, archaeological sites and museums by unscrupulous Nigerians and their foreign collaborators."

 On the current effort of the NCMM to stop further illegal movement of Nigerian artefacts, Usman disclosed that "at the onset of the present management of the NCMM under my humble leadership, the issue of looting of archaeological sites by illegal diggers reduced due to the use of a multi-pronged approach.  Within the last three years the Commission has embarked on several sensitization programme involving law enforcement agencies, media, local communities and traditional rulers at Abuja and Kaduna and also in the rural areas especially at Nok and Janjala."

Recalling the seizure three years ago, De Labriolle   said "they were found in the personal luggage of a traveller coming back from Africa. It was quickly established that these art works had been illegally taken away from Nigerian territory. 

"At the time of the seizure, nobody knew where the statuettes exactly came from. They were later analysed by several French experts, coming from a famous French museum (Musee du Quai  Branly), from the French Museums Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, and from the Research and Restoration Laboratory of the also famous Louvre Museum. These experts were eventually able to determine their origin. 

The artefacts are estimated to be as old as between 1400 BC and 700 BC or 3000 years old. 

  
De Labriolle noted that under the French policy against illegal importation of artefacts, "the French Customs and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs have worked together so that the seized items be returned to Nigeria, as the country of origin of the seized goods." this he stressed, was  aimed at reinforcing the cooperation with the country of origin in the common fight against trafficking."

Tips, hope on restitution of looted cultural objects

By Tajudeen Sowole

From all indications, Nigeria's efforts to repossess its looted cultural objects from museums overseas may appear like a wild goose chase, but it is not an entirely hopeless situation, so suggests unfolding development between the parties in the dispute. 

In fact, the Director-General of National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Mallam Yusuf Abdallah Usman has argued that if Nigeria's agitation for return of its stolen and disputed artefacts must enjoy consideration of the holders, it is important to demonstrate to the rest of the world that whenever the looted works are repatriated “we would share” with other people across the world.

The D-G's view has therefore restated reasons for the continuing joint exhibitions with some holders of the objects. Apparently, his hope of restitution may have been hinged on the continuous demand for Nigeria's participation in international exhibitions.

Official numerical details of Nigeria’s cultural objects illegally acquired by foreign museums are not exactly known. However, quite a large number of cultural objects of Nigerian origin from colonial to post-independence eras have been stolen and moved out of the country.  

Revisiting restitution of the controversial works during the presentation of some objects just returned from loan for a global show, Usman insisted that the posture of NCMM, which allows for joint shows with international museums, would yield positive results. For example he hinted that before the end of the year, Nigeria is expected to receive some of her stolen works from France.

Last year, eighth works from the NCMM joined other selected pieces across the world for the show titled Bronze, which was held at Royal Academy of Arts, London, U.K., from September 15 to December 9, 2012.  

The Bronze show featured over 5, 000 years of art history across several civilizations from three continents - Asia, Africa and Europe. Nigeria and Egypt represented Africa in the exhibition, which featured 150 works and was curated by Prof David Ekserdjian and Cecilia Treves.

And in assuring critics that every work taken out of Nigeria on loan to foreign museums for joint shows would be done transparently, Usman showed the works to a select audience at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos. He stated that aside returning the works in good condition as they were taken out, "the image of our great country Nigeria has received a boost with the just-concluded exhibition." He also assured that "condition reports" carried out on the works after arriving in Lagos was satisfactory "and the adequate security measures were adhered to.”

Add caption

  In past collaborative shows, lack of transparency in transporting works outside the country for exhibitions was alleged in such joint outings as the one year European and U.S. tour of Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria as well as the Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Arts in Ancient Nigeria. It would be recalled that works on loan for the two shows were taken out of the country ‘secretly’ without adequately informing Nigerians of the details. The NCMM’s involvement in the Bronze show was a clear departure from the past as the works were presented before and on arrival. 

However, the NCMM would not stop incurring the dissatisfaction of critics over what has been described as ‘static’ process of getting looted Nigerian works returned home.

Observers wonder why some countries are succeeding in retrieving their stolen cultural objects and Nigeria is not.  It has also been noted that the NCMM's collaborative exhibitions was not really achieving any progress in the quest for restitution. Something more drastic or perhaps confrontational should have been applied, critics argued. For example, last year Turkey reviewed its subtle and diplomatic approach after being frustrated over the refusal of foreign museums to return its artefacts.  

Last year, Turkey’s Ministry of Culture had halted an agreement by the country’s museums to loan some artefacts to British Museum for the exhibition Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam. Turkey’s sudden decision, which forced the British Museum to make a last minute alternative for the exhibition, it was reported, sanctioned holders of the country’s cultural objects. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, were affected by Turkey’s review.

In fact, late last year some Turkish lawyers threatened to take the British Museum to European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the original owners of the two marble statues from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The sculptures, created by Greek artists in 350 BC were moved from the town of Bodrum in Turkey to the U.K. in the mid 19 century. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus is among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 

Short of giving details of the anticipated repossession of Nigerian artefacts from France, Usman insisted that diplomacy remained the "best and only option for now and we would change our strategy if it’s not working."

Aside the restitution issue, exhibition such as Bronze should have provided for academic or intellectual exchanges, particularly for better understanding of the provenance of the exhibits. Perhaps in revisiting the provenance at such international forum, illegal holders of similar works in foreign museums would appreciate the need to reunite the incarcerated pieces with their ‘cousins’ at home. Such forum, Usman responded, did not hold ‘formally’, but said interactions about the works among representatives of participating countries were most likely.

‘Artists’ guild is redefining Nigerian art’

By Tajudeen Sowole

Individually, members of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA) have contributed immensely to the growth of full time studio practice in the country. However, the collective strength of the group, aimed at reshaping and adding lustrous texture to the entire nation’s art landscape, is the primary goals of GFA’s new executive.

The social Director, Gbenga Offo, who spoke about the mission of the new executive, noted that Nigeria’s full potential in art practice was far from being realised. He argued that remaining on the local turf and claiming to be ‘successful artist’ is not sustainable in the world of globalization.

Offor disclosed that in addition to the international debut of GFA, which had the group given a special section in the 2012 edition of Bonhams, U.K. Africa Now art auction, more outings at such level of exposure will come in 2013.

Abraham Uyovbisere, President of Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA) 

  

It would be recalled that the special section of the auction tagged Works by Artists from the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria had lots 191 to 215. Members of GFA whose works featured included Lekan Onabanjo, Sam Ovraiti, Edosa Ogiugo, Abiodun Olaku, Duke Asidere, Ben Osaghae, Bunmi Babatunde, Reuben Ugbine, Alex Nwokolo, Tola Wewe and Fidelis Odogwu.

GFA’s new executive members who will lead the guild for the next two years or more include Abraham Uyovbisere, President; Hamid Ibrahim, Vice President; Fidelis Eze Odogwu, Financial Secretary; Offo, Social Director and Sam Ebohon, Secretary General.

Offo likened the GFA’s vision for Nigerian art to the attention, which Nigerian music and movie sectors of the culture industry is enjoying currently. “We at GFA wants to take Nigerian art beyond where it is now to give it as much attention as movie and music professions are getting.” 

Further on the goals of the new executive, Offo was upbeat in remarking, “it is not entirely new; we just want to strengthen the central mission statement of the guild”.

Accordingly, the guild’s mission states, “promoting the appreciation of Fine Art in Nigeria; promote education of Fine Art in all the different strata of our educational institutions; project the good image of Professional Artists in the society; establish ethical standards and rules that would encourage and enhance the proper practice of the profession in Nigeria; encourage interaction and unity between Nigerian and non-Nigerian professional artists and synergize and affiliate with any recognised art body.”

Other priorities of GFA, Offo added, included promoting “self-sustenance through professional art practice; serve as a body through which standards in the art is maintained by liaising with relevant authorities; promote and preserve our cultural heritage and liaise with government in implementing cultural policy; revolutionise and re-activate art through exhibitions, workshops, symposia, drama, film shows and all other art and cultural activities; provide the facilities and raise funds in any manner considered expedient and effective for the realisation of the above stated objectives.”

After several years of meeting and discovering the commonality among members, GFA in 2008 formally announced its readiness to lift Nigerian art when its first executive emerged. The executive members then included Edosa Ogiugo, president; Abiodun Olaku, Vice President; Alex Nwokolo, Financial Secretary; Sam Ovraiti, Social Director.

 GFA’s Board of Trustees include Yinka Fisher, Chairman and Ede Dafinone, Mrs. Ifeoma Idigbe, 

Olaku and Olu Ajayi.

Amid bleak future, memory of truncated hope in pictures

By Tajudeen Sowole

Although it was cut short by intimidation from armoured tanks rolled onto the streets of Lagos, the memory of last year’s protests against increase in fuel pump price keeps reverberating in the visual arts circle.

The latest of such celebration of the people’s power was seen in a just-held photography exhibition by Kunle Ogunfuyi, titled Flash Back On Nigeria Protest: A Lagos Account, at National Museum, Onikan, Lagos.

Under an allied group, Joint Action Front (JAF), the Nigerian civil societies such as labour organisations and human right groups had, on January 1, 2012, started gathering people towards what is now known as ‘Occupy Nigeria’. It was a prompt response to the shocking news by Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) that the Federal Government has removed subsidy on premium spirit (petrol), therefore shooting the pump price by 116% at N141 per litre.

Since the two-week protests were brought to an end in mid January 2012, some art-related events focused on reviewing the uprising, have been held across Lagos. For example, performance artist, Jelili Atiku, had a show titled Nigerian Fetish in Ejigbo local community. Also, at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, works of artists such as Uche James Iroha, Andrew Esiebo, Victor Ehikhamenor, Emeka Ogboh, Atiku and Chinwe Uwatse were analysed and discussed by art critics and culture promoters Toyin Akinosho, Jide Bello, Toni Kan and Joke Silva within the context of the ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protests.

A section of the Gani Fawehinmi Park gathering during the protest captured by Ogunfutyi

  Ogunfuyi’s Flash Back On Nigeria Protest: A Lagos Account is a revisit of one memory, which Nigerians had wanted to use for a peaceful, but drastic revolution, possibly in the Arab Spring model. The photo-journalist’s body of work, 52 in number, summarises the protests as a two-week anger of the people against an insensitive and irresponsive government. In a day-to-day presentation of his captures, Ogunfuyi’s show welcomes you, from the left side of the gallery, with pictures of JAF’s gathering of people at Ojuelegba through Jibowu. “This started on the same day, January 1, 2012, after the news of the increase in pump price broke out” he stated, noting that it was a “prompt response,” from the people.

Indeed, about the same period, protests have been reported in some parts of the country, outside Lagos. “Yes,” he agreed, but his lens could not reach those areas. Further into the gallery, the photographs capture how the momentum of the Lagos protest increased day by day, leading to confrontation between protesters and policemen at a few spots. For example, one of such shots presents a scene where three armed mobile policemen descended on a protester. “This happened at Maryland. He was brutally beaten and taken away, but I don’t know what eventually happened to him,” Ogunfuyi recalled. But something is wrong with the photographer’s presentation of the work: his claim of “police brutality” as captioned in the catalogue of the exhibition is not really visible in his capture of the scene.

And as Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, became the point of rally for what has been described as the largest gathering of protesters in Nigeria’s history, Ogunfuyi’s lens did not miss one of the bloodied scenes outside the suddenly famous park: a young man, said to have been shot by a stray bullet, was being lifted away by other protesters, possibly for treatment.

