Category: Arts & Life

Chief Abdulazeez Udeh, a book publisher and businessman is one of Nigeria’s oldest and greatest art collectors whose repertoire of visual arts is indeed enviable.  At the opening of the ongoing exhibition of drawings and paintings of Things Fall Apart, in Lagos, where he came to view the works, he told Edozie Udeze why he is passionate about art collection and the metamorphosis of modern arts in Nigeria and lots more

Chief Abdulazeez Udeh has always been one of the greatest art collectors in Nigeria.  This is one habit he formed many years ago that today, he cannot even count or remember the number of art works in his possession.  An avid follower of developments in the contemporary art world, Udeh was at the opening ceremony of In the Heart of Things Fall Apart, an exhibition of drawings and watercolours on Chinua Achebe’s epic novel, Things Fall Apart.  The event which held at the Quintessence Art Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, was the product of three artists in the persons of Krydz Ikwuemesi, George Odoh and Henry Mujunga, an Ugandan.

Udeh in an interview described the book itself as an enduring classic which also encouraged these three artists to embark on this wonderful project to document the book in a visual form.  “Things Fall Apart is known all over the world and it has been translated into many foreign languages.  There is hardly anywhere in the world where the book is not known or has not been recommended in schools.  The work itself which has now been interpreted into drawings and paintings shows that there is no aspect of it that cannot be put into proper academic exercise,” he said.

He opined that the work of art in the calibre of Things Fall Apart can only be best understood when put into visuals.  “You can then begin to imagine the images and the scenes created by the author.  Achebe used this book to mirror deep into the Igbo society but not only the Igbo society per se.  You can see in it the level of civilization in Africa before the incursion of the West.  As Achebe’s most famous work, what the artists have done is to further lend credence to the place of such a great literary work in the minds of the academics.  And part of the reason why I am here today is to identify with this great iconic book and classical literary work which has transcended boundaries since it was published more than fifty years ago,” Udeh who was once a publisher, decided.

He delved a bit into the background that gave birth to the book.  “Things Fall Apart was purposely written to disseminate the level of cultural development and affinity in Igbo land long before time.  The book showcases the typical way of resolving conflicts in a well-patterned society where respect for the norm was in place.  Achebe took his time to look into the real values of the Igbo nation.  There is hardly any part of the norms and taboos of the people that the book did not touch.  Therefore, in situating these art works, we can further see those elements of traditions that once defined the Igbo society before the advent of the West.”

He related the importance of the book to what Africans were in the threshold of achieving before that developmental move was disrupted.  “The incursion of Europe as an external force did more harm to the norms of the people.  Most of the drawings here attest to that fact as you can see.  From chapters one to twenty-five, each artist gave his own ideas of the main theme and cultural message in the book.  That way one can really comprehend and follow the issues raised by the author.”

Udeh’s contention is that by keeping these works, one is actually involved in encouraging artists to do more.  And in consequence, generations yet unborn will one day come to realize the historical and cultural values of a wonderful book like Things Fall Apart.  “By telling the story of Umuofia in a remarkable way, we have been able to see a continuation of the story of Biafra.  It is the same pattern which the civil war in Nigeria took.  And you can see how the story of one man, written as a fiction has shown that an artist is a prophet.  And I dare say that since the civil war ended we’ve not been the same, particularly in Igboland.  We’ve lost so much in terms of respect and preservation of what holds us together as a people.”

From an indigenous point of view, he noted, the book has done justice to the ever resilient nature of the Igbo person.  “The Igbo resisted the incursion and menace of the Europeans till 1929.  So, what Achebe has written has shown that it was not all that easy when it came to the destruction of the Igbo norms and values.  At the same time all we can do now is to make ourselves open to other cultures or alien cultures if you like and then take what we can to help us grow.  In the same way, those aspects of our traditions which we abandoned in a hurry but now think they are relevant, we should bring them back.  Cultures and traditions form part and parcel of societal norms.

What the Igbo people need now, he reassured, is to try to manage the influx of the Christian culture in order to make concerted progress.  “Unfortunately, the Igbo people have not been able to achieve this such that these alien cultures have more or less subsumed the indigenous cultures of the people.  And because the Europeans could not overcome the Igbo, they then destroyed their cultures, saying they were primitive.  Now, this culture of using the visual to preserve some of those salient elements of the people’s historical past should be encouraged.  These works have truly proved that if given the wherewithal, our artists can do it.”

He however berated most Igbo leaders and traditional title holders who often combine the tradition of the people with Christianity.  “This habit is not good enough for the preservation of the people’s beliefs and norms.  It is even improper for a title holder to say he wants to have a Christian-traditional title.  It is not done.  It is either you believe in tradition completely or you are a Christian.  The two should not go together.   If you cannot stick to tradition completely, then forget it and follow the one you think is best for you.  This is what you cannot see in most other traditions and so it has brought so much confusion in the annals of the Igbo”.

