The remains of the late independent Curator and Founder, Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos, (CCA) Olabisi Silva, will be buried on Thursday.
She was 57.
The art community will converge for a memorial lecture at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Yaba, tomorrow at 3pm.
Funeral service will hold at Trinity House, Water Corporation Road, Off Ligali Ayorinde Street, Victoria Island, at 10am.
This will be followed by a reception at Freedom Park, Broad Street, at 2pm.
FotoFactory.Lagos, an international photography workshop, which offers a teaching programme aimed at young Nigerian photographers interested in developing their skills and careers, opened on Monday at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), on McEwen Street, Sabo Yaba, Lagos.
On its third edition, the theme of this year’s workshop which runs until Friday, July 27, is Explore Your Vision. It will be facilitated by Austrian-born and Germany-based photographer Eva Maria Ocherbauer and the Nigerian photographic duo Uche James Iroha and RahimaGambo.
“The workshop covers conceptual project-based thinking through sequences of lectures and critiques. Students get trained on how to gain a conscious and intuitive understanding of the visual language of photography,” according to the organisers. It also focuses on “how to develop a personal signature, to foster ideas on contemporary visual practice and the process of editing towards the production of a consistent and compelling narrative…” In addition, one of its main goals is the production of a significant body of work to enter professional discourses.
The teaching involves portfolio reviews – focus on personal signatures and editing towards a coherent narrative; supervision of a project – focus on developing ideas and concepts; how and where to submit work; open discussions and critiques; one to one interviews; theoretical debates; history of African photography; lecture on contemporary photography; introducing the library at CCA; exploring magazines, photo books and photography based events online; visual grammar and workflows.
President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated his call on youths in Nigeria to seize opportunities in agriculture, a sector of the economy he said is already proving to be the bedrock of the nation’s new economy.
He spoke on Monday at Blair House, Washington DC after his White House engagements with President Donald Trump, at a meeting the Chief Executive Officers of six American agricultural companies and their Nigerian counterparts including Aliko Dangote and John Coumantaros.
He again lamented the challenges of the country’s youth bulge, with “sixty per cent of the population below 30 years.”
The President said the country must help the young people to plan their future and urged them to explore opportunities easily accessible in agriculture because, as he said, “agriculture is the future.”
While stressing that planning in Nigeria must take into consideration the factors of climate and a bulging youth population, President Buhari also promised the support of his administration in the promotion of skill development, innovation and entrepreneurship among the young population.
According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said “We realized, rather belatedly that we ought to have been investing in agriculture. We are now aiming at food security because of our large population. Our youths, the ones who have gone to school and even those that have not, should go to the farm, to earn respect for themselves. Agriculture is providing jobs for millions of our citizens and we are doing well towards the attainment of food security and jobs. The media may not appreciate the work we are doing but we will shock them by the success we are recording.”
He welcomed the several investment proposals being put in place by the Americans and their Nigerian counterparts.
Among those brought up for discussions were the three million tons fertilizer by Dangote, the largest in Africa coming on stream in July, to be followed by another one to produce 1.4 million tons of the commodity; a large-scale modern seed production company, and weed and pest management and chemicals products companies by the Americans.
Similarly, the Burger King food chain with plans to integrate local farmers in livestock production; the Heinz tomatoes production, with backward integration of Nigerian tomato farmers; and another company coming to set up a local branch to facilitate merchandising of commodities, in effect establishing a link between the Nigerian producers and the global market.
A tractor manufacturing company, John Deer, also unfolded a plan for an assembly plant to produce 10,000 tractors in four years in Nigeria. They will all come with jobs for Nigerians.
In a second business meeting same day, President Buhari brought together Nigerian businessmen and their American counterparts from the U.S Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Council on Africa, (CCA.)
The U.S Chamber, on behalf of its three million member-companies which included General Electric, Chevron, Proctor and Gamble and Boeing aircraft manufacturers, expressed happiness with improved security in the Niger Delta, reforms in the economy leading to ease in doing business, and the war the administration is waging against corruption.
Several of the oncoming plans were disclosed to the President who demanded concrete plans and an aggressive timetable for their actualization.
He envisaged that the investment schemes will lead to a lot of new opportunities for the Nigerian youth.
Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), a United States (U.S) business association focused on U.S.-Africa trade and investment, has appointed Ms Florizelle (Florie) Liser, the US Assistant Trade Representative for Africa, as its next President/CEO.
Ms. Liser was appointed by the CCA Board of Directors, following an international search. Her appointment will take effect from January 23, next year. She succeeds Stephen Hayes as the third helmsman of the body.
“We are thrilled that Florie Liser is the next President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa,” the Board Chair of CCA and President & CEO of Rabin Martin, Dr. Jeffrey L. Sturchio, said.
