New Media Nigeria

In a country with the third largest film industry,new steps are being taken into developing Video Art.

New media is no longer that new in the West but it remains a media that has yet to be fully explored here in West Africa, specifically Nigeria. In a country were the film industry is the third largest in the global market, after Hollywood and Bollywood, it was inevitable that the desire to develop Video Art would be high.

Working in Contemporary Art here in Nigeria is really exciting as I feel like there is such a big shift taking place. Our Traditional artistic practice and background have paved the way for for the current artistic elite but their is a thirst for the exploration and implementation of the modern. It feels like the beginning of an era and I'm here to record it, via my blog and various other media.

I recently co-ordinated a Video Art workshop here in Lagos, my second since moving last August. The workshop was facilitated by...International Video Artist Miguel Petchkovsky (Angola), taking Lagos as its primary theme. Alongside Miguel, participants were led by Goddy Leye (Cameroon) and Eustaquio Neves (Brazil), both prominent Video Artists.

The workshop aims were to provide artists with a good grasp of the concepts of Video Art within contemporary artistic practice and to create projects based on experimentation of the video image on the classic forms of art like painting, sculpture, music and theatre, while introducing new elements like performance, installation, photography and sound.


Outage - Outrage by Lillian Pilaku from CCA Lagos on Vimeo.

Outrage By Lilian Pilaku

This work explores the nature and scope of power supplies and the consequences of failure imposed by neglect in the basic needs of large urban centers and the peripheral communities around the city of Lagos, as well as the consequent impact on individuals. This audio-visual exercise suggests the critical failure of Institutional power to ensure long term sustainability of improvements and questions (metaphorically) all society and the well being of future generations.


Carbon Blues - Uche Joel Chima from CCA Lagos on Vimeo.

Carbon Blues By Uchay Chima Joel

Uchay was the first prize winner with a residency in Amsterdam being facilitated by Miguel.

Lagos is a city that is well known as being over populated. The masses streaming from diverse background and multiple ethnicities contribute largely to the socio-economic make-up of the city. Like other mega-cities around the world, Lagos is also challenged with environmental degradation and pollution.

Carbon Blue focusing on air pollution depicts what goes un-noticed by some in the atmosphere, in and around Lagos.


Dreams (Smeard) Smeared by Jude Anogwih from CCA Lagos on Vimeo.

Dreams [Smaerd] Smeared By Jude Anogwih

2nd prize winner of a residency in Brazil to be facilitated by Eustaquio Neves

The work investigates the anticipations expectations, hopes, aspirations, ambitions of an individual and his/her dreams in the society. The elements interactively aid in determining the realization of these dreams, or the sometimes disappointments. Dreams are imaginary. They are threads that link the real and the imagined (illusive). They are imaginary lines of possibilities influenced by thinking or from bygone activities. Read more...

Like A Virgin… Lucy Azubuike & Zanele Muholi

A look back at the 'Like a Virgin' exhibition held at the Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos.


We have just closed an exciting but very controversial photographic exhibition at my art gallery called 'Like a Virgin'. The exhibition featured work by two (African) female artists; Lucy Azubuike & Zanele Muholi. 'Like a Virgin' was curated around the theme of gender issues, in relation to women on the continent and sexuality.

At first glimpse of the images I must say I was shocked, many of them had been constructed in such a way as to incite some sort of strong emotional reaction, however after the initial getting use to I found the images very powerful and true to the issues being discussed. Zanele Muholi's depiction of the female body was contrary to the images I was use to seeing, the romantic or eroticized woman. The images captured real women taking a bath or relaxing with partners(other women). Muholi's work however was received with mixed reviews and not for the quality of the images but for the subject she raised. Reading through the visitors book one comment read 'Now sin is art' a newspaper article described lesbianism as a strange(pg version) act. Hmmm!!??!!



Lucy Azubuike is an artists who works with mixed media. She showed two photographic series, the first using trees to depict the female body and the sub themes of Female Genetic Mutilation (FGM), widowhood rites and girl/child marriages. The second entitled the 'Menstruation cycle' consisted of a series of images of blood stained tissues made by the artists natural cycle. I have too say I was not too shocked by these images, I found the red on the white background very powerful! The artists described the images as a personal diary, which served as a visual narratives containing insights into personal reflections and experiences such as love, hope, disappointment and friendship.
Again (and perhaps more so) her work faced mixed reviews. Openly I heard visitors outraged by the menstrual cycle series with one critic saying 'isn't it unhygienic' *I had to laugh at this point*



The exhibition made me question where we the arts professionals where in terms of accepting and reviewing contemporary issues like those raised within this exhibition.
How far had contemporary Africa come when critically examining modern work and could it be done without culture or religion? Personally I don't think anything can be done outside of the two, at least in Nigeria.
Read more...

'Couture' is the Only French I Speak

A look at my experience at the Pret-a-PARTage workshop, Dakar.

I have just returned from an almost two week stay in Senegal as a participant of the Pret-a-PARTager workshop run by the German Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IFA). The workshop consisted of seventeen artists from Berlin, Dakar, Douala, Hamburg, Cape Town, Kinshasa, Lagos, London and Stuttgart, coming together to produce a art/work around the theme Art and Fashion.


The participants came from Photographic, styling, performing as well as designing disciplines and were all well established in their disciplines, such as Akinbode Akinbiiyi, co-founder of the Bamako Biennal of photography and Performance artists Athi-Patra Ruga. My role was to document the workshop process through a report so my time was spent listening, observing and conversing with the artists.

The participants were made up of primarily two main languages, German and French although the workshop was designed to be in English, with things getting lost in translation. One thing that was for sure for me was that being at least bilingual French English, would definitely be of benefit to me working in and around West Africa.

As with any trip abroad I had sneakily thought that that could also be a really great holiday in spite of the heavy work schedule. Boy was I wrong. The time was very intense, with work going on around the clock. Even at the dinner table work was being discussed, there was clearly no clocking off time.

I continue to work with the group and IFA on the work created over the period of the workshop but for more info please see:

www.ifa.org

http://www.germanyandafrica.diplo.de/Vertretung/pretoria__dz/en/02__Germany__Africa/modedakar.html
Read more...

Give them Back their Art!?!

Repatriation of Art, is this a good idea? What would the consequence for this be?

Photograph credit: Franko Khoury


I have been in Nigeria for approximately Two Months but I'm only on week three at work. I'm on the second stage of my youth service which is comprised of Eleven Months work experience in a national company (so no big multi-national companies can benefit from our cheap labour, only our government). I was posted to Ocean Beach Golf and Leisure Resort where I am programming the public and educational programme for Awo House ( a cultural centre) and they have offered me two days free to work with Bisi Silva (curator and Artistic Director) at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos. Its an interesting Mix as half my week is spent focusing on Historic Culture while the other half is focused on Contemporary Art. No complaints!

So while looking through the papers here I fell across an article about Colonial Africa. Highlighted was Namibia, a country who's people faced genocide under its German colonizers (it was a horrific read but so is the majority of this type of history). More research produced a similar article where the focus was on the repatriation of the remains of 47 Namibians currently being held at a German museum (http://allafrica.com/stories/200809160296.html). I realised that a lot of what is on display in the West as 'African Art' may slowly but surely find there way home, and what will replace it?

The struggle we as arts professionals/ artists (promoting contemporary Africa) have faced for such a long time has been this image portrayed as our art in the rigid form of 'Masks' 'Wood-carving' and 'Cloth'. To be fair there is truth to this, however there is a need to include post-colonial art to theses permanent displays/ collections. It was the Africa Remix exhibition at the Hayward that not only made me fall in love with art, but caused me to rethink my career goals of working in health, to promoting art and African art in particular.

Perhaps Arts organisations around the world need to re-think and re-invest in their Africa collection or fight to retain ownership of these pieces. What do you guys think?

Further reading:
http://images.google.com.ng/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ligali.org/images/battle_royal_for_benin_relics.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ligali.org/article.php%3Fid%3D1805&h=111&w=150&sz=8&hl=en&start=56&um=1&usg=__gWKwb5dBtpn4oYOQZxE5AZfHY4s=&tbnid=l-aF_FBaU-QQpM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drepatriation%2Bafrican%2Bart%26start%3D54%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Read more...

Nigeria Diary

Should the UK bring back National Service?
I will give you a peek into the life of a Youth Corper.

Having lived in the London all my life, I found that until recently I had very rarely questioned my safety. Slowly but surely the media found their way into my mind and instilled a fear factor, one I couldn't shake when walking home at night, or whilst seated in a nearly empty carriage on a train or simply taking the 142 when schools were ending for the day. Nothing felt sacred any more as paper after paper where covered in images of yet another violent attack, usually carried out by 'youth'. Many called for tougher penalties, metal detectors where installed in schools and at events, others cried out 'Bring back National Service'!

This brings me to my predicament. In a bid to start a fresh I decided to move away from the madness I called home, to Nigeria, where my parent originate from. As a matter of duty all graduates who wish to work in the country must have first completed a year of National Service. Three weeks are spent in a boot camp of sorts followed by 11 months of work experience.

Having never lived in Nigeria I romanticised the idea of attending the programme, believing it would make me 'more Nigerian' or 'more in touch with my roots', Ha! It was the longest three weeks of my life as I did all I could to break out (think Prison Break). The bedrooms were enough to make a grown man cry, with up to 30 people all competing for bed space (I have friends who had to stay outside due to not enough rooms during their orientation). The bathrooms almost had me going insane as I proceed to damage my bladder in a bid to never have to enter them (food and drink intake was kept to a minimum). A friend told me she had stopped telling people to 'go to hell' and instead started saying 'go to camp', I had to second that!

Now the daily tasks consisted of:
4:30am wake up
5:30am meditation and exercise
7:30am Breakfast and Shower
9am Parading (marching)
1pm Lunch and siesta 3pm lecture
5pm Parading
7:30pm dinner and socialising
10:30pm lights out

I'd like to say I took part in most of these activities but my body just was not built for this kind of strain. Firstly I don't really believe people should be up before 8am, a fact I am slowly dispelling, secondly most of the activities take place in temperatures of around 30oC, now that cant be safe! Plus I fell ill- Gastroenteritis.

Now it would be wrong for me to say it was all doom and gloom, cause it really wasn't. I spent many an afternoon, having a few drinks with my new camp friends, who I had met due to our common desire to get out. We laughed, danced and almost forgot we were trapped.

All in all this experience changed my life, for the better I don't know, I'm just happy to be out!

End Note:
I will be reporting on Nigerian culture and all things pertaining to art soon but here is a little snippet of my month in Art:
September 6th -Launch of 'Journeys with Kongi' by Gerd Meuyer – Wole Soyinka himself was in attendance!
September 13th -Book club which is currently focusing on African literature starting with Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adiche, moving on to Everything Good Will Come by Seffi Atta.
September 17th -Started working at CCA,Lagos a contemporary art centre run by Curator Bisi Silva.
October 1st – A visit to the Awo House Museum, where I will be programming the public and educational events. Read more...