Tuesday 26 April 2016

Art Dubai Announces New Director


Art Dubai has announced new Fair Director, Myrna Ayad, replacing current director of the yearly global event, Antonia Carver.

New Fair Director at Art Dubai, Myrna Ayad

Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1977, Myrna Ayad is an independent arts writer, editor and consultant who has been based in the UAE for over thirty years. She has written prolifically for publications including The New York TimesThe Art Newspaper, Artsy, Art Forum, Artnet and The National among others, and published books on major collections and art movements in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Previously Editor of Canvas, a leading magazine for art and culture from the Middle East and Arab world where she worked for eight years (2007-2015), Ayad is recognised as one of the Middle East’s leading voices and cultural commentators. 

Sunday 24 April 2016

Congolese music star, Papa Wemba dies


After collapsing on stage, influential Congolese music star Papa Wemba died today, April 24, 2016 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, says media reports.
 
Papa Wemba
 Born as
Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, on June 14, 1949
Wemba was one of Africa's most popular musicians whose
Soukous kind of music, also known as rumba rock, became well known across Africa. 

With his bands Zaiko Langa Langa, Isifi and Viva La Musica, he racked up hit after hit including L'Esclave and Le Voyageur.

In addition to his prison time, Wemba spent in Europe, he was once jailed in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), for allegedly having an affair with a general's daughter.
His conviction in France related to a racket whereby illegal immigrants were taken to Europe posing as members of his band.

Also known as The King of Rhumba Rock, Papa Wemba, was born in Kasai, Zaire. Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba first made his mark in 1970 in Kinshasa, where he was a singer, composer, and co-founder of the great youth group Zaiko Langa Langa. In 1974 he left to form his own band, Isife Lokole, and then in '76 began Viva La Musica. 


Hoping to reach a wider audience he ended up in Paris in the early '80s, bringing with him the entire line-up of Viva La Musica. Wemba's musical vision went beyond the capabilities of his seasoned Zairen rhumba rockers as he began to experiment with a wide range of eclectic sounds. 


Wemba's quite a stylish fellow, a sapeur, an aficionado of fashionable, well-designed clothing. His trendy suits with big jacket, and baggy, though tailored pants, are a strange mix of Africa, Paris, and the American zoot suit. A Soukous show is always a fashion event, and Wemba is a man of great style and taste.

Malick Sidibe... Fact, Distortion About 'Father Of African Photography'

By Tajudeen Sowole 
(First published in The Guardian Nigeria (http://guardian.ng/category/art/visual-arts/)
FOR inadequate documentation of African photography, the death of legendary Malian photographer Malick Sidibe, raises the challenge of who belongs where among the continent's departed and living professionals of the lens art.
    
Malick Sidibe, (1935 - April 4, 2016)

                                    Sidibe, b.1935 and died on April 4, 2016, has been regarded in some sections of foreign media, particularly in Europe as 'father of African photography.' The late photographer's work is widely revered as being among the leading art of the lens in Africa. However, the appropriateness of conferring a 'father of African photography' on Sidibe has opened up a new debate on the continent and its photo artists. And it got louder when France's Culture Minister, Audrey Azoulay, re-echoed same feeling after Sidibe's death, saying, "he was often called the father of African photography."

   
The label appears to be gaining wider acceptance by the day, particularly, since the death of the photographer. But how did the author(s) arrive at such an error of 'crowning'?

    
Two issues come into focus in questioning the fatherly crown: there were successful pioneer African photographers before Sidibe's generation emerged. And his work is not the only internationally known among his generation of photographers, which also included, J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere (1930-2014) and Peter Obe (1932-2013), among others. The Malian legend enjoyed a wider visibility far above the Nigerians. No doubts, because he was like a phenomenon and lone ranger within the Malian space. It was natural that his work got so much attention outside his locality, particularly in France.

   
Perhaps, his well-celebrated status above his contemporaries swayed the 'father' accolade to his side. Even at death, it was reported that Mali took him as 'national treasure.' Few days after his death, a report had it that 'hundreds of Malians gathered at a football pitch in Daoudabougou, near Bamako for his burial.' 