Sturchio said Liser has experience in U.S.-Africa trade and investment policy, deep knowledge of Africa and an unparalleled network of relationships with leaders across sub- Saharan Africa, including heads of state, ministers and other key stakeholders in the U.S. Government, multilateral organisations, the business community, and civil society.
“These strengths and her vision make Liser the perfect person to lead CCA into the future, building on the strong foundations laid by Hayes and the team,” he said
Liser brings her expertise and extensive network on trade and Africa to her new role, along with a strong track record of working with the private sector to translate policy into action. She will also be the first woman to lead the Council since its founding in 1993.
“Twenty-first century Africa presents enormous opportunities for businesses looking to take advantage of growing markets across the continent,” Ms. Liser said, adding: “In my new leadership role at CCA, I look forward to building on CCA’s great work to date, and I’m committed to working with U.S. and African businesses and other stakeholders to grow opportunities and strengthen commercial relationships across Africa.”
Ms. Liser will join CCA from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she has been Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa since 2003. In that role, she has led trade and investment policy towards 49 sub-Saharan African nations and oversaw implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Prior to this role, Liser served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access, and Telecommunications from 2000-2003. She has also served as Senior Trade Policy Advisor in the Office of International Transportation and Trade at the Department of Transportation from 1987-2000; worked as a Director in USTR’s Office of GATT Affairs, and also served as an Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Council (ODC) from 1975-1980.
CCA’s current President Stephen Hayes said, “I am honoured to be succeeded by such a person as Liser. It is difficult to imagine a more qualified person for this position, or one who has collaborated more closely with our three primary constituencies: the private sector, the U.S. Government and Africa itself.
“She understands the CCA and has enormous empathy for Africa. She now has the opportunity to lead the private sector to greater engagement with the continent and help open America to African investment in this country. Her success will be America’s success.”
Bisi Silva is an independent curator and founder/director of Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, which opened in December 2007. She is the co-curator of The Progress of Love, a transcontinental collaboration in the United States and Nigeria. Bisi has curated several exhibitions, including that of acclaimed artists ,such as Fela, Ghariokwu Lemi, Ndidi Dike and Lucy Azubuike. In 2006, Bisi was one of the curators for the Dakar Biennale in Senegal. She was co-curator for the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Greece, Praxis: Art in Times of Uncertainty, September 2009, and J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere:Moments of Beauty, Kiasma, Helsinki (April to Novermber 2011). In this interview with Evelyn Osagie, she speaks on the dynamism of Nigerian arts.
How has been the journey in the past five years?
The journey has been challenging but extreme fun. It has been learning and growing experience for me and all those who have journeyed with us.
Artists are known to be eccentric, what is your experience working with them all these years?
The notion that artists are eccentric is always interesting. I think they should be eccentric because that means they are not conforming to societal norms but creating their own. I think the privilege of being an artist – whether visual, comedian, performing etc is that you can extrapolate on our daily realities in creative ways. I liken them to a court jester, he is the only who can make fun of the king and in doing so tell the truth about the world in which we live in with some level of impunity. That is why in many dictatorial countries the first line of attack is on the artists and the intellectuals.
Most arts foundation are constantly cash strapped, still CCA has held several workshops and residencies, and, in most cases, weekly. How were you are able to achieve that?
We have a variety of strategies and we tap into our global network. For example at least half the talks we have hosted have been by people who are visiting Nigeria to do research so they already have their funding. Others that we invite can access funding from their countries. For example last month we had a Brazilian curator who came to Lagos Adriano Pedrosa, he contacted me to say that he has funding to visit 3-4 African countries to do research, meet artists and curators. That happens a lot because there is a very big interest in contemporary art in Nigeria. So without even inviting anyone very important curators are finding their way to Lagos. Within the global consciousness of visual art, in Africa Lagos is a must come to destination. For specific exhibitions and project we fundraise like any other organisation would do commercial or non-commercial. For the rest we find ways to do thing on small budget.
Has the Nigerian arts come of age?
It is coming of age.
Art critics say Nigerian arts and art sector holds huge potentials, yet most artists find it difficult to make ends meet. What do you think is the cause?
I would say one of the biggest reasons is the absence of a Museum of Contemporary Art. We have extremely talented and committed artists across the country but no befitting space for local artists to exhibit. Most of the spaces we have are converted houses not really built for visual arts. We need a Tate Modern. You can imagine that the UK and their response to contemporary art was not so far from us about 20 years ago. But with Young British Artists (YBA) like Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin and that generation, with aggressive collectors like Saatchi, with visionnaire museum directors like Nicholas Serota of Tate Modern have within a 10 year period or more made London an art capital rivalling New York and Paris.
