Forum: 'Nigeria Rising: Journey to the Venice Biennale'

Nigeria may have started preparation for the 2014 Venice Biennale, even though the 2013 edition, which opens in June and ends September is holding without the country’s pavilion.

Courtesy of a private initiative, Temple Productions Ltd with the support of the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Abuja and assistance of British Council, Lagos stakeholders gathered recently in Lagos and discussed possible challenges ahead.

Actress and art promoter, Ego Boyo of Temple Productions presented a background into her idea of Nigeria Rising: Journey to the Venice Biennale.

 

President of Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), Oliver Enwonwu, speaking during the meeting while Ego Boyo and visiting Director of National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Doreen Sibanda (left) listens

Excerpts from Boyo’s presentation;

The Biennale is the worlds largest and oldest art exhibition. It is a cultural event held every 2 years in the city  of Venice. In its 118 year history La Biennale has welcomed over 90 countries to exhibit and visitors from all over the globe, with the 201 1 edition seeing visitors numbering 375,000. The area utilised by the Biennale is the Guardini and the old ship yards the arsenale and this Is made up of National pavilions which become the repository of a Nations Art for the duration of the exhibition. This area is spread over 35,000 sq metres and also extends to other suburbs in the city.

The exhibition runs for 150 days, June to November and from inception it has become a truly international exhibition with elements which include the national pavilions, unofficial pavilions and other fringe exhibitions. In addition, later in the same year, the Venice Film is held in september and an architectural exhibition and music festival.

  

Nigerian Art. Contemporary and creative

 Art from the geographical area today known as Nigeria, includes the incredibly sophisticated Terracotta of the Nok culture dating back to approx 500BC, which influenced the Benin and Yoruba masks of 12th century, the Igbo ukwu sculptures of the 9th century all of which are accepted as early indications of our artistic enterprise.

This early manifestation of African Art is believed to have contributed as well as much of African Art, in having great influence on the work of some of  the greatest  western artists of the 20th century.

Quote from Chika Okeke " contemporary western scholars and artists generally acknowledge that one of the sparks for European art's paradigmatic change in direction in the 20th c occurred as western artists encountered African and oceanic ethnographic objects and recognised the possibilities they offered for formal shifts in European painting and sculpture."

That century also saw not only the resurgence but also the evolution of Nigerian Art, especially in the post colonial era, with the work of post colonial artists depicting definitive ideas of our culture against the backdrop of the political and cultural change the country and the continent was witnessing at that time.

From then to now we have seen an explosion of creative expression of creativity not only in Nigeria but from all over Africa, via a motley of diverse medium of paint, wood, metal, waste, paper, vegetation, fabric, plastic, beads, etc

Today a relatively small but growing number of mainly academics, gallery owners, museums and art collectors who had kept in touch with the development and resurgence of Art on the continent buy, exhibit and keep the works of Nigerian artists, especially the older well know. Many times, African Art is lumped together with no clear differentiation of the diverse and unique cultures and style that make up the continent and the varied expressions which is inherent in the Art we produce.

In the last 20 years, there has been an attempt by historians from various countries on the continent to document the art from their individual countries, and this has come at a time when Art emanating from african countries is attracting its own follower ship, with more exhibitions inside and outside the continent. all this with a view to ensure a proper representation of the various forms of modern African art.

The Director, Special Duties, NGA, Abuja Mrs Biola Awotedu (left) shortly after presenting catalogues of Art Expo Nigeria and other documentation on Nigerian art to Kareina Schwarz of the British Council during the stakeholders meeting on Nigeria Rising: Journey to the Venice Biennale, Lagos. 

Why the biennale in Venice?     

On  holiday in venice in 2008, i had a chance meeting with a gallery owner Adriano Berengo, who had recently seen an exhibition of African art at the Biennale of 2007 in which Nigeria art was featured. He was also familiar with Nigeria from his earlier travels as a sailor to the country. In conversation, he emphasised the need for Nigeria to exhibit at the Biennale and showcase its rich and diverse artistic culture. I fully agreed with him and as our subsequent conversations followed and my interest was peaked, I began to research the possibility of such an exhibition which would then include a possible appearance of Nigerian Film and eventually Architecture. My focus however stayed on Art as a medium I felt the country had "conquered" and would be able to participate at international levels without any problems of quality control.