  
 In 2007, he was honoured at Venice Biennale with Lifetime Achievement award. He was also honoured with a Hasselblad Award, a lifetime achievement award from the International Centre of Photography and a World Press Photo Prize.

  
 However, there are facts to disprove Sidibe’s toga of 'father of African photography'. In 2012, a visiting American art historian, Lisa Aronson, who was at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, revealed how history blurred a 19th century photographer, Jonathan Adagogo Green (1873 – 1905), who is of Ijaw origin. From the presentation of Aronson, which exposed the quality of Adagogo’s work, certain facts explained that the photographer’s career was cruelly blurred from art history.


Aronson, an Associate Prof of Art History at Skidmore College, US, teaches and writes mainly about African art and visual culture.

  If historians argued that J.A. Green practised at a time when photography was not exactly recognised as an art the way it turned out to be a century later, history cannot place the works of another Nigerian, Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911-1994) in the same fog.  As a prominent photographer of his time, Chief Alonge focused on the Benin Royal family among other subjects.

   
Apart from Alonge, there seemed to have existed other successful African photographers in the generations past. For example, when The Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C showed the works of Alonge two years ago during Nigeria's centenary, the museum noted that photography did not take much long to arrive in Africa shortly after its invention in 1839.

   
In its accounts of the lens profession, Smithsonian added: "In the late 19th to early 20th century, many West Africans took up the profession of photography." In fact, the records showed that "some were highly successful and profited from this new venture." Listed among such very successful African photographers of that era was Alonge.

  
Apart from the tragedy of inadequate documentation, which perhaps, blurred achievements of early African photographers before Sidibe, the period of the Malian's practice is clearly an advantage in visibility. But the number and texture of laurels Sidibe has won — above others who practised before him and during his contemporaries — should not be the reason to crown him as 'father of African photography.' If such criteria should be considered in other professions, for example, Lionel Messi should have been labeled as the 'Best' or 'Father' of Football. But the Brazilian legend, Pele still remains the Best Footballer of All Time, despite not collecting half of Messi's medals.

  
 If there was, or is, any African photographer whose work - style or technique - has brought more visible innovations to the lens art of Africa, Ojeikere fits such identity. The sculptural hairstyle of women captured by Ojeikere, over several decades remain great reference point in photography. Being one of the most exhibited African photographers, Ojeikere has been documented in J. D. Okhai Ojeikere: Photographs, a book on African hairstyles and culture authored by a French curator, Andre Magrin.

   
With the rich background of photography as an art in Africa, further research by scholars would most likely put records in proper perspective.

Artists From Ghana, Togo Converge For Lagos Art Auction

By Tajudeen Sowole
WITH the 2016 edition of Terra Kulture Mydrim Gallery (TKMG), otherwise known as Lagos Art Auction, will be asserting its status of a regional art hub as works of artists from other West African countries are featuring among the lots.
 
A Painting Market Queens by Ablade Glover

 In its fifth edition, the TKMG auction will also use the event to showcase quite a number of never-seen-in-public pieces of masters as well as works of young artists, some of who are making the auction for the first time.

  Opening with preview and cocktail today at the Terra Kulture Art Gallery and the auction sale Friday, April 29, at Inter Continental Hotel, the 2016 edition, according to curator, Ronke Akinyele, "is a sophisticated platform that celebrates Nigeria and Africa’s cultural heritage through creative artistry and a reference platform for pricing African Artworks."  

Apart from Ghanaian master, Ablade Glover, whose work has been a regular signature on the secondary art market in Nigeria, others featuring in the 2016 edition are Togolese, Samuel Tete Katchan; Ghanaian, Wiz Kudowor; and Beninese sculptor, Zimkpe Dominique.

