Living Legends is a project initiated in 2008 by master painter, Olu Ajayi to indentify, honour and induct prominent, iconic and high profile Nigerian professionals who have helped to promote the ideals of the society. So far the likes of General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd.), Professors Wole Soyinka, JP. Clark, Bruce Onobrakpeya and others have been so recognized and inducted. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, Ajayi talks about the 10th anniversary of the project, what the project has come to mean to Nigerians and to those icons who have been honoured so far and more.
As Olu Ajayi and others gear up to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Living Legends, a project he initiated in 2008 to honour, preserve and celebrate worthy Nigerians in the Art and other professions, it is time to see how this laudable idea has been used to raise the tempo of different professions in the society. Olu Ajayi is a master painter, Artist, and a former chairman of the Society of Nigerian Artist (SNA), Lagos State chapter. In an interview on the concept of the project, he said, “Oh yes, the Living Legends project will be ten years this year. It was begun in 2008. Today it has been registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission as The Museum for Living Icons Foundation. We have the advisory board being constituted right now and the necessary things to make it function very well. The relevance of the project is not far to seek. If you look at what we have in the country today, you will also appreciate why it has taken us so long to do the seventh or the eight edition of the Living Legends. You know the Legends we’ve done so far are Professor Wole Soyinka, who has not disappointed us. Then Yusuf Grillo has not also disappointed us. You see, I have to mention them in order of appearance. The next was Bruce Onobrakpeya who has not in any way disappointed us. The next was Professor JP Clark, followed by the late Oba Ereduawa of Benin. Then came General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd). The seventh person was Mrs. Folake Solanke the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who also happens to be the daughter of the owner of Alabukun, Chief Jacob Odulate and Alabukun, by the way is 100 years old this year. By this, I mean the product itself which has served humanity so well”
Ajayi who began this project essentially to identify and immortalize those Nigerians who have done well and have equally been impacting on the society, explained further, “we have been very careful in the selection of the people we have conferred this recognition on. We are still working very hard to get subsequent legends so as not to lower or tamper with the quality and calibre of personalities to be so named. The committee at the moment is still screening individuals so as to arrive at the best among them. This will also help to accelerate the process”.
However, Ajayi, known for his total commitment towards quality projects, expressed fears about the challenges being faced by the project. He said, “the fear which we have somewhat overcome, is having a proper board involving scholars and other well-meaning Nigerians who would help us in selecting quality people for this recognition and conferment. Also the issue of funding has been a problem, funds so far have been from friends and myself and the goodwill of the participating artists. So moving forward, we are looking at getting more funds. The processes, materials, documentations and then building a museum itself for this project is to get to that level, all these have to be in place”.
Hoping to achieve more this year, Ajayi informed, ‘yes, we have taken the first necessary steps. The rest, as we go on, will fall in place. This is why we have put in the name of Museum for Living Icons Foundation. For now, we are building content first. The names I have mentioned have been drawn and painted already. The destination of all these is to have a museum where they all will be preserved. It is also to have a compendium of all the drawings and paintings in a very comfortable place and then put in literature form to enable the public see and appreciate who these people are and what they have done to touch and help the society. You would have noticed that at every point in the project, when the legend is being painted, he is asked some questions. Those questions and reactions also form part of the documentation as part of the whole essence of the Living Legends project. Even when we are not there, the next group of people or artists will have to carry on. That’s why it is called the Living Legends. The Legends never finish, the people involved can never be exhaustive”, he offered.
For now, Ajayi hopes more people would show interest “to partner with us. There will be a warehouse to house these works. It will be like a hall of fame of the Living Legends. Even though I do not want to use the expression hall of fame, because it has been overused, yet, what we have will look a bit like it. The only difference is that we have live paintings of the people involved. They are works done by artists with the honoree sitting down there, interacting with them. And it is not just that, the paintings are not done with regards to the artists’ interest. No, that is not the idea. We do not do only a descriptive painting. This is an advanced painting, each artist using his own style to do the portrait. They do it not minding whether you like their style or not. But let the people see it and say oh, yes, this was done by so and so artist. This is the core aspect of what we do when we ask the honoree to sit down for his portrait to be done by various artists. Usually, due to lack of space we do not have more than 12 artists for each outing. The artists do this as their own expressions of the man or woman when they met. That’s the idea”
At every outing of the project, there are artists, art historians, journalists, photographers and observers. Ajayi informed that these set of people have roles to play in the documentation process of the project. “You see all these set of professionals, they help in the historical recording of the process. The journalists report the event, while the art historians document them for posterity. In the process too, the photographers take pictures which we also keep in the archives. We now have the portrait done by the artists themselves. By this, the process of documentation is complete so that when we get the hall, all these would be in place. We also have scholars who come to moderate the programme and some art critics who come to witness what we do. The point is that this interaction is captured as part of the painting. All these make it a more glorious event indeed”, he noted, saying, “you see, most of the people that come, that might be the first time the artist is seeing him face-to-face or even having the first encounter with him. So, it is symbolic not only for the artist, but for the people involved in the project”.
An electrifying and charming encounter, most of the personalities so far selected would sit down there in the middle of the room patiently waiting to be painted. It is usually wonderful to see how they soak in the euphoria, often staring into void, fidgeting now and then. The idea is to have this done for the sake of posterity.
This project is meant to locate the intervention of artists in Nigerian history. It is also to see how leaders can be encouraged to give back to the society’, to impact meaningfully in the affairs of men using both their wealth of experience and God-given material possessions to surmount various hurdles and impediments in the society. Ajayi was clear in his mind when he set out to institute this project. He intoned: “It is partly to see this body of works captured by this generation and kept for the next generation. The different styles will be there. Then the honorees may use the opportunity of the project to talk about the history of the Nigerian society, more so the civil war. These are well-placed Nigerians who are like the compendium of the history of the society. You will see the intervention of someone like Soyinka in the 1960s when the pogrom began and then when the civil war eventually erupted. The role of Gowon as the head of state in it all is not lost entirely too. You also find Soyinka’s works everywhere – his speeches, memoirs, writings, but can you find his portrait anywhere? So, this is one of the ideals we represent in the Living Legends Foundation. It is to also appreciate these people and make them available in portrait form. People like JP Clark whose portraits are not common can now be kept for all time to come. Now when you go in there, you will see them, read about their laurels and accomplishments and see how they have shaped the society. This is why we are bringing art in the evolution; in the historical excursion into time”.