I focused on the possibility of Nigeria participating in the Art exhibition of the Biennale of 2009, but soon realised how unprepared I was for the intricate planning, cost and commitment that was required for a first time participation.

This attempt was further challenged by the fact that a country's participation in the Biennale is usually at the behest and sponsorship of the nation state, which was not forthcoming at the time. I then adopted the strategy of taking Nigeria to the Biennale through a collaborative effort of the private sector and the state at first instance, and through a successful outing, obtain more state participation and commitments for future outings.

This was done and with the necessary institutional and governmental support in hand by way of commitments from  the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orieentation as well as the NGA and the great support from The British council, Lagos who gave invaluable advice. this culminated in the idea to launch this forum as a way of gaining much needed information, advice and insight from fellow Africans who had successfully exhibited at a previous Biennale and our partner The British council and also a way of getting the buy in of stakeholders.

With Art21, Lagos as ‘art destination’ is real

By Tajudeen Sowole

The missing synergy between art content and its space in the contemporary Nigerian art environment may have been discovered as a new outlet, Art Twenty One revs up the potential of Lagos as the art hub of Africa in the 21st century.

Art Twenty One, situated inside the expanded wing of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, according to its promoters, is designed to lift the city as an ‘art destination’. 

Starting with sculptor and designer, Olu Amoda’s metal works, which is currently showing for the next three weeks, Art Twenty One offers relief to artists whose works of huge sizes hardly found enough ventilation for expression in most of the existing art galleries in Lagos.

As vibrant as the Lagos art scene is, the lack of space for the local art community to constantly engage with the rest of the world has been a missing link in the contemporary practice. Big cities across the world that know the value of visual arts in promoting tourism explore events such as biennale, art fair or art expo named after a host city as a brand, all of which are currently missing in Nigeria.

In the absence of any of such events, Art Twenty One joins the Bisi Silva-led Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Sabo, Yaba, Lagos, which attracts foreign artists, curators and others.

Indeed, CCA, since its entry into the Lagos art landscape in 2007, has continued to attract foreign visitors to Lagos via diverse art programmes, within the moderate space available. 

For Art Twenty One, art promotion and management could take a step further from, perhaps redefining what an art gallery should be in this digital age. “Art Twenty One is not an art gallery”, the founder and curator, Caline Chagoury cautioned during a chat at the preview of the opening. Having emotively cleared the air that “it is a platform”, Chagoury explained that it aspires to be “the lynch pit” of the Lagos art communities. Lagos, she noted, has all it takes to be a “destination for the arts just like Paris, New York, London, and even Dubai”, as there is a surge of talents in young Nigerians doing new things across various disciplines of the culture sector.

Olu Amoda’s Tax Collectors’s Eye, sculpted in assemblage of stainless table spoons.

However, as Amoda’s art is relieved of the thirst of space, courtesy of the new outlet, it does appear that there is a prize to pay: a struggle to wrestle attention from the emphasis, in promotional context, given the new art outlet. For example, the theme of Amoda’s exhibition is obscured, buried in the bottom paragraph of the Artist Statement; not a single line in the curator’s or the official statement of Art Twenty One acknowledges the existence of a theme for the massive works of Amoda.

What exactly is in a theme of an art exhibition, anyway? Yes, the title of a show says so much, the artist explained as he traced the body of work to his last two solo outings Cequel and Cequel 1a, which held at University of Ibadan, Oyo State and The Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi within a spate of few months interval in late 2011 and early 2012. Amoda’s Cequel is coined from ‘sequel’, a continuum, which the artist expresses in metallic narrative, bringing his favourite literary titles into visual contents.

For the Cequels series, there are shadows of Prof Wole Soyinka’s classic play Death and the King’s Horseman (Iku 0lokun Esin) and George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm. Amoda disclosed that the current show titled Cequel II: a Shifting of a Few Poles “collapses” the entire concept of the sequels into one.

Did Amoda deliberately surrender the expected prominence of his exhibition’s theme to the dominance of the space’s hype? The answer is buried in his Artist Statement, which explains that the melting of the series was made possible “with the intervention of Art Twenty One”.

With his explanation, the coup of the artist and the space against the theme is better understood. Whether or not a theme of an exhibition – as crucial as it is to the entire body of work – should be sacrificed on the altar of promoting a new space may be an issue to resolve in the future by art administrators and brand experts.

In Cequel II: a Shifting of a Few Poles, Amoda asserts his bravery in navigating through the wilderness of metals, creating drawings and painterly images that raise the bar in contemporary Nigerian practice. 

As it was in the last two series, thematically, Amoda maintains his vehemence on the declining state of the Nigerian nation. He expresses such, for example in one of the works titled Tax Collectors’s Eye, depicting governments’ inevitable guillotine-taste for revenue generation.

During the opening of Art Twenty One and Olu Amoda’s Cequel II: a Shifting of a Few Poles at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

His visual narrative-wrath in the work– apparently in solidarity with the taxpayers – strategically placed at the right distance of the space is an assemblage of stainless table spoons, sculpted together in round shape. The artist who has lived and worked in Lagos for nearly three decades or more described tax collectors as “vultures” who “extort” from the people daily. The central point of the work, an eye, he said, explains the “agony” that people go through paying tax in Lagos for example.  Although Amoda uses Lagos, his residence as a reference, but the reality is that taxation and revenue are recurring issues across the world, even in the developed countries: nobody like the face of tax collector.

Further, in a drawing on metal piece titled Before the Ritual Suicide, Amoda dragged the British colonialists into the ring of history, charged and prosecuted them from “my personal interpretation, not the literary” perspective of Death and the King’s Horseman. He disagreed with the British colonialists’ interest in “controlling your personal life”.

From Amoda’s solo Objects of Art, at Didi Museum in 2008 to Cequels Ia, his art shrunk to the size of available space, but got so much of the long-denied ventilation such that the walls and even the floor of Art Twenty One were nearly choked up with so many works.

Mother, son… in Genes Apart

By Tajudeen Sowole

Nkechi and Nduka Abii are mother and son artists whose joint solo art exhibition titled Genes Apart opened few days ago at VCP Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

While the work of Nkechi exudes the traditional form in painting, mixed media and relief sculpture, Nduka takes imagery into the future in his renditions on canvas as well as digital painting.

The exhibition, for Nkechi, a 1983 graduate of Fine Art, University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, is the first of many efforts ahead of recovering her first profession after several decades. She said “I have been a fashion designer immediately after graduating, but now picking art again”.

Nduka, who is currently a student of animation art at Colombus College of Art and Design, Ohio, U.S., is, apparently looking forward to a career in art, either at home or in the Diaspora.  

In works such as Scavengers and Omiebele,

 Nkechi attempts to recover her skills in draughtsmanship as her themes rove over leadership and the spirituality that links man and life after death.

Works from Nkechi and Nduka’s joint exhibition

Some of the works also show that she has not completely lost her sculptural skills to the over two decades of break from art. For example, Nkechi brings a life size bust into a tragic theme, paying Tribute to Aluu 4, the University of Port Harcourt students lynched to death over an alleged stealing. The artist was touched by the barbaric act: “When I see the video of four young students who got burnt at Alu, words fail me… but my painting helps me grieve”.

With matured strokes, Nduka extracts from the runway, in a three piece monochromatic of ladies titled Black Widows, which he likens to a female spider of the same name. As the artist has his eyes focused on the future, having designed CD covers of music for quite some Nigerian artists, Uduka also uses his canvas to project the ambition of young people on the streets of Lagos. This much he captures in Lofty, a lad in hands-akimbo posture silhouetted on the rough side of streets. The kid, Nduka explains “feels like taking on the world now or later”.

And stressing the increasing role of technology in imagery, Nduka displayed his skill in painting using the digital format he tagged Pollue Speed Painting.

Nkechi’s art content, largely, is based on her emotive response to issues within her immediate environment. “I am easily affected by things that happen around me and feel deeply about people, situations and opportunities, however I have found that the best way of dealing with frustrating experiences that get thrown at me daily is not by speaking about them but by painting!”

For digital boy, Nduka, he would maintain his respect for the traditional painting format. He disagreed that he is a “modernist with strengths” just the digital art. “That is not entirely true. My origins are just as traditional as others. I started with a pencil and then a paint brush. I remember doing the wall murals in my secondary school as my parting gift, soon after I won the school the first position in the Chemical and Allied Company (CAP), Plc’s Dulux Art Competition for secondary schools. That was a long time ago. A lot has changed and yet, not much has changed.”

Nduka could not recall when exactly he started painting, “but I know that there has been a quick evolution from my mural days to new and exciting artistic expressions.” He noted that each of his projects “is a journey and consists of multiple works, often in a range of different media, grouped around specific themes and meanings.”

Oshinowo tops sales of Terra Kulture-Mydrim auction

By Tajudeen Sowole
Prolific painter, Kolade Oshinowo has recorded his biggest art auction sale in Lagos when the hammer stopped at N3.9m on a group portraiture titled Royal Procession (32 x 60 in, 2011) during the last Terra Kulture-Mydrim auction.

It was a brief bidding shortly after the attendance inside the multi-purpose hall of Terra Kulture, Victoria Island started thinning out; the work which had an asking price of N2, 500, 000 – 3, 500, 000 was sold as the highest of the day’s sales.

Perhaps the artist’s closest auction record in Lagos occurred when his work Koma Village, oil on canvas, (122 x 152.5 cm, 1987), was sold for N2.5m at a different auction organized by Art House Contemporary in 2011.

With N47 million total sales under the hammer prices of debutant art auctioneer, Yinka Akinkugbe, the Terra Kulture-Mydrim’s sixth auction was an improvement on last year’s sales of N38, 125, 000, 00.

Out of a total 96 lots put up for sale, 60 were sold, according to the results released by Mrs Temitope Sanya of Finance Department, Terra Kulture.

   Kolade Oshinowo's Royal Procession (32 x 60 in, 2011).

  Shortly before the sales, the Terra Kulture-Mydrim’s Lagos Art Auction 2013 was described as the richest collections of contemporary African art among the six outings of the partnership. Also, aside the regular masters such as Ben Enwonwu, El-Anatsui, Bruce Onobakpeya and Kolade Oshinowo, who featured in the past auctions, the Terra Kulture-Mydrim art auction had quite a number of young artists who impressed during the sales. Artists such as Fidelis Odugwu b 1970 and Segun Ayesan b 1971, for examples were among those whose works made the top ten sales of the auction.

 At the Terra Kulture multipurpose hall where most of the previous five editions of the auctions were held, a five-day preview of show had offered bidders an opportunity to connect them with works on offer.

  The two ladies behind the movements of the hammer sales of Terra Kulture-Mydrim auctions, Bolanle Austen-Peters and Sinmidele Ogunsanya, had, in a joint statement said the auction “is in furtherance of our goal option to project Nigerian visual art as a viable and sustainable investment.”

 Aside the increase in the young artists featured at every Terra Kulture-Mydrim auction, bringing a new auctioneer, Akinkugbe was aimed at spreading the opportunities and give the auction a fresh breath, they stressed. Auctioneer of the previous sales, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, Ogunsanya said, is still with the Terra Kulture-Mydrim team “as a patron, supporting and helping in other areas”.    

 Akinkugbe, according to the auction house “is an art enthusiast, who is bringing his wealth of knowledge of the visual arts and indeed the art market to bear.”

   The “success of the previous five auctions”, it was disclosed, has led to more people showing interest in collecting works just as “those who are in possession of great collection want to exchange such for higher value.”

 

Visitors during the preview of the Terra Kulture-Mydrim auction few days ahead of the sales in Lagos

Ten of the top sales from 96 lots at Terra Kulture-Mydrim’s Lagos Art Auction 2013

1.   Kolade Oshinowo   

      Royal Procession              N3,900, 000. 00

2.   El- Anatsui                

      Towel  II                               3,500,000.00

3.   Fidelis Odogwu         

      Wazobia I,II, III,                  2,200,000.00  

4.   Kolade Oshinowo     

      Road To My Village             2,100,000.00

5.   David H. Dale           

      Oke Arin Market                  2,100,000.00

6.   Segun Aiyesan          

       Odion                                  1,950,000.00

7.   Abiodun Olaku          

       Bliss                                    1,600,000.00

8.   Alex Nwokolo           

      Global Energy                     1,500,000.00

9.   Chidi Kubiri              

      Wait On God                       1,300,000.00

10. Bunmi Babatunde     

      Alarede                                1,200,000.00

‘How to put Nigerian art on global market’

By Tajudeen Sowole

Ahead of the yearly Africa Now art auction of Bonhams, in London, next month, which features contemporary works of artists across Africa, members of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA) hope to strengthen their growing presence in the U.K market.