 With the 2016 edition, TKMG is set to reassure observers of the secondary art market that indeed, its rebranding with focus on middle generation of masters is yielding result.  Recall that With 51 lots sold from a total of 90 at TKMG's Lagos Art Auction in 2015, there was indication that the new focus of the auction house on middle generation and young artists showed a prospect.
   
Last year TKMG disclosed that from the May of that year onwards, the lots will be dominated by works of the non-old masters and young artists with the hope of building a vibrant future for Nigerian art market.

 "Over the years, TKMG has sold works from artists like, Ben Enwonwu, El Anatsui, Ben Osawe, Erhabor Emokpae, Lamidi Fakeye to mention a few," Akinyele told a select preview guests few days ago, the auction house recalled. "This year, the auction will feature 104 artworks cutting across various media and artists from Nigeria and across West Africa (Ghana, Togo and Republic of Benin.)”
    
Works expected to be on display include that of masters like Bruce Onobrakpeya, Kolade Oshinowo, Ablade Glover, Dele Jegede and emerging artists like Ndidi Emefiele, Dipo Doherty and Makata Obinna. 

 And as the auction returns to the 2014 venue at Inter Continental Hotel, where Dance in the Bush by Onobrakpeya sold for N3, 650, 000, the 2016 edition could record another set of impressive sales. In 2014, works such as Untitled by El Anatsui sold for 3,050,000; and Oshinowo's At The Party for N2,200,000 as top of the sales.
   
TKMG is also taking a bold step by displaying as many as 104 lots, even in an economic slowdown environment as Nigeria's. Isn't that too large of a number for the lots?  "The number of lots is large, but they are affordable," Mrs Sinmidele Adesanya argued. "We want to get as many young and new collectors as possible to start collecting and appreciating art." 

 Still on the state of the economy as it affects the art market, Akinyele supported the argument that slowdown of economy hardly affects sales of art. "The slowdown in economy has nothing to do with the passion for art collecting, so researches have shown so far," she insisted.

 Yinka Akinkugbe, the auctioneer of TKMG 2016 sale, said this year would feature "a special section for some members of Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA)."

Bashorun, Idu Share Moment Of Evolving Currents

By Tajudeen Sowole
WHEN the designer-sculptor, Raqib Bashorun's passion for functional art finds a common space with that of Chika Idu's painting that draws attention to endangered Lagos coastline, art as a medium of inspiration for development is emphasised.
   
  1. Metal sculpture, Whistle Blower by Raqib Bashorun. 
In over a decade, Bashorun, who works in wood and metal, has been advocating for artists' recognition and input into Nigeria's search for technological development. His new body of work in wood, metal and found-objects find synergy with Idu's experimental technique in the exciting texture of light distortion as they are currently showing Evolving Currents till June 16, at The Wheatbaker, Ikoyi, Lsgos.

 If there is any Nigerian artist whose work has what it takes to strengthen contemporary content and collapse the line between art and design, Bashorun fits such identity. And if one has to go by the Yoruba modern adage that says, 'fi igbe le fun agbe 'po' (leave waste for its carrier), Bashorun’s work echoes as much as he keeps suggesting that the debate over art and design should be left for the academics to sort out.

  For Evolving Currents, Bashorun fetes the strength of number to drive his argument about advancement of a country and its people. Some of his works in this exhibition argue that Nigeria needs to pick a vital lesson from China, a country, which has used its numerical strength to advance its technological drive. 

  In recent years, Idu's canvas has developed empathy for children and young adults whose ancestries are rooted along coastal axis of Lagos. The inherent exposure of these fragile inhabitants to water pollution continues to attract the artist's palette, so suggest his works in this exhibition.

  "Nigerian art is original and rich in resources to inspire the right technological development," Bashorun assures as he takes select guests through a section of his works at The Wheatbaker. He adds that 'the power of number" is complimentary to technological development, and Nigeria, he boasts, has the numerical strength to advance its economy. 
 
