The exhibition depicted the deep understanding of different media of the visual art by the children. With the theme of the art competition anchored on child labour, children from over 30 schools in Lagos did justice to the issue as was organised by the National Gallery of Art on Children’s Day. Edozie Udeze reports
A very year, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) selects an appropriate theme and turn it into an idea for the children to paint. It is a concept that has come to be part of the national identity of the NGA in trying to promote the visual art. The central idea, first and foremost, is to encourage children to express themselves freely through painting, graphics, textile and sculpture. It is clearly to show them that beyond drawing for pleasure, painting is equally a worthy profession that has abundance of economic potentialities in it.
The crux of the matter is to direct the attention of children to those issues that concern them primarily as they grow up. Entitled Children Art Hunt, this year’s theme centred on child labour. They were guided on the theme ‘Say No To Child Labour’, not only by the organisers of the painting competition but also by their Art teachers to enable them limit their works within the concept. “It is for us to create the necessary awareness about the dangers of this injustice against our children,” was how Ekene Okoroma, head of the Lagos office of NGA put the issue before the children as they celebrated this year’s children’s day.
With over 30 schools in attendance, it was obvious that they have indeed begun to show enough enthusiasm for the art. “From what we have on display here today”, Okoroma continued, “we can see that these children have produced yet another set of masterpieces in different media to express their feelings on the issue of child labour.”
What it showed, according to Okoroma, is that art can always be used to advocate the right of children in not only child labour, but in other areas that concern them. “Our kids have to be taught on time to be aware of their right to be the best they can in life.” Most of the thoughts were chronicled in some of the creative pieces produced by the array of children that actively participated in the competition.
From the works on display, it was clear that the kids understood the basic concept of the idea. They could show that child labour impedes and hampers progress. It inadvertently diminishes good thinking. On the whole, it is a habit that contradicts the principles of equity and good conscience. This was why the Director-General of the NGA, Abdullahi Muku, charged parents and guardians and teachers to show enough concern now more than ever before to prepare the kids for the future. “Our children desire and deserve good life,” Muku asserted. “Therefore, let us give it to them by encouraging and supporting them to live their dreams as against enslaving them to abandon their dreams. We need to wholeheartedly prepare them to give our nation a robust and flourishing tomorrow.”
It was heartwarming to see the rich repertoire of art expressed mostly in textile and sculpture, two most difficult forms in the visual art. The proper usage of forms, the introduction of massive impressions, indeed, contradict the norm that art is only rich when applied with maturity and experience. The children were allowed to choose any media of their choice. And for a 10 year old boy, for instance, to juxtapose all the elements of child labour into a piece of woodwork demonstrated clearly that art has no age barrier. Chidiebere Ogbodo of the Redeemer’s International School, Lagos, who is just 10 years old was able to stun and shock the audience with his sculpture apparently mounted on a platform. It showed a child displaying his wares for patronage.
The boy said he did it because he usually sees them while on his way to and from school every day. “I was touched by the sort of life many of them live on the streets,” he said. He particularly mentioned a boy of his own age whom he sees on the same spot on Apapa Road, Constain, Lagos, every morning. “It was the picture of the boy that came into me when I was painting.”
For Uzoamaka Okoro of the Vivian Fowler Memorial School for Girls, Ikeja, Lagos, who emerged the overall winner, painting is a hobby she has come to develop because “my art teacher encourages me a lot.” At 14, her mind is already set to be an Architectural Engineer. ‘I have so many options but I prefer to be an Architectural Engineer,” Okoro said.
In an interview, she described how she became involved in the talent hunt competition. ‘I painted child labour, dwelling more on how children and house-helps carry loads or goods on their heads and hawk on the streets. It took me one week to finish it. But before I commenced, I took time to think the issue over in my mind.”
When the theme was given to the children, many of them decided to draw inspiration from what they see every day. “Yes, I chose my own idea from what I see in Lagos every day. I gathered the pieces from here and there and then made up my mind what to paint,” Okoro said. True enough, her work won simply because she brought different aspects of the theme to bear in her painting.
Having painted, say no, very boldly on top of her work, Okoro proceeded to infuse other aspects into the work. The first three set of children were carrying loads of fruits on their heads. They appeared sad but determined to convince people to buy. On the left side is a young girl with a baby in her left arm. On her head is a tray of fruits which she was prepared to sell before the end of the day.
To cap it all, on the bottom side of the painting is a boy hawking in a busy motor park. He is also determined to be a part of the life at the park to be able to convince people to patronise him. Most pathetic is sad-looking boy of about seven years placed on the right side of the painting. The boy’s load appears to be the heaviest. Covering part of his face with a fez cap, he heads towards a crowded area of the streets to begin the day’s labour.
On the whole, Okoro’s painting captured and exposed the whole gamut of the sufferings children face on a daily basis in Nigeria. It is the colour combination and the bold message itself that distinguished the work from the rest. Even the drama brought on stage by New Stage Baptist School, Lagos, also hammered on the issue of child labour. The dramatists were able to interpret the message very well, in which a house girl was raped on the street of Lagos. The scene indeed evoked sympathy from fellow students who hissed all through to show their disdain against the abuse.
The climax, however, came when pupils of Dee Jewels School, Lagos, who, adorned in the black and white, danced to series of musical sounds provided by the Dee Jay. It was a good choreographic display done very smartly to show kids who have mastered the art of dance. Their level of professional dexterity stunned the audience that Okoroma explained that the idea was to allow them express themselves in all aspects of the art. This was why Sola Oyelabi of the Yaba College of Technology Secondary School, Lagos, who rendered a poem entitled Mama, dwelt on the need for mothers to hold strongly to their kids. Last year, Oyelabi, 11, won the first prize in painting, a feat she also repeated this year. For her poetry, is a form to tell your story, to let the world know the place of mothers in the homes. “Let today be a day to encourage children to be who they want to be. Let our Mamas always be there to show us the way,” she sang as her voice rang deep into the hall.
Different categories of prizes were given to the winners. The prizes were donated by some prