Austin Air Omeke is one of Nigeria’s modern-day mosaic artists, whose love for the aesthetics of mural art and wall decorations and beautification knows no bounds. He is not only involved in the crusade to use mosaic art to restructure the society, he also wants government at all levels to put the necessary things in place to promote this form of the art. He spoke to Edozie Udeze on this and his sojourn to Awka, Anambra State, where he discovered that the art of blacksmithing began years back
Austin Air Omeke is one of the most outstanding studio artists of his generation. He has been in studio practice for close to thirty years during which he was been able to create his own distinguishable identity and signature. A graduate of the famous Polytechnic Auchi, Edo State, he is widely known for his love for the mosaic mural and wall arts and decorations, a tradition, he claimed was begun by his grandfather way back in the 1930s in Awka, Anambra State.
“This is a tradition that was known in Awka in those days where my grandfather lived not only as a great artist but in the midst of blacksmiths. Blacksmithing was a great form of art in those days and it was traditional to the people of Awka who thrived in it a great deal. What my grandfather did in Awka is what I now found myself doing in the city, but in a new modern way. When the commissioned work was assigned to me to beautify the hotel in Awka with mosaic murals, the first inkling I got was, oh, here I am in the bowel of the town where my grandfather plied his trade many years ago.”
A native of Ika South Local government area of Delta State, Omeke first discovered on arrival that Awka is indeed the centre of ancient civilisation where art works and relics are buried beneath the earth surface. But today the people still do not know how to tap that huge resources to reclaim what is their own. “If I have to leave Lagos to go settle down or set up a studio in Awka, what I’ll do is to go beyond the surface. Here the Igbo-ukwu art is not far from the place. The Nri art is not far also, yet Awka has been the cynosure of all eyes in terms of the concentration of the old art. It is now time to begin to rediscover and tap these abundance of works to give the town a face-lift,” he said.
“All the blacksmiths people, all the moribund industries and the people involved have to be reviewed. We still need such people to continue to give life to our art. This is a beehive of art that still remains untapped. But because the strength of individuals in Anambra is more recognised than the collective responsibility, it is a bit difficult to see how to resurrect this form of the art. It is also unfortunate that people there do not spend their money to identify with culture in terms of the visual art. Nobody is indeed making any landmark artistic statement in this regard,” he posited.
However, a few wealthy people who have gone into estate investments and hospitality have somewhat chosen to toe the path of modern art to make bold statement. This was why when Omeke was chosen to do the mosaic mural and wall decorations of one of the biggest hotels in Awka, he saw it as an opportunity to push on to let the people know that art can be revived in this vast modern city. “Today, we have a handful of such hotels in the city. It is even good also to mention that Anambra State boasts of big time art collectors like the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, who has been the pillar of the art revival in that area. He has since taken the lead by showing the people the way to civilisation. So, what I did at the hotel is a total identity to make people see the beauty of mosaic in a public building where people visit often and on.”
The location of the hotel in Awka equally makes it easier for people to see what beauty mosaic art can add both to the interior and exterior of a modern architecture. “When people come and see this work they marvel at it and then feel oh, this is the sort of art we can identify with. The structural and such other artistic beauty embedded in it, has somehow begun to touch the psyche of the people. Such people would now come to Awka and exclaim, oh, things are indeed changing; public buildings owned by rich men are beginning to wear new look.”
Omeke, just like most modern visual artists have wondered, is still not comfortable with the fact that the school of art at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka where they produce artists every year, has not deemed it fit to encourage the town to invest in the art. “This is one of the ways to bring back the groove,” he bemoaned. “If the professors we know in the art department of the school are really committed, this is the time to embellish the city with art studios and art works. Just like the Lagos State government is doing at the moment, Anambra State can bring back the aesthetic value of the town with works of art in all nooks and crannies of the town.”
Beyond the love for the art and what the artists can do to make visual art strong in the state, people who have the financial wherewithal have to be encouraged also to invest in it. However, what is going on now, according to Omeke, is a new definition. “This is the redefinition of the town. Everything has to be redefined to bring art back into public focus. But then, you can also diversify it into some other areas including manufacturing industry, in the area of architecture and so on. The first time I entered Awka the first thing I noticed was how the people bury their oxide materials beneath the earth. There is plenty of wealth accumulated and left there over the years. They are trapped in the so-called iron stone. Almost everywhere in Awka you notice this phenomenon and it is the responsibility of the artists to begin to rediscover this and more. Then when I looked at the belle of the town, I wondered the quantum of wealth buried there.”
Education is what is needed now to redirect people’s attention to the rudiments of the art as a source of wealth creation. “This is time too to begin to indoctrinate road-side arts, public arts, art of decoration and more so that the wealth in this area can spread to more people. This is why my concept of mosaic art goes in consonance with structural art. They go together to give the desired beauty to an object. Often, architecture and mosaic mural work hand-in-hand to create the necessary effect. And this is part of what we need now to redefine our appreciation of art both in private and public institutions. If we marry these two together, we’ll be able to make a landmark statement,” he said.
When you inscribe the art on a building, people will certainly identify with it. To him, therefore, the mosaic will soon exceed time and boundary due to its endless value and richness. “Yes the one I did in that hotel is the first of its kind in commercial quantity in the town. So, I am like one of the pioneers of mosaic mural in that area and it gives me plenty of joy and professional satisfaction. Once you are in town you can easily locate Finotel Classique Hotel where the aesthetic arts of mosaic has been installed by me. At Uzu junction by Agu-Awka where it is situated, people practically go there to have a view of this unique and modern form of art of decoration.”
Even though many people who do not really understand the tenets of the visual art often take mosaic to be foreign, Omeke dismisses this notion with a wave of the hand. “It is just that the concept is yet to totally permeate the society. You see, this is why I try as much as I can to identify with the tradition of the people in my mosaic. That way they can easily see themselves in the mural and then begin to love it. I use the colours of the mosaic to give two-dimensional impression necessary for the art. This is why I needed to add more colours so that from afar you will be able to identity the colours. So, as the government is re-structuring, the people should be involved to make everything look good. Before you do any mosaic, what you first of all do is to locate the site, then identify the culture of the people and what they need,” he explained.
As soon as these are in place, it is now time to begin to put the colours in place. The colours must help to add a fusion of landmark impressions and other artistic effects common to the local people. This was why the work took him much time to do in order that the people are convinced that part of their traditional art is now back. “Even from a kilometre away, you can spot the colours,” he concluded.