A metal sculpture Bashorun titles, Eastern Dragon, supports his argument, as the piece, made from discarded steel parts of automobile, embolden the concept of a daring effort to scale though hurdle. With two antennas protruding upwards as well as about 11 nails rammed into the beast's back and a fierce depiction of face, there is no doubt about the link between dragon and boldness, at least from the sculptor’s perspective. Still on the thematic focus on the power of number, a wood and soft metal wall piece titled. Ebb and Flow adds another texture.  
 

  Over one and half decades ago, Idu started his adventure into the technique he now describes as "distortion" of light. The painter recalls how he suddenly realises that the details of light "reflects and bounces."
   
 Idu's technique of "light against visual distortion" actually belongs to the family of impressionism. And when he chooses to implore such technique for underwater themes as his works in Evolving Currents explain, the terrain appears familiar. 

 As disturbing as the sight of polluted water along coastal areas is to Idu's psyche, he appears more at home in representing his experience in the positive perspective. Most of the paintings that capture children swimming are depicted in clean water as against polluted environment. The idea of distortion, the artist explains "is to present how the water should be in clean condition for the children to enjoy swimming."

 In addition to Idu's environmental theme are Portrait Series, which deals with the right of women. He recalls the experience that inspired the series and expresses his "worries whenever the right of a woman is trampled on." But he brings respite in the paintings with his idea of red colour spots, which he says represens "power" of the lady despite the dominating dark or black of the painting.
 Under the curatorial direction of Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago and Oliver Enwonwu, Evolving Currents, according to the handlers "is hinged on the juxtaposed placement of each artists work." The curators note what they describe as "the geometric and abstract forms, as well as the rigidity and hardness of Bashoruns sculpture against the palpable impasto, delineating the more fluid figures and forms that populate Idus 26 canvases."
 
The Other Life by Chika Idu
  
Art in its functional form has contributed to advancement of technology across many fields in other climes. Why do Nigerian artists appear under-utitlised in the country's search for technology-driven economy? Bashorun notes that other professionals in science fields were not reaching out. He cites his experience, explaining that for over two decades of using his art - via exhibitions and publication to promote the potentials of art and designs, nobody has approached him me for collaboration.

 "Both artists have spent the better part of their careers teaching art and inspiring young talent to find their own expression. Both artists address Nigerias need to progress and evolve into an equitable society through subtle political and environmental messages," Mbanefo-Obiago explains her tracking of the artists over the year. Enwonwu, Director at Omenka Gallery adds: "Overall, the works are strongly individual, a personal journey and testament to each artists development, and an ultimate vehicle to convey a quest for empirical truth. In turn, the collective of works is unique as a collaboration between 2 curators, an exhibition that is hopefully the first in a series that will contribute significantly to narratives of contemporary art in Nigeria."

  Excerpts about the artists' bio say: Bashorun, born in 1955, is one of Nigeria's most avant-garde sculptors. His exemplary career as an artist and teacher is marked by significant exhibitions held in the United States and Nigeria. Bashorun holds a MFA in Sculpture with a minor in Drawing (2002), and an M.Ed (Art Education, 1984) from the University of Missouri in Columbia, USA.

  Since 1995, Bashorun has been Principal Lecturer at the School of Art, Design and Printing, Yaba College of Technology, where he has held numerous distinguished positions including, Chief Lecturer and Head of the Department of Graphics from 2005-2008. 
  Idu, born in 1974, is one of Nigeria's emerging artists, who studied painting at the Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State from 1993-1998. He was instrumental in the creation of the Defactori Studios, a collective of dynamic new generation artists. He also created Nigeria’s first Water Colour Society of Artists (SABLES). Idu has taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions.

  Idu’s works are characterised by a heavy texture and hazy rendition technique, which he calls 'light against visual distortion'. For the past 16 years, he has been committed to exposing the plight of the African child; recently he began an environmental campaign on the risks faced by children living in coastal slums. Besides teaching art at the Lycee Francais Louis Pasteur in Lagos, Idu works in his Ikorodu studio.

Saturday 23 April 2016

First Nigerian Drum Festival Ends in Abeokuta, attracts other countries


As the first Nigerian Drum Festival ended yesterday, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, a journey into what could be a yearly international festival has started.
   
Foreign visitors during Nigerian Drum Festival, Abeokuta 2016. Photo by: Emmanuel Osodi
Reports said about 20 countries including 10 from Africa and 19 states across Nigeria showed interest to participate shortly before the festival took off on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.
   
Participants during Nigerian Drum Festival in Abeokuta
Organised by Ogun State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it was not clear how many countries eventually participated when the event ended on Friday, April 22. However, there were indications that a number of African countries and others from outside the continent participated.

Breaking News of eight artists at Art Twenty One

Jakob S. Boeskov and Teco Benson, Obinna Makata, Native Maqari, Abraham Oghobase, Bob-Nosa Uwagboe, Chibuike Uzoma and Uche Uzorka are Breaking News artists whose works are showing from April 30 to 2016 at Art Twenty One, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
 

Unregistered Gun 2

2016 61 x 76.2 cm Acrylic on canvas
 Curated by Joseph Gergel, Breaking News, according the organisers is a group exhibition that explores the politics and mechanisms of the mass media. Featuring artists working in painting, drawing, photography, video and installation, Breaking News questions how information is disseminated, fact is constructed, and how social and political life are filtered through the lens of the culture industry.


In a world of twenty-four hour news cycles and virtual communications, how does the media shape our society and define who we are? Permeating our daily lives in the ever-present bombardment of headlines and images, these artists question not only the content of the news but its very framework. Whether critiquing current events or its distribution in newspapers, television, and the Internet, they form a self-reflexive view of the media, identifying how it forms our personal and collective worldview.

These artists are critical about divergent social and political issues in Nigeria, from violence and government corruption to Nollywood and popular consumer trends. They look at how Nigeria is defined in the local and global news media, and how cultural myths are articulated and perpetuated. In an act subversion, these artists cut, crop, and shred the vernacular news archive, a literal and symbolic act of destruction. Rather than succumb to the commercial pressures of the media industry, they create a visual language to portray new perspectives and alternative narratives. Are we melting into the static of our technological screens, or is there still room for individuality in our new media world?


Sunday 17 April 2016

Malick Sidibé (1935/36 – April 14, 2016)




 
Malick Sidibe

 Legendary, Malian photographer Malick Sidibe was born in Sudan in 135 0r 1936 and got famous as a photo artist from the 1960s. 

He would later become more famous as the face of modern Malian photographer.

 He death was announced on Thursday, April 14, 2016 by the family.






Coming Home With Ekpuk's Simplified-Art


By Tajudeen Sowole

DRAWING, painting and sculpture by U.S-based artist, Victor Ekpuk, radiate an aura of simplicity on walls and floor as guests trickle into the expansive space at Renault Showroom, Victoria Island, Lagos on a wet Saturday evening.
  
  1. Grace of God (acrylic onwood).
It's Ekpuk's solo exhibition titled, Coming Home, organised courtesy of Arthouse - The Space, from the artist's residency project facilitated by a sister organisation Arthouse Foundation.

  
For an artist whose signature has been missing from the Lagos art landscape for over a decade — almost to the point of a stranger or outsider — in the new face of contemporary Nigerian art, the volume of visitors on this wet evening is indeed impressive. In fact, at every second, two or more guests stray into one's view while engaging with a piece on the walls.

  
Prior to Coming Home, the impact of drops of appearances that Ekpuk's work enjoyed at few of Arthouse Contemporary's bi-annual art auctions in Lagos was not exactly clear. But the response of connoisseurs and other art enthusiasts alike, as they swarm over the pieces just as the red tags emerge in some few spots within few hours suggest that the artist truly is back 'home.'   

  
More importantly, if the Arthouse family is stimulating the re-emergence of Ekpuk as a window to showcase its desire to shift the paradigm in artist representation, so far so good, it seems. From Ekpuk's signature that almost got lost in the mist of Diaspora adventure, revered name, Arthouse appears to have distilled a template in how to rescue masterly strokes.