Other captures by Ogunfuyi include addresses at the Ojota gatherings by prominent people such as Femi Falana, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Prof. Pat Utomi. And more in the outburst of the people come in placards inscribed with ‘Tackle Corruption, Not Subsidy Removal’; ‘Put Politicians on Minimum Wage & Watch How Fast Things Change’; ‘Cut Government Waste NOT Fuel Subsidy’. Perhaps, more incendiary and hitting the nail harder is the inscription on sweatshirts ‘Kill Corruption NOT Nigerians’. 

  Most crucial parts of the protest, which for a long time could have a traumatic effect on the people, instructively, were among the works on display. In curatorial term, they are three, ending the protest: Pictures 48, 49 and 50 show how Falana and others asked “the protesters to go for a weekend break and return to the park on Monday.” However, image 51 representing the war-like posture of the authority was a shot of one of the many army tanks rolled out by government, which in clear terms explained President Goodluck Jonathan’s response to the demand of the people. Picture 52, a deserted Gani Fawehinmi Park “taken on Monday,” completes the end of the protest.

However, picture 51, a capture of a military tank at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, seems to have, perhaps, successfully silenced the voice of protests, even one year after when it is still glaring that the fraud known as fuel subsidy scam is yet to be corrected. And JAF, surprisingly, in the wake of recent fuel scarcity and contradictions over another round of subsidy payment kept silence, but found energy to organise an unnecessary, but deservedly failed-protest over okada restrictions in Lagos.

People have been asking: what has the government done with the N32 difference after president Jonathan increased the pump price from N65 to N97 per litre if we are still paying for subsidy? Recently, N161.6 billion supplementary budget for subsidy payments was said to have been approved by the National Assembly.

If JAF truly represents the civil society, then it needs to step up its game and revisit the root of the oil subsidy scam, particularly towards the 2015 election. Reason: cost of Jonathan’s 2011 presidential election campaign, which according to sources, far exceeded previous spendings, the stipulated amount in the 2010 electoral act has a link to the fuel scam. Sub-section 2 of the 2010 electoral act states that “the maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a Presidential election shall be One Billion Naira (N1, 000, 000, 000).”

One of Ogunfuyi's captures of protesters' demand

  During the build-up to the 2011 election, Prof. Pat Utomi had chided the civil society for not probing into what has been widely criticised as excess use of money, particularly public fund, by Jonathan’s campaign team. Utomi was quoted: “In America, every contribution for campaign funds must be accounted for. But in Nigeria, you can write an NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) cheque and it does not matter, because the civil society has failed us. That’s not democracy.”

As a photographer, the Occupy Nigeria protest, perhaps, offers Ogunfuyi an opportunity to continue his art of documentary. But beyond this, what exactly does he hope to achieve with Flash Back On Nigeria Protest: A Lagos Account? “I hope that our society may reflect on issues surrounding policy making and how it affects people.”

Chairman at the exhibition’s opening, Prince Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon in his remark noted the “lack-luster management of the Nigerian economy and the misplaced priorities of governments and its leaders”. He argued that the mismanagement oozes in “widespread public squandering of our national resources” by public office holders.

Waste to art … Everywhere

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE

NATURE’s creativity, even in waste, has kept a seven year-old project alive, moving from one city to another across the country and beyond.

Christened Art Is Everywhere — a slogan that tells people of the artistic content in their immediate environment — the project made its Lagos debut recently.

On a visit to the Visual Arts section of Creative Arts Department, University of Lagos (UNILAG), where 11th edition of the show was held, one was nearly lost in thought: the setting was a sharp contrast to the regular art studio environment.

“It’s waste-to-art,” one of the coordinators, says, attempting to rescue the visitor’s disturbed thoughts. Yes, Waste-to-Art, so the theme says, but the art flavour or feeling appears to have been lost to the wastes.

