For 21 years now, the Harmatan workshop series at Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, instituted by master printmaker Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya has been running successfully well twice every year. At the Alexis Galleries, Lagos, on Saturday, an exhibition of 34 works by 34 different artists from the workshop since 1998 was declared open. In a press chat, Onobrakpeya elaborated on the ideals of the workshop and what it has offered to humanity. Edozie Udeze encountered him
Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya has given so much to the visual art. When he started the Harmatan workshop series at Agbarha-Otor, his home base in Delta State in 1998 nobody knew it was going to last this long. Not only that it has lasted this long, the workshop has ever since then affected the lives of over one thousand artists across the world. Yesterday, an exhibition of some of the products of the Agbarha-Otor workshop since its inception was opened at the Alexis Art Gallery, Lagos. About 34 artists are involved.
Onobrakpeya who had time with the press on the importance of the exhibition and the impact of the workshop went straight into the reasons he ventured into the project 21 years ago. “It is a place where people come to mix and acquire ideas. The harmathan workshop has indeed become an educational centre where people – students, artists, foreigners and others come in to view and become closer to art and art environment. Students come when the workshop is on to see people at work. At the same time they use the opportunity to see how works are produced. Most of these are people from the area within Delta State and Agbarho-Otor. They come to see also some of the artworks or photographs produced by some of the artists at the workshops”.
Onobrakpeya, a member of the Zaria Rebels of the 1960s at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, stated how the centre has imparted on the local people. He said – “The harmathan workshop has therefore become one of the educational requirements by the government for students. The government encourages students from secondary schools and tertiary institutions to visit the place to learn more. They are mandated to visit it as a museum or an art centre. And this is good for the workshop. The students come to interact with artists while they are at work. They watch to know how it is done. From time to time many of them turned out to be big artists in future.
“People who want to be professional artists sometimes have a lot of limitations, mostly in the local areas. However whenever they visit the workshop while in session, they are often inspired to move on; to overcome their limitations. This is one of the things the programme has done to my people”, he stated, smiling. He went on: “The people come there now to know what to do to qualify them to go to higher institutions to study fine arts. So, if you have not gone to school or have not learnt art before, the workshop can qualify you to learn from the experience of others. Some have benefited like that from the workshop, thus becoming good artists without going to higher institutions”.
It has been established by fact of history that each time the workshop is on, local people come over to give testimonies of how they have been influenced by the programme. Onobrakpeya, a seasoned textile artist known for his deep impressionism, noted further, “People talk of how they have been making a living from what they learnt from us. Many learnt leather works, bead making, shoemaking, ceramics and other crafts. We have the most popular sessions at the harmathan. And that is the leather department. The people who attend the sessions after two weeks of the workshop are able to learn enough to make shoes which they sell at the local markets to earn a living”.
The other part of the lessons of the programme has to do with the freedom that exists between students and their professors. Onobrakpeya, the great artist said: “Professors from all over the world also participate. They do not only meet with other professionals, it is a rare moment when students interrogate some of the theorems propagated by some of these professors. A student can engage a teacher of fine arts on certain issues and both will learn more from that. The interactions among professionals help each to go home and impact more on his students”.
The great artists of over 40 years practice recognized both at home and abroad, reiterated that, “as everybody learns from one another, we the studio artists are also influenced by some of the issues raised therein. People from Benin, Togo and Ghana and some parts of Africa have their own forms of arts which they bring along. These are peculiar to them. Now when they come to Nigeria, we equally engage them and learn from them. Art is not static. We keep learning from one another. Because people from different places and ideas gather at the workshop we are able always to generate fresh and topical themes and ideas that are germane to visual art. From there we network at lot. For us here in Nigeria, we have learnt more. When people come over we are able to produce richer art works because richer ideas help to prosper the art”.
So far, the Agbarho-Otor art centre has become a friendship centre where artists meet to do their best for the sake of humanity. “It is a place where peace is generated. This helps also to develop the country and encourage creativity to thrive. We will grow someday into making it a residency”, Onobrakpeya further clarified. “The meaning of residency is that we keep artists there for about 6 months. People from all over the world will now come and stay for that period of time. We have to get to that level because it requires a lot of money to keep the artists and make the residency programme work very well. At least six artists from different parts of the world can be resident at the same time. But what we do is that the two weeks we are there we usually provide enough facilities to cater for participants”.
In his view “Moments like this have to be provided to discuss arts and enable artists to mingle freely. So the programme in all intents and purposes gives us great ideas for creativity. Arts is not only drawing, painting, sculpting, printmaking. You must also have ideas to help recreate the society and move it forward. These ideas have to propel our world. This can help people to redevelop themselves to face the world better. It is good, for art is ever evolving. Art is ever alive. There is usually something inside you you want to bring out in the open. So, the harmathan workshop is the best time to do so. That’s why each day, we retire to a hall where some of these themes are thrown open. It is not a case of arguing or not, it is a moment where we have cross fertilization of ideas.
Creativity does not have degree or limited to some people. For Onobrakpeya the printmaker, it is the time to bring out those inner convictions in a more sombre and relaxed and friendly environment. He explained: “art is from inspiration. We are there to allow that inspiration to come; to have enough room to berth. There are usually new revelations each time we go there. There are lots to gain”.