  
Before Ekpuk left Nigeria for the US in late 1990s, his work, among other outlets, were mostly viewed through the medium of illustration in newspapers. In 2014, courtesy of Research Fellowship grant from Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation (OYASAF), which produced Open Studio, at Maryland, in Lagos, Ekpuk gradually started his comeback.

  
 Two years after, another Open Studio, Artist Talk, Roundtable Discussion and now a solo exhibition, Coming Home, Ekpuk's walls keep leveraging on his strength to implore lines in narratives, lazed with native signs and symbols. Facing the only entrance on this evening of the exhibition's opening is an acrylic on wood titled, Big Fat Hen, After Wynton Marsalis, which epitomises the illustrative identity of Ekpuk.

    
Populated with nsibidi,(motives indigenous to south eastern Nigeria), the competing lines that are in search of breathing spaces, perhaps, strengthen the texture of the native contents.

 Central to the artist's thematic inspiration is what he tags Head series. All of a sudden, people whose heads have become a natural extension of tools in moving things from one palce to another attract Ekpuk's palette. People's head as a tool in moving loads had always been unhidden among Nigerians. Revisiting the culture in Coming Home appears refreshing, isn't it?

 
  1. Head Series 8 (acrylic on wood).

"When I returned to Nigeria, I tried to see things from a stranger's perspective," he says during my studio-visit, shortly before the end of his residency late last year. He discloses that his work would dwell more on "how Lagos inspires me." The residency, he adds, offers a window to expand his horizon on the Lagos inspiration beyond "the expenditure I have been doing in the U.S."

  
And with about eight wall pieces, Ekpuk explores as much as possible, diverse perspectives to the culture of moving things with heads. Also, the head as a metaphor in spiritual context attracts an extension of his curiousity. But this time, lines, placed in distinct non-competing space with native motives add depth of aesthetics in, at least two of the series.

  
 In flaunting his illustrative skills, particularly, as a minimalist, works such as By The Grace of God, acrylic on wood and the Icon series, metal, fit the identity. Between the power of lines in creating forms and simplified-art, Ekpuk draws no difference, so suggest his adventure into metal in four floor pieces Iconic series.  

  
Again, like most metal sculptures seen on the Lagos art scene in recent years, Ekpuk's Icon series also strip the medium of its natural metal textures. With raiment of acrylic, he highlights head, eyelids and limbs.

  
In 2013, when he started his gradual return, the changing face of commuting in Lagos, which added tricycle (keke), to the disappearing molue and emerging BRT buses, attracted his palette. One of the works produced then, Dis Is Lagos (acrylic on paper), a depiction of new yellow taxi of Lagos, the tricycle is also mounted for Coming Home.

  
As Arthouse is clearly demonstrating its commitment to professionalise artist-promoter relationship, Ekpuk's journey through residency excites his handlers, "As the first artist in the newly created Arthouse Foundation residency programme, it has been a pleasure to work closely with the artist as he developed this new project in Lagos, " Founder/CEO, Arthouse Contemporary, Kavita Chellaram, writes in the catalogue of the exhibition. 

"Arthouse Foundation provides a platform for artists to expand their practice and experiment with new art forms and ideas. By establishing a network that supports cross-cultural exchange between Nigerian and international artists, the Arthouse Foundation embraces contemporary art as an educational model to engage communities, promote social dialogue and advance the critical discourse of artistic practices."

  
 Chellaram describes Ekpuk's work as reflecting indigenous African philosophies, particularly of the nsibidi and uli art. She also notes the artist's "re-imagines graphic symbols from diverse cultures to form a personal style of mark making that results in the interplay of art and writing."

  
 It has indeed, been quite a consistent build-up for Ekpuk towards the exhibition: four months residency, Open Studio, Artist Talk at the Kia Showroom, Victoria Island; interactive workshop with emerging artists; and Roundtable Discussion at the Goethe Institute, all accumulated into the success of Coming Home.