By Josfyn Uba
“At least, in the last decade I see a more conscious effort at opting for more indigenously compliant illustrations in ads and communication materials, both digitally and otherwise, and clip art is not an exception. For instance, Whatsapp, for a while now, knows everyone is not fair skinned and straight-haired. We get to choose the option of our skin colour and not just that, the degree as well. Tropical fruits like bananas, pineapples and mangoes are showing up. As we inject our signatures into the web, better acceptance and awareness is established.
“A silent culture can as well become a forgotten culture. As we speak up, we are affirmed for who we are. How awkward it is to subscribe to a digital persona look that is nearly you when you can actually have your own very resemblance.”
These are the exact words of Dr. ThankGod Chika Anne, head, graphics section, Fine and Applied Arts Department, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Delta State, recently in an interview with Daily Sun.
Dr. ThankGod, a researcher and the first female Nigerian PhD holder in Nigerian indigenous clip art in studio graphics, is tackling her initiated process of preserving and globalizing Nigerian indigenous cultures through clip ar. She said that if we leave the preservation of the element which makes us who we are in the hands of strangers, very soon, we will be a lost bunch.
What inspired you to pursue a PhD in studio graphics and indigenous clip art?
In the applied arts discipline, graphics to be specific, there have always been stereotypes which to me didn’t pose any challenge that made research interesting. The only available MFA program in Graphics was in Printmaking. The area was saturated and those who dared were frustrated and stuck in there for upwards of six years. I was blessed to have had a brief window of a record two year deviation when advertising was brought in at the graphics MFA program by Dr Omokaro Izebvigie of blessed memory around 1994. When I heard advertising, my ears tingled with an air of adventure. Then I jumped right in. In 2007, in a similar scenario, it was at the Fine and Applied Arts department of the Delta State University Abraka. It was like the sound of music in my ears. A studio PhD in Graphics? A dream of a studio based PhD research study finally unveiled. It was the first of its kind. Though, this might have been propelled by the NUC decree and ultimatum for a mandatory PhD as a standard to remaining relevant in the academia, but for me it was an adventure door flung open.
We were like guinea pigs as a pioneer set and battled many challenges like shortage of supervisory personnel and infrastructural limitations. Getting a research topic was a herculean task. I loved to work on wildlife photography but I was discouraged because the officer in-charge of me didn’t think it was a feminine and safe thing. After a long collaborative search with the support of Prof. Ojay Ogene I ended up with a research on repositioning indigenous cultures by globalizing them via clip art. From the first step, I was glad I did because it was a worthwhile adventure.
As I commenced my research, it dawned on me that the area of research as at then was very untouched. By lots of sleepless nights and hard work, I had to break a number of virgin grounds to deliver the first documented research on indigenous Nigerian clip art. That felt really good.
Were there any specific individuals or experiences that influenced your decision to enter this field, particularly as a woman in Nigeria?
I was primarily directed towards clip art by Prof. Ojay Ogene. It was one out of the four untouched areas of graphics at the time in the study of graphics in Nigeria. It sounded interesting to me and was also graciously approved by my primary supervisor Prof. Osa Dennis Egonwa on that faithful 24th day of December 2009.
What challenges did you face during your academic journey, especially as a pioneer in this field?
At least, locally no one had done anything on clip art. Even Prof. Ojay Ogene who recommended it could not help me, so the big cross was all mine to carry, and it looked like Golgotha was never going to be in sight, at first. I started an online search. Finding information was one thing and executing it at a period when electronic media was still a fresh addition in the learning process was not a mean feat. This research was a completely digital studio affair. I already had a good degree of digital literacy then but a lot more was required to pull of an independent research on indigenous clip art generation.
As the first female PhD holder in your field in Nigeria, what does this achievement mean to you personally and professionally?
It settles in me that gender is not a barrier to braving any ordeal and excuses are not for anyone who really wants to make an impact and input. I am happy that the major thing it took from me was time and I had it to give. As a result of the challenge of appropriate personnel for supervision, I suffered delay by patiently waiting till my borrowed supervisor could get a grip of what I was up about in my research. This afforded me more practice and explorative time. I was happy I submitted five different methods of clip art generation with the use of the CorelDraw X4. That intensity of practice afforded by delay came with a priceless value in precision that I couldn’t have gotten any other way. I don’t think it was mere chance. I am persuaded that I was just blessed to be positioned strategically when the opportunity called.
How do you define indigenous clip art, and why do you think it is important to preserve and promote it in Nigeria?
Clip art is a set of illustrative items usually used on graphic ads both digitally and on print. They are vector-based images and are quite interactive. As vectors, they have the advantage of not pixilating unlike ordinary photographs or raster images. They can enlarge endlessly and still retain sharpness and they could be easily reshaped, repositioned, re-coloured or resized without much ado. When I looked through CorelDraw’s book on one million clip arts back then in the early 2010, I couldn’t find even as few as five clip art representing any Nigerian culture. I specifically remember an image labelled ‘A Yoruba Man’ which was actually an Arabian in a turban and an endlessly flowing wrap gown (supposedly an Agbada). Then another image labelled ‘A Fulani woman’ which managed to have a calabash on her head but unfortunately had European men shoes on. Apart from these there were no other indigenous culture-based clip art covering the Nigerian need on the World Wide Web. Then there were also fake attempts at meeting this need like adjusting the skin tone of the popular bride and groom wedding clip art to a darker tone. If we leave the preservation of the element which make us who we are in the hands of strangers, very soon, we will be a lost bunch!
In what ways do you believe indigenous clip art can contribute to cultural identity and societal issues in Nigeria?
Even the very illiterate persons are now able to use smartphones. Hence without any formal assessment or qualification they are already ushered into the world of digital literacy and are not doing badly at grasping it. In the digital space where the smartphones throw everyone out to, we all inevitably speak with the language tools it offers us.
Therefore, when indigenous clip art abound for most cultural items, the practice of losing your identity because you are online will be minimized. If we are provided with our indigenous dialect of the digital language we will not shy away from being ourselves or representing who we are in the digital space. Being patriotic digitally will become an exciting and interesting practice, boosting our efforts at it in other medium as well.
What are some barriers you believe women face in the fields of graphic design and art in Nigeria? How can these be overcome?
I do not see any insurmountable barriers and for the records, there are more women in graphics practice now than I ever knew. This may not be so obvious because most of graphics practice is no longer a physical office affair but digital. I see loads of recruitment going on involving women. I admit incidentally, that I know more female graphic designers than males. They get their jobs online, execute them online and they are used online. As we flip through pages on our phones, run apps and investigate topics in researches, we quickly forget that the designs of those pages we swipe through are the present day graphics and the screen and not paper is the new surface we engage on. I am impressed that the womenfolk are well caught up in the shifting culture of graphics practice, currently
Where do you see the future of indigenous clip art heading in Nigeria? Are there any emerging trends or technologies that excite you?
At least, in the last decade I see a more conscious effort at opting for more indigenously compliant illustrations in ads and communication materials both digitally and otherwise and clip art is not an exception. For instance Whatssap for a while now, knows everyone is not fair skinned and straight haired. We get to choose the option of our skin colour and not just that, the degree as well. Tropical fruits like bananas, pineapples and mangoes are showing up. As we inject our signatures into the web better acceptance and awareness is established.
The most exciting of all is that currently Olivia Mushigo is mobilizing a youth-led eastern community group known as RISE 365 to put the spot light on the black hair emoji. insisting that it’s not just black but has its own unique texture and can appear in managed versions as braids, locks or various lengths of afro styles.
A silent culture can as well become a forgotten culture. As we speak up, we are affirmed for who we are. How awkward it is to subscribe to a digital persona look that is nearly you when you can actually have your own very resemblance!
What is your vision for the integration of indigenous art forms in contemporary design practices?
This is an ongoing practice already in art. There is room however for a lot more to be done. This is because until the indigenous elements find themselves at almost an inundating rate they will be unapologetically overrun by their foreign culture counterparts. This is not a matter to thread with caution about. I advocate and practice art on a full indigenous compliant mode. I dare say that no foreign culture will noise your culture for you except of course, it fills their pockets in some way or another. Additionally, there’s nothing as beautiful as seeing yourself on a digitally interpretable medium or platform proudly adorned in your own very ‘home-made clothes’.
Let’s all speak the indigenous culture tongue, sign the culture signature, show up in the cultural hues, sound and sight and confidently be identified by the very identity that is ours for keeps.
What advice do you have for young women who aspire to enter the field of studio graphics or any other traditionally male-dominated fields?
There’s no need to deceive you ladies, the world is not looking for a man or a woman right now. It is looking for a solution. The one who has a solution is the champ. As long as you have something remarkable to offer, leave your feminine gender out of the work space. Bring your creative help to the table and you would have fulfilled destiny for which you would be remembered long after you are out of here. Life is no longer coloured in gender paint but in intervention and creative hues.
What legacy do you hope to leave for future generations of artists and designers in Nigeria?
Neglecting the details of who we are in every aspect of human learning is not a crime against strangers, distant persons or our very selves but against our own seed – our tomorrow, our future generations yet unborn. I once asked a class of high school students what a calabash gourd was made of and they excitedly chorused…CLAY! A part of me died instantly as I watched a generation that was marching on to a promised destination without knowing where they were coming from let alone who they were. Of course, by the silence that followed my second question about how a local palm frond broom came about I knew we were in deep trouble.
By this I submit that, it is a child’s right and anyone for that matter, to know the intrinsic details and values of his/her life’s culture. It’s their irreplaceable foundation and pride. It is the only thing that resonates with the soul of their persons effortlessly. It is fhe explanation of their innate qualities and the things that make them unique. The answer to many unspoken questions in their hearts. It is not ancient in a sense to be done away with because it holds time tested beauty that can speak peace to those connected to it. Our roots are our pride any day, anywhere.
I hope that they will encounter some of my clip art and at least ask, ‘what is this?’ from that one question, luckily a journey will commence to the discovery of a missing part of who they were meant to be.
As communicators, it is the duty of artists and designers of all ages to connect one generation to another by the effectiveness of their works. If they fail, a vacuum that may result in a critical loss may occur.