DURING the last edition of the auction, GFA members were given a section that Bonhams tagged Works by Artists from the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria. The special section codenamed ‘lots 191 to 215’ featured works of GFA members such as Lekan Onabanjo, Sam Ovraiti, Edosa Ogiugo, Abiodun Olaku, Duke Asidere, Ben Osaghae, Bunmi Babatunde, Reuben

Ugbine, Alex Nwokolo, Tola Wewe, Fidelis Odogwu, among others.

And having just returned from their maiden group exhibition titled Transcending Boundaries, held at The Gallery, Cock Street, London, GFA, according to its president, Abraham Uyovbisere, has more to offer in pushing Nigerian art into the global market.

Despite the controversy that trailed its formal entry into the Nigerian art scene, five years ago, GFA, it should be recalled had three major events in quick successions: debut group art exhibition, Threshold in 2008; an induction ceremony for patrons and awards for selected masters, in 2009; and another group exhibition, The Crux of the Matter, in 2010.

Largely populated by artists who have been credited with pioneering full-time or professional studio practice in Nigeria, between the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, membership started building up, informally, in the late 1990s and the guild’s first convention held in January 2008.

GFA as a group of artists in the middle generation of contemporary Nigerian art, and with high prominence at home, wielded much influence such that it was impossible for Bonhams to ignore.

“With the level of response we got during the Transcending Boundaries, it is only fair that Bonhams sustain the special section for GFA in the next auction. I don’t really have details yet. Last year, less than ten members took part in the auction, but now about 15, hopefully are featuring,” Uyovbisere disclosed recently.

Some members of GFA, during Transcending Boundaries art exhibition in London… recently.

Indeed, Transcending Boundaries marked a significant place in the recent resurgence of Nigerian art abroad. After the Osogbo artists wowed the west with largely native Yoruba-flavoured rendition for almost four decades, Transcending Boundaries was probably one of the recent gatherings of Nigerian artists in the U.K.

Speaking on what led to the show, Uyovbisere recalled that “the past president of the guild, Edosa Ogiugo introduced the promoter Aabru Art to us, who got a venue for in London. Through a jury process, the works were selected for the exhibition.”

Uyovbisre noted that the show could serve as another door opening, not just for Nigerian artists, but Africans as a whole. “For the first time, a show with different artists from Nigeria held in central London gallery, which is a very highbrow area for artists from this part of the world to show. And the audience, perhaps for the first time saw, in large number, contemporary works of African artists in a show, thinking we the exhibiting artists all studied in the U.K, whereas we all studied here in Nigeria.”

Before Transcending Boundaries, there was the Olympic art exhibition Imbued Essence courtesy of Bank of Industry (BOI) when works of some artists, including members of GFA were exhibited. That show, he curated with Olaku, “encouraged the guild more on the opportunity in the global art market. So Transcending Boundaries was a follow up of what BOI started. The whole idea is not to be regional, but be global in our art.”

The home market is no doubt evolving, even faster and against all odds including socio-economic environment that’s not so friendly. And if Nigerian art must aspire to the level of the Chinese art on the global scale, government, Uyovbisere said, should make input. He noted that even in stronger economy such as the U.K. where government contributes to the development of art, the artists are still asking for more. “For example, during the Olympics, I read an article in one of the newspapers in which someone advised that the British government should spend more in promoting art, if it wants to compete with the Chinese art at the global market.”

Sometimes government agencies are not properly informed or carried along by artists. Did GFA inform National Gallery of Art (NGA) or request support for Transcending Boundaries? “No, we did not. We could not just go begging them for support we knew they would not extend to us. However, we hope that after we have embarked on the trip on our own, they (NGA) would come to our aid when going for subsequent shows.”