Most artists complain of their works being under-valued compared to their counterparts overseas due to lack of appreciation of arts by many?
We still have a lot of work to do to professionalise the sector. Well curated exhibitions, articulate press coverage, a younger and more global collector base, impeccable exhibition catalogues and so on and so forth.
Do you think not making ‘art appreciation’ a subject in schools may be a major cause?
That is definitely part of it.
What can the government do in the development of arts?
Allocate it a commensurate budget, build a world class Museum of Contemporary Art, implement the National Endowment for the Arts to support all artists, make archiving and publishing a priority. They should also open up the parameters to more contemporary forms of artistic practice. But most importantly, they should stop making the Ministry of Culture a political post and put in a seasoned cultural administrator. The government has consistently showed its lack of interest or commitment to the cultural sector by putting lawyers, engineers and other non arts professional as the head. They kept taking us back to the dark ages because they are totally clueless about the power of culture and its potential role in national development and empowerment.
What inspired the founding of CCA in Lagos?
I think it was a critical gap in the visual art landscape. The sector was over commercialised with few spaces or platforms for discursive interaction. A sector that focused solely on producing work and selling it without any critical engagement would find it difficult to grow. The art sector needs several constituencies nourishing it – artists, curators, writers, historians, critics, galleries, dealers, agents as well as non commercial spaces. It is that non-commercial gap that CCA wanted to fill. We wanted to provide a space that allows artists to think, create work. We wanted to produce a space like a laboratory of sorts, that allowed artists to experiment, try out new possibilities, fail, start again, push the boundaries without having to worry about whether a collector would or would not buy the work. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to painting and sculpture but to explore the multitude of artistic strategics and production processes available to any artist in the 21st century.
Has CCA’s existence impacted on the development of the Nigerian art and the well-being artist?
I think CCA, Lagos has played its part by providing a space where artists and art lovers can engage critically with contemporary art. We have held over 27 exhibitions, over 60 artists and curators talks and lectures and over 10 local and international residency programmes. We have started and developed the largest independent visual art library in West Africa. Starting with only 500 books it has grown to nearly 5000 books, catalogues, journals, magazines, videos on art and by artists as well as hundreds of ephemera.
We have a dynamic programme in which our content is rich and diverse. Many artists working in less ‘sexy’ areas of painting and sculpture such as installation artists, sound artists, video artists, performance artists and photographers have collaborated with CCA. We have also partnered with several institutions including prestigious ones such as Tate Modern, Museum of contemporary Art, Helsinki where we organised the first comprehensive photography survey of J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere. Our current project The Progress of Love is a collaboration with two eminent US instititutions The Menil Collection, Houston and The Pullitzer Foundation for the Art,
In 2013 CCA,Lagos will be working with artists and organisations in Accra, and going with other institutions from Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and Mali to Art Dubai. We are deepening our West Africa Focus as well as partnering with the global South especially countries in South America.
You are curator and board member of several international arts festivals like that of Bamako’s, why has such not been replicated here?
Most of the international festivals are organised by the ministries of the respective countries or cities – Bamako, Dakar, Johannesburg, Cairo, etc etc.
Our statutory institutions have not risen to the challenge. Where they have it has been sporadic like Aresuva and Art Expo. Which then leaves it to individuals to do. CCA,Lagos is a small organisation. Our objective is not to do everything.
Goethe Institut also marked its 50 years existence in Nigeria. Where do you see CCA in future?
It is fantastic that the GI can mark 50 years of continuous cultural exchange between German and Nigeria. I wish our Ministry of Affairs would have a consistent programme of cultural activities as an integral part of its policy. Our Foregin Ministry should create an Institute with spaces in strategic countries that we do business with and use culture as a way of creating understanding between us and other countries. Many of these foreign institutions – Goethe, British Council, Alliance Francaise etc etc are all cultural arms of their countries’ Foreign Ministries. Imagine if there was the Nigerian Council and it promoted our languages Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba, held exhibitions and performances on Nigeria culture, taught lessons on Nigeria food and weaving and dyeing. Held talks on Ife Heads, Nok Terracotta, Benin Bronze, on Performance Art in Nigeria, on the pioneering Nigerian painters such as Aina Onabolu, Akinola Lasekan and Ben Enwonwu. Then the less salient information about our beloved country will likely subsidised.
We see CCA, Lagos celebrating 50 years in 45 years time. We see CCA, Lagos having a library of over 100,000 publications and being a centre of research for visual art on the continent as well as an institution with a dynamic curatorial practice that benefits artists and the public alike. It has been a learning and growing experience for me and all those who have journeyed with us.