To him, the total break-down of moral values is traceable to this scenario, mostly amongst the Igbo.  “This is why my love for the art is ever enduring.  Yes, I began collecting visual arts a long time ago.  Call it a childhood passion or so, but it began well back in the 1960s.  Although my background is in publishing, arts form the greater part of what I have long developed to help the sector grow.  But above all, I got into it to prove the Europeans who said that Nigeria had no art wrong.  Today, Nigeria’s indigenous arts are seen all over the world competing effectively with their counterparts all over the world.  That is the joy we derive from what we do from being collectors.

Arts in Nigeria and Africa generally, no longer depend on excavations of artefacts exhumed by Europeans and Anthropologists who once determined African history.  To this extent and more, the likes of Udeh have taken it upon themselves to encourage modern arts to prosper and go places.  “You can see the likes of Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Obiora Udechukwu, Yusuf Grillo and others who have taken up the mantle to enrich Nigerian arts.  There is nowhere in the world where their works are not displayed or recognized and we continue to say that our art ranks among the best in the world.  When the Zaria Rebels began to champion the cause of Nigerian art in the late 50s most people then did not understand them.  But today that struggle has come to give vent to the indigenous modern art.

Udeh who began his business in the 1960s as a book publisher insisted that with the determination of Nigerian artists who refused to be so intimidated by their European teachers, contemporary art has come to occupy centre stage today.  “I can tell you that they also used that medium to resist the Europeans.  Today Europeans are borrowing from us, from our artistic ideas.  It is a situation that has further enriched our art.  And so for me as an art collector, I owe it to myself and to the society to help build a formidable art world for our people.  Even the works of Ulli Beier and his life, Suzan, further gave impetus to the Nigerian art,” he said.

Now with the birth of Osogbo art and the rest, the Nigerian arts began to reach out to the rest of the world.  “Even today, Nigeria arts are seen in the best art galleries in America and Europe.  The pendulum has changed that today Europeans want to identify with our arts more than we want to identify with theirs.  It is like they have run out of steam and ideas.  This is why art collection is a big thing for me.  Right from the 1960s till 1970s my idea of art collection had been there, depending on the resources available to me.  I have been collecting and today my collections are so large and varied,” he postulated.

The drop in the reading habits of Nigerians have generated  lots of controversies over the years. Last Saturday the issue pop up once more , this time around lovers of good books x-rayed the challenges  facing writers especially upcoming writers and traced this to poor reading habits.

However another school of thought believed that the trend was changing thanks to the opportunities available online.

Venue was the book Reading of the book Hope on the Go written by Victoria Praise Abraham. The publication which is filled with life changing inspirational messages was read to an audience the Terra culture in Lagos.

Abraham informs that: “This is the first book that I would have a seating audience and I am excited. The book has pictures and makes it exciting to read. It is filled with words of wisdom that are short and precise.”

Interestingly, she has a special genre of writing designed to fire up individuals to live lives to the full in a God-given ambit. Her style which is simple but unique ascribes a deeper purpose to living beyond the ordinary and mundane.

The vignettes come with illustrative photographs on aspects of life being discussed, which makes it also visually and aesthetically pleasing.

The first reading was done by Anisha Oruwariye  explores the messages on page seven and more. Here you get quotes like: Greatness lies within you and your business is to show its, Action is the mother of dreams, take action now, If you cannot take risk, you cannot break through.

Other interesting quotes from the book includes: Contentment is great gain, your time is your gain, A lazy man can live long, but poverty would be his bedmate, Life requites a push, don’t just stand, When life gives you a knock, do not cower and fall.

The second reading of the book handled by Victor takes a look at the messages from pages 230. The messages here talks about Creativity as the mother of change, think outside the box. To win in life, she admonishes her reader to have a winner’s mentality. Until, you live the crowd, you cannot find a path. Once this is done, you are likely to see opportunities while others see threats. Yesterday’s tears, Abraham opines should not be allowed to destroy tomorrows dream.

Other motivating information in the book advices that there is no point going into marriage if you are going to divorce. People, she stressed are your greatest asset. You do not need a million friend’s, all you need is a handful. Life is not about the troubles but about moving on in spite of the troubles.

Failure, the author reiterated is refusing to try again. So it is important to be yourself because if you decide to be someone else, you would become a bad copy. And if all, you do is wait in life, then life would pass you by.

Next the author goes on to talk about procrastination and how some successful people have been able to overcome it. “ For years , I knew that I was born to achieve greatness but didn’t know how I was going to be great.”

Although, Abraham has written other books on inspiration for successful living in a troubled world, her recent book, Hope on the Go (Holyseed Publication, Lagos; 2014) comes in a quick-look or quick-reference material, perhaps with the lazy reader at the heart of its conception. Yes, the lazy reader, who dreads voluminous stuff, will find Hope on the Go a delightful reading material.

Its unique nature is in its short, snappy content, with each page making up a special ‘topic’, as it were, of its own. The lengthiest topic per page has just about 50 words in it! So, a page can be read in a blink. It’s the sort of book you’d read even while working, walking, travelling or just about everywhere without suffering distraction.