He agreed that GFA cannot go on a mission of promoting Nigerian art abroad without carrying others along. “GFA is willing to extend cooperation to any organization, either government or others and individual to ensure that Nigerian art is appreciated home and abroad. For this reason, we featured a guest artist, Kolade Oshinowo in Transcending Boundaries. He is also featuring in the Bonhams auction, under the GFA section.”

The GFA, he insisted, has what it takes to take Nigerian art to the rest of the world. He supported his assertion with the fact that most of the GFA members were on the forefront of full-time studio practice in Nigeria over two decades ago. “We are among the first set of artists that went professional in Nigeria.” But it does appear that despite the efforts of his generation of artists in promoting art as a full-time job, more young artists, he lamented “ironically, are not even going professional meaning that only a few artists who leave schools every year are really committed. This is not a good trend for the development of art in Nigeria; all of us cannot end up in the classroom after training.”

Comparatively, with the Lagos art market, what is the value of works sold at the Bonhams, Olympic art show and Transcending boundaries? The value, he said, though is higher in the U.K. But the cost of freighting and other expenses incurred, he noted, “depletes that value.” However, showing abroad for now, he cautioned, is not about the money, “but the fact that we are exposing our art abroad, which we reflect higher value in the future if we are consistent.”

So far the response received at Transcending Boundaries, he stated “is worth going back; humbly speaking, a quarter of the works exhibited were sold.”  It has been observed that the membership drive of GFA is too restrictive and non-inclusive of artists across the board. Maybe that was the case in the past, the president said and disclosed that the guild is ready to open up its doors to Nigerian artists who meet the conditions. 

Aims and objectives of GFA include: to promote the appreciation of Fine Art in Nigeria; 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 Fine Artists and synergize and affiliate with any recognized art body; promote self-sustenance through professional art practice.

Open Studio…Reclaiming the glory of African fabrics

Victoria Udondian presenting her works to a Lagos audience during Open Studio

  Modernity and colonization may have conspired to stunt the growth of African fabric culture, internationally, reclaiming the lost glory of over five-centuries-old weaving fabrics is however imminent, courtesy of Victoria Udondian’s experimentation in ancient textiles via installations.

  Udondian’s research experience, which spanned four years across Africa and Europe, distilled in recreation of the fabrics and exhibiting the works in the U.K, Italy and South Africa, was shared, few days ago, in Lagos, with artists and art enthusiasts at an event she tagged 'Victoria Udondian Open Studio', at Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos.

Like using one stone to kill two birds, the gathering availed participants an opportunity to discuss challenges of documenting Africa’s forgotten textiles, in addition to undertaking critical assessment of Nigerian art landscape. Of recent, critics of Nigerian art space have been echoing the country’s reluctance to accommodate other forms of art outside the traditional practice.

One of Victoria Udondian's new works

For Udondian, who came to Lagos in 2007 — few years after graduating in Fine Arts from University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State — it was an instant escape into the highly competitive traditional art settings of a city waiting to wear the toga of Africa’s art hub. Made more impenetrable by ‘outsiders’, the Lagos art scene, which was boosted by sudden rise in commercial value, through auctions, however could not offer her any space to grow and nourish her skill. Going into more conceptual and non-traditional art, Udondian retraced her step to first love; fashion designing. “After graduating in Fine Art, I thought of researching into clothing and textile”, she told her audience during the Open Studio.

Soon, Udondian discovered the depth of fashion and textile intellectualism via criticall art contents. With residencies in Europe and Africa, the artist found a wider expression. In works depicting native woven fabric, Nsibidi of eastern Nigeria; to Aso Ikele 1948, inspired by an alleged excavation carried out in a part of Yorubaland, of a native woven material taken to Europe almost 70 years ago;  Ukara Ekpe’ Cloth series, from the Niger Delta; Amafu Fabric – 1878, possibly from native Zulu of  South Africa; and Kenyan Kikoy, Udondian showed her audience the vast world of African fabrics covering ages.

