Artmiabo International Arts Festival which took off on April 29 in Lagos came to an end on May 1. It was a rare moment to see both old and young artists showcasing brilliant art pieces that made the annual fiesta a show of all shows. Edozie Udeze reports.
Artmiabo international festival has come a long way. This year’s edition was dedicated to artconomy, emphasizing the urgent need to encourage artists to utilize the opportunity of their practice to make money. Miabo Enyadike, Nigerian artist based in South Africa is committed to the promotion of arts and culture in Nigeria and beyond. Every year, in the past five years or so she has consistently kept this dream alive. This year the beauty of the show which took place at Admiralty conference centre, the dockyard of the Nigerian Naval base at Victoria Island, Lagos, was a beehive of activities. The opening ceremony saw the convergence of who is who in the art and culture sector in Nigeria. Miabo used the opportunity to show class and welcome people with unbridled enthusiasm.
Beyond the classical opening of the show which saw the big names in the sector in attendance, Miabo brought her personal charisma to beautify the scene. Her classical touch to arts, her ever restless nature in ensuring that artists are given their due respect and honour in the order of things also came to the full. Excitement, inquisition and love for the art ruled the waves. So, it was an opening that opened people’s eyes to the beauty of arts, ranging from the smallest to the biggest names in the sector.
The likes of Nike Okundaye, world renowned artist, Adire expert and teacher of the arts, had their works on display. Nike is noted to have the largest and best equipped and stocked private art gallery in this part of the world. Her works at the festival spoke volumes about her quintessential poise and presentation as an artist of international reckoning. Give it to her. Nike’s works are usually exceptional wherever and whenever they are displayed. With the hall full of the signature of Yusuf Durodola, the expert curator of the exhibition Nike’s works complimented the arrangement in equal measure.
Nike Okundaye came with works titled Homecoming and rare of strength respectively. There were other mouthwatering works which she came with that added more beauty to the outing. For Nike to have identified with Miabo Enyadike shows how resilient Miabo has become in her resolve to promote artconomy which is the theme of her celebration this year. The festival allows visual experiments in Nigeria and beyond to prosper. It is to give artists the leeway to gain from their toil. So with the collaboration of Nike, these two great female artists have indeed come to make visual offerings the basis of artconomy.
Artists have to come out fully to join in this effort to make the sector blossom properly. Also, the works of Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, the father of contemporary African arts, a member of the notable Zaria rebels, a textile art master, was an added impetus to the Artmiabo festival. It shows that the masters have come to testify that Miabo is an illuminator, who makes the light shine on arts whenever she has the opportunity. Onobrakpeya whose private home at Mushin in Lagos is a shrine of all sorts of art pieces has also turned his house into a tourist center. His work was on a large canvas that almost dwarfed other works on the wall. His was a textile work that embodied all that there is in the annals of Nigeria
Onabrakpeya expresses his artistic feelings in a verbose form. Large canvases distinguish him from the crowd. He has equally come to see that Miabo’s efforts must be given a push by the masters. There was no doubt that his presence was an endorsement of what the festival has come to represent in the history of art celebrations and festivals in Nigeria.
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The large work of Dr. Adeola Balogun titled Multi-tasking (acrylic) which welcomed everyone to the venue was placed symbolically at the entrance. The work explained the very essence of the presence of some of the masters. Multitasking is a huge work symbolizing a typist in form of a company secretary. The secretary was busy on her typewriting machine, welcoming visitors to the event. Her presence was almost imposing. It is indeed a huge effort by Balogun, a lecturer in the department of Fine Arts, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. Balogun is a doctor of visual arts and one of those that has given a huge dimension to woodworks, sculpting, acrylic and more.
His consistent presence has always been felt at Artmiabo shows. Over the years he has come to ensure that his works and his approval of the festival is a huge contribution to the growth of visual representations in Nigeria. Miabo expressed her gratitude to those who chose to participate in the festival. “Having concentrated on artconomy this year, it is our hope that what we have done for three days will impact exceedingly and meaningfully on the fortunes of art in Nigeria”, she said. For her the inclusion of music which played soothingly and non-stop in the background was to show that all aspects of the art and culture complement one another.
Yet she said that turning waste to wealth which has been her starting point can never be erased in her professional practice. “I am an apostle of waste to wealth. Most of the artists here have equally turned waste to wealth. It is a huge sector full of untapped resourced. Based in South Africa, Miabo has brought more foreign artist to Nigeria in the last five years than any collective efforts have ever done. Some who could not come physically, keyed in online and or through zoom. The glow of the works coming in different styles, experiments, forms, expressions and so on were to show how artists have added value to what Miabo has chosen to do, to explore and promote the fortunes of art in Nigeria and beyond.
Yusuf Rilwan came with crusader, Victor Ogundeji presented terracotta (ori ire). So also, Olatunde Asun who came with polished terracotta. Lemi Ghariokwu, Fela’s label designer came with one of his latest offerings titled discography 2024. Incidentally it is also acrylic on canvas, a symbol of the uniqueness of what defined his works while he works for Fela Anikulapo Kuti for many years. His works was a big plus to the festival as guests stood to admire the special aura of discography, Vintage Ghariokwu.
They were works on fabric collage on canvas, works on digital presentation, works on pen on paper, works on acrylic on paper, works on ball on paper, works on landscapes, images and figures. Interestingly students from some higher institutions whose works have begun to represent plausible ideas were also in attendance. One of them was Anthonia Ogunsanya, a student of Yaba College of Technology whose miniature painting dominated attention. She was full of joy and excitement. She said in an interview that she was glad to be part of the show and looked forward to more participation in the future.
Durodola, the iconoclastic curator summed it up this way: “I had to make sure that the parameters were put in place to ensure that all the works here are accommodated. If you look at the size of the hall, intimidating in all respect, you won’t be able to do the curating very well. But that did not discourage or deter me. I added class to it all and today we have one of the best outings ever”.
The show ended on a bright note, signaling the fact that Miabo Enyadike is a great art impresario indeed. She has always come, seen and conquered. By the time the show ended every participating artists and her workers went home smiling and jollificating.