Artists, in solo or group efforts, have done waste to art several times to uphold the sacrosanct of art, yet Art Is Everywhere has been different. At the point of trying to search for the art content, however, every second of further stay changes the visitor’s perception. From the wastes of electronic and electrical materials being assembled into sculptural pieces to the plastic waste and others into figural renditions, the art content gradually becomes visible, except that the emphasis is about waste recycling.  

With about 25 artists who have scavenged the aquatic and mainland of urban Lagos to get materials for their works, it seems art has taken a space in environmental management. According to the initiator, Ayo Adewunmi Art Is Everywhere appeared on the Nigeria art scene in 2005, in collaboration with Alliance Francaise, Enugu. The focus of the initiative, he says include rediscovering waste as a resource for artistic creation and draw attention 
to environmental issues apart from providing avenue for training young artists and the less privileged on how to make a living from recycling items.”

Reflection, by Akin Onipede, one of the works from the Lagos debut of Art Is Everywhere project 

In just two years, the concept has gained much acceptance, hence the expansion in scope. In 2007, it changed into what he describes as a traveling workshop. This, he discloses, “aims at accessing waste materials available at different geographical locations in the country while drawing attention to environmental issues.”

And the art-to-waste frenzy has been spreading to such places as Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Zaria, even across the borders to Banjul in Gambia, where one of the editions was held few years ago.

FOR the UNILAG event, like-minds in art on environment such as Ayo Aina from Kaduna; Ike Francis, a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt;
Chike Obeagu, art teacher at Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa;
Dr. Peju Layiwola and Akin Onipede of University of Lagos; and Okechukwu Eze, a Lagos- based artist found a platform to express their activism.

However, the resilience of waste recycling focus of the project could be a challenge if the pieces of art are not able to sustain their space as collections; ending up as another wastes in the future.

As relative as aesthetic content or value is, the initiative may not be bothered with art appreciation in the regular context as there are other benefits to explore. Such values include opening up the creative minds of young artists to several possibilities; providing avenue to train artists and the less privileged to make a living from recycling and generate exchanges between local artists and their counterparts from other countries to highlight environmental degradation.”

The international interaction benefit came in 2006, Adewunmi recalls. It was Art Is Everywhere’s participation at African Fibre and Fashion Accessory show in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Tony Odey and Okechukwu Eze, he says joined him at the event where they shared the Nigerian art’s thought on environment and waste with other participants.

From 11 participants; nine artists and two instructors in 2005, Art Is Everywhere has grown to 20 participants. Having covered as many as four locations across Nigeria it could grow to be a wider forum for creative relevance outside the art space, particularly in the area of environmental activism.

South African artist gets knocks for Kate's first portrait

South African artist, Paul Emsley’s golden opportunity to paint the first official public portrait of The Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton have met with some hard knocks. 

The portrait, currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London, according to sources, has been receiving rains of condemnation from critics.

Paul Emsley’s portrait of The Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton

  Like the criticism, from western press, unleashed on our own Late Ben Enwonwu’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, Emsley, a 2007 winner of the prestigious BP Portrait Award is having his own hard time.

Excerpts: 
“It looks as if the painter asked the subject to ‘say cheese!’ and then told her to scram and buy some clothes while he painted the photograph,” a former editor of Art Review magazine, David Lee said in The Daily Mail.

 “The painting made the duchess look like a character in one of the 'Twilight' movies,” The Guardian’s Charlotte Higgins writes.

Daily Telegraph's critic, Mark Hudson compared the work to a

 “Mawkish book illustration.”

The portrait was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery yesterday, Friday, January 11, 2013.

Although the portrait, from a soft copy and online viewing, makes Kate almost competing with the cheeky British singer, Adele, but it’s not exactly a bad work.  