And in the contemporary context, some of the works included what she described as “handmade paper repurpose fabric” in such a piece titled Black Lace, a recycled polythene bags, rope 2010 145cm x 335cm. However, Udondian is worried that the changing “languages of what Africans wear as fabrics, over the ages, have consequences on the perception of one’s identity”.

From a conceptual and contemporary art perspective, Udondian has contributed to documenting history of African fabrics. For example, through her passion for the subject, the artist was commissioned by Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester to produce Aso Ikale  out of used clothes taken from UK and printed fabric as well as burlap from Nigeria. The work was one of the highlights of a group exhibition, We Face Forward at Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, last year.

Out of 145 young African artists who applied for Venice, Italy-based residency Art Enclosures 2011, Udondian and a South African, Tamilyn Young, according to the organisers, were the only two beneficiaries. From Udondian’s work presented under the themes, Second Hand Museum and Venetian Portraits 2011, some of the works she re-presented on slide during the Lagos gathering included Nigerian female attire (buba/ iro) and male version (buba/sokoto).

Victoria Udondian

Quite interesting, from the Venetian tradition are models of both Italian and African origins as reflected in such works as Portrait of Margherita Minguzzi, a inkjet print on d-bond 100x165 cm 2011; Portrait of Antony Knight, produced in inkjet print on d-bond, 100x165 cm 2011; and Portrait of Jacinthe Clotilde Kondje, also of  inkjet print on d-bond, 100x165 cm 2011.

Last year, Udondian took the second-hand clothing theme to South Africa where she noted of a completely lost or never-existed tradition of native fabric. “If any existed, there was no traces of history of traditional fabric weaving in South Africa”, she stated.

 

However, from interacting with the natives in Johannesburg, she “created Amafu Fabric – 1878” an installation, of mixed textiles, paper, fabric paint, thread. Her research in South Africa was facilitated courtesy of Bag Factory Artists Studios’ project Visiting Artists Programme, which included a Garman artist, Mark Thomann, South Africans Kate Tarratt Cross, Jarett Erasmus and a Briton, Fiona Flynn. Their works were exhibited in a group show titled Secret Art Service (SAS).

Beyond lamenting over the depletion in Africa’s native tradition of woven textile and the mass importation of used clothing from Europe, an artist’s responsibility should go further to “confront policy makers”, a painter, Bunmi Lasaki argued during Open Studio. Policy making, Udondian responded is not, and should not be the headache of an artist.

Indeed, Udondian’s project is more of documentary, particularly reminding the people of lost tradition, and not exactly any attempt to reverse technology. However, confining her gospel of re-fabricating history to just installations or conceptual art form, without including the traditional painting on canvas may reduce the message’s mileage in a Nigerian art scene that’s so reluctant, perhaps justifiably arrogant, not to give space to radical contemporary rendition. “Fabric, in its real content, most explains my thoughts”, Udondian argued. The content justifies the materials, she stressed.

Contents of contemporary practice is determined by the environment in which an artist works, another section of the audience argued.  However, artist and art teacher, Dr Ademola Azeez of College of Education, Technical, Akoka, Lagos, drew attention of the gathering to the issue of preservation. He noted that works so significant to history such as Udondian’s “should be in permanent collections of government to energise social participation.” He however asked: “But how do you preserve some of the works in a situation where government is not collecting?”

For one of Nigerian artists who are currently lifting the contemporary scale, designer and sculptor, Raqib Bashorun, the local art landscape may not be ready for change. He noted that “what you (Udondian and other artists alike) and I are doing may not be exactly what the country needs now”. Radical contemporary art, he explained, “appears to be ahead of time in Nigeria. In the interim, survival of the artist is a priority,” he cautioned.

Performance artist, Jelili Atiku disagreed. He stressed that the “survival syndrome has set us backward” and it’s time for artists to fight back by being more conceptual in their outputs.

As Udondian hoped for a solo art exhibition in Nigeria before the end of the year, the Lagos art landscape may have to concede to the changing reality: currently, Olu Amoda’s metal of aggressive expression titled Cequel IIa is on display for five weeks at Art Twenty One, a new space in Lagos, less than a month after Bashorun’s incendiary expression in woods was shown at Terra Kulture.