By Oyeyinka Fabowale
Arts lovers had a feast at the weekend as the Ecobank Pan African Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Ikoyi hosted a mega art exhibition showcasing spectacular works of emerging young artists in Nigeria.
Under the banner, +234 Art Fair, the art show ran between Friday, March 27 and Tuesday, March 31, featuring diverse artistic and creative expressions in both traditional and trendy art forms and media -sculpture, painting, fabric, photography and digital arts.
The event was held under the auspices of Soto Gallery, Ikoyi, in partnership with Ecobank and a concert of some corporate sponsors. With the theme: ‘Patronage’, it was designed as a platform to expose and promote the abundant creative geniuses and skills of young artists in the country.
Tola Akerele, Founder, Soto Gallery, said the art exhibition was essentially to explore the possibilities of drawing greater awareness and support for the art industry to expand and thrive, hence the choice of the theme for the exhibition. “We have amazing artistic talents in Nigeria that are doing marvelously well but are yet to be discovered or recognized. We have provided this platform to see how we can help attract patronage, not only in terms of buying the works of these artists, but also in terms of getting support, mentoring… for the artists. How, for instance, can the galleries, studios, institutions, collectors and even masters and everyone who comes under the name stakeholder, give help of one kind or the other. That’s why we picked ‘patronage’ as the theme for the event,” she disclosed.
Akerele, who is also the CEO, National Arts Theatre, said her organization was used to working with established artists, but decided to shift and beam focus on the young because of the big statement they were making with the incredible quantum and quality of their works. Their products, she said, would compete in the global art market.
For the four days the fair lasted, art lovers milled all around gorging on and taking photographs with exquisite art pieces mounted or displayed on stands in the foyer, auditorium and the outer premises of the Ecobank Centre.
A novelty that caught the eyes and interest of many of the spectators, however, was the digital art booth, where interviews with curators and works of participating digital artists, 37 of them, were screened. Digital art is an evolving field where skilled artists create and mediate works of art, using digital tools. Unlike their traditional counterparts which are static, their market is global as they are easily transmissible electronically and online.
However, some of the artists spoke about the challenges the field faced in spite of its huge potential and the innovations it has brought. These range from public misconceptions, a slow and unresponsive local community. A participant, Mayowa Samuel, told this newspaper: “Our art transcends international boundaries. It’s not limited to any specific geo-space. Though some succeed, it’s quite a struggle for many artists to build a local community here in Nigeria and Africa, because Africans are yet to see the value of digital art to want to support it. Many people think it costs no effort, because it’s done on computer, and, perhaps, because we didn’t have our hands stained with water colour and so on. But, it’s not true. The process requires as much creativity and effort to produce these works of excellence. Digital art offers beyond the static image you find in the traditional works of art, because it has more interesting and special features like audio, visuals and even motion. With it, I do animation, I tell stories, play music and do all sorts of magical things to entertain.
Samuel said having a viable local community was crucial to building international trust and patronage. “If we have a positive change of attitude,” he said, “if people and organisations believe in us and there are mentors to support our businesses and careers, I assure you, African digital artists will do better than we currently are doing, because then, there will be nothing to distract us, unlike now when some had to do side hustle to make ends meet. We can focus and excel,”
Another participant, Renike, said it was wrong to assume that digital art does not guarantee exclusive ownership because the products were in soft copy and thus susceptible to duplication. She and a curator, Ima Ekpo encouraged the art-loving public to get more interested in this trending artform, noting that it offers as much and even wider possibilities of creative expressions in fashion and other aspects of traditional arts with things poised to get better, as new tools, new technologies and media evolved.
Screened against the background of soft music in the booth, reminiscent of a cinema hall enclosure, were works of Samuel, Tejumola Amosu, Upson, Ibrahim Suleiman, Henshaw, Iman Hassan and Gabriel Monike, among others. They explored themes of fashion, urban scene, political power, drug abuse, smoking, drinking and the wild lifestyle of the present youth.