From Olawoyin to Fakeye… How traditional title sustains the family chain of woodcarvers

By Tajudeen Sowole

 A post-doctoral scholar, Nelson Edewor’s research, which has faulted the dynasty ascribed to one of Nigeria’s oldest families of artists, the Fakeye woodcarvers, seems not to have considered some certain facts in Yoruba tradition.

Edewor who just returned from a post-doctoral fellowship of School Of Oriental And African Studies (SOAS) University Of London, U.K argued that the progenitor of the dynasty, Olawoyin, should have been so honoured “and not Fakeye.” Edewor built his argument on the fact that the most famous of the Fakeyes, (Lamidi, 1928-2009), is widely referred as belonging to the fifth generation of the woodcarvers.

Tagged Bestriding Igbomina/ Ekiti Longstanding Woodcarving Traditions and Modern Nigerian Art; Lamidi Olonade Fakeye (1928-2009), it was one of the two presentations by Edewor at the SOAS and University College London (UCL) seminar rooms. His second presentation, he disclosed, was titled Evolution, Development and Challenges of Modern Nigerian Art since 1900.

At a gathering in Lagos after his return, Edewor analysed his research on the famous family of woodcarvers: "The family ancestry is popularly referred to as the Fakeye woodcarving dynasty, of which Lamidi belongs to the fifth generation and Olabisi his nephew belonging to the sixth generation. In my Ph.D thesis (2009), my data corrects this family nomenclature anomaly, which assigns the family identity to Fakeye Akobi-Ogun (father of Lamidi).” Edewor did not agree with Fakeye as a dynasty over Olawoyin. He added: “The appropriate taxonomy is “Olawonyi woodcarving dynasty”. 

  

However, some other sources have shown that Lamidi and other members of the Fakeye dynasty, have naturally, conformed with Yoruba-oye tradition by using a title bestowed on their great-grandfather, Olawoyin. According to the sources, Fakeye is oye (a title or honour) given to Olawoyin by a king of Ila Orangun (now part of Osun State, southwest, Nigeria) in recognition of the carver’s excellence in wood sculpturing. And because in Yoruba tradition, the oye ascribed to the head of a family could be taken as oye-idile (family title), the descendants of Olawoyin, in this context, have the right to Fakeye, hence it becomes the family name. Based on this, change of the family name from Olawoyin to Fakeye has not, and should not in anyway alter the family chain of over a century old woodcarvers; Olawoyin’s legacy has not been eroded, contrary to the argument of Edewor.

Although Edewor claimed that his Ph.D thesis (2009), “corrects this family nomenclature anomaly which assigns the family identity to Fakeye Akobi-Ogun (father of Lamidi)," but it appears that his research did not consider the ‘Fakeye’ title given to Olawonyin as well as a 1971 exhibition, which seemed to have given more prominence to the term 'Fakeye Dynasty.'

 During Lamidi’s last solo exhibition titled Timber’s Titan, held at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos in June, 2008, it was revealed that a group show titled Exhibition of Three Generations of Fakeye Woodcarvers, held in Ibadan, in 1971, featured the works of Lamidi and other Fakeyes.

Further investigations have indicated that the nomenclature, Fakeye Dynasty, most likely, emerged from the Ibadan show. In fact, one of the living members of the Fakeyes who participated in the 1971 show in Ibadan, Bisi Fakeye, 70, confirmed during a chat over the phone, few days ago that the Ibadan exhibition featured three generations of descendants of Olawoyin. And that the theme of the 1971 show emphasised ‘three generations of Fakeye’, perhaps, support a conscious effort of the exhibited artists to promote Fakeye as a dynasty of woodcarvers. 

From Olawoyin to Fakeye, the chain of family of woodcarvers is approximately one and a half century old. From then till now, the family who are from Ila-Orangun – an embattled town during a nineteenth century war with Ibadan – have earned tremendous attention of scholars, home and the Diaspora, particularly in higher institutions of learning across the U.S. and Europe.

What is however not contentious in Edewor’s scholarly work on Lamidi’s style and technique, is the influence of the carver’s western exposure. Edewor argued that the western influence makes Lamidi a modernist. He noted how Lamidi’s “progression from Igbomina longstanding woodcarving traditions” fuses into another form the artist adapted from the Oye-Eliti workshop, and “eventual oversea studies at Paris, France.” Further in his scholarly studies of Lamidi, Edewor grouped his work into periods across seven decades: “Pre-Oye-Ekiti, (1938-1948); Oye-Ekiti, (1949-1960); early Post Oye-Ekiti, (1961-1996); Late Oye-Ekiti, (1997-2009).

Renowned woodcarver, Lamidi Fakeye (right), Curator of Mydrim Gallery, Mrs Sinmidele Ogunsanya and Late Ambassador Segun Olusola during Fakeye’s last solo art exhibition titled Timber’s Titan in Lagos, 2008.

Indeed, Edewor’s observation about Lamidi’s modernist characteristics showed in the late carver’s last outing Timber’s Titan. The works on display were though largely native in themes, but covertly modern in technique and style: slightly blurring the line between African and western expressionism. One of Nigeria’s leading collectors, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon whose new book Conversations with Lamidi Fakeye is scheduled for launch soon wrote in the catalogue of Timber’s Titan: “Prof Lamidi Fakeye is an exceptional artist. In the past, traditional works of art did not appeal to me. I found them ugly, out of proportion and of no aesthetic value
  “Over time, I have come to appreciate these works and to understand that traditional African Art should not be viewed from the prism of European Art, as the inspiration for both are from different origins. They exist side by side and have been known to influence each other. For example, Picasso was greatly influenced by traditional African art”.

  On his second presentation in the U.K, Edewor noted the dearth of literature in Nigerian libraries, adding that it affects “the level of awareness of the public about what art is, and how it functions in the development of modern society.”

He urged art historians, critics and others rescue the visual art through more publications. “While I wish to challenges art historians and critics to put their ideas into publishable form, institutions should also seek partnership with international publishers to obtain licenses to their electronic resources. This will help individuals and students to access a wide range of data that could ease research.”

  

 Edewor is a Senior Lecturer, Fine and Applied Arts Department,

Delta State University, Abraka, and Associate Fellow, Center for African Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Final journey for Chukwuogo-Roy begins

Famous portraitist, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, (MBE) begins her final journey out of mother earth this weekend with funerals scheduled to hold in Ipswich, U.K today Friday 11, Seven Hills Crematorium, at 2.15pm) and in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.

Chukwuogo-Roy passed on few days before Christmas last year. Sources said she died in her U.K-base after battling cancer in the past three years. 

In his eulogy, he husband, Roderick Roy says of his late wife, "I believe it was your absolute belief that nobody in the world was your superior and

that you did not regard anyone as inferior that enabled you to enjoy such amazing relationships with the people you met in your life.  

 "The rapport that developed between you and the Queen, the Arsenal footballers seeking your autograph, the easy way you befriended Princess Anne, the hours spend discussing football with the postman or

people on the train, the children you've inspired in Suffolk village schools, London inner city comprehensives, Nigerian boarding schools, Mozambique provinces and South African slums, the way you've always tried to help people develop their talents are all testimony to this belief. The many, many friendships you have developed span right

across social, political, intellectual, national and religious divides.  If only we could all learn from that lesson".

Between Olawoyin and Fakeye

  Carver, Lamidi Fakeye (right) and Late Ambassador Segun Olusola during the former’s last solo art exhibition Timber’s Titan at Mydrim Gallery, Lagos in 2008.

A Nigerian post-doctoral scholarly work presented in the U.K. recently, which faulted the dynasty ascribed to one of Nigeria’s oldest families of artists, the Fakeye woodcarvers, seems not to have considered some certain facts in Yoruba tradition. Details soon.