Concerning the sponsorship, he explained that the workshop was established first and foremost as an extension of his studios at Mushin, Lagos. “Whatever we have put in it owed its success to that. However, at a time Ford Foundation came in to help, to sponsor some of our programmes. After some five, six years, they changed their policy. They do not sponsor the workshop anymore. But the ordinary people in Nigeria have been putting in money here and there to ensure we are afloat. Sometimes someone will pay for the magazine we print every year. At another time, another person can pay for part of the programme. There have been people who gave us assistance in the area of materials for the workshop.
“Some years ago”, he continued, “someone, a very young man, gave us more than a million naira and others. At times too, when we have an exhibition like this one, money comes in. I have said it severally that whether we have enough money or not, we must have at least one session of the workshop every year. You see, we have the sessions twice yearly. The first is in February/March while the second is August/September. Depending on funds, we can extend those times to run into weeks. Or it can run to 6 weeks if the money is good for it. However, schools apply to us for cooperation, for collaboration. This also helps a lot. Then we come together to give the students two or three weeks training. In such a situation, we put our people together to go to Agbarho-Otor to teach them.
“It is not only for schools, we have done this for Shell Petroleum in the past. They brought people from the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria for that purpose. They brought together about 60 to 70 people and we gave them training. People from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State also brought people in the past to be taught art. Those are all special arrangements. They are not part of the regular workshop programmes. People had visited from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife and we put them through. We host and teach different groups like that when the occasion arises. So, in a way we are engaged in formal and informal education through the art, through the Agbarho-Otor harmathan workshop. We do not have syllabus as such, yet we teach things that can as well be taught in the universities. As professional artists who transfer knowledge to others, Ours is to instruct art without boundaries, without limitations. It is a legacy that will outlive me but the foundation will take care of it even when I am not there”.
He recollected moments when the government of James Ibori of Delta Sate came to the help of the centre.
“That was many years ago when we marked ten years of the creation of the state. That year we had our exhibition in Asaba, the state capital. But we try as much as possible not to allow the government interference to mar our programmes. But if we do it, it will water down the potency and goals of the centre.”
In his own contribution, Sam Ovraiti, acecolourist who is the leader of the workshop said, “the history began in 1998, when he decided to replicate what he learnt from other parts of the world. It has been 21 years of great achievements and over 1,000 artists have passed through the programme. It is a training centre that takes the informal way of teaching people, artists, art lovers, novices. The core aim is to train, retrain, experiment and have cross-session of ideas and come up with something that can be seen as art of today. The exhibition is to have works from as far back as 21 years ago. But it is not the first time the harmathan works will be exhibited. They have been exhibited in different parts of the world at other moments”, Ovraiti noted.
Essentially, the works are to mark a new relationship with the Alexis galleries that have been doing a lot for the art, “We have had a few outside Nigeria. We had one in Senegal a few years ago. Yet, this one is the first time we are collaborating with a gallery in Nigeria. So, it is historic, it is unique. We have over 30 works by different artists spanning over 21 years”. The exhibition brings together a collection of powerful, creative, and masterfully-executed artworks that have been grouped to inspire, provoke, and educate audiences. For the viewer, the exhibition will be an all-round representation of cultural genius. For viewers external to the culture, it is an awakening to the unknown and uncelebrated contributions of these artists to history. Featuring works by Bruce Onabrakpeya, Tola Wewe, Sam Ovraiti, Moses Unikwah, Aderinsoye Aladegbongbe, Ajibo Chukwu, Andrew Onobrakpeya, Azeez Alawode, Barrett Akpokabayen, Bisi Ajayi, Bode Olaniran, Dele Oluseye, Ejiofor Ogochukwu, Gab Awusa, Godson Etokapan, Halimat Hamzat, Idio Emiefiele, Joy Philip, Lasisi Dare, LCA, Marcellina Akpojofor, Mukaila Ayoade, Odiri Orhorhoro, Yves Midahuen, Ofoye Idowu, Ojo Olaniyi, Oluwole Orowole, Rasaki Adeniyi, Salubi Onakufe, Shakiru Badmus, Sola Adeleye, Ufuoma Onobrakpeya and Yinka Oguneye. Alexis Galleries in nine years has engaged in the presentation and dissemination of contemporary and modern art in the media of painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture, which is the reason they are showing these works created from the Harmattan Workshop at Agbarha-Otor, Delta State.
The Harmattan workshop is the flagship programme of the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, a registered non-governmental organization. it is set up with the primary goal of promoting the visual arts with an emphasis on research and experimentation. Artists have therefore taken advantage of the opportunity to develop themselves through exposure to new techniques and interaction with one another. The workshop has also succeeded in bringing together people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, academic standing and practical experiences to share ideas. The ultimate benefit has been that it has not only helped prevent artists from becoming stagnant but has also helped them to continue to produce works that are relevant to society. In addition, the workshops’ location in a rural community has significantly increased the level of art appreciation, leading to an increased sense of self-worth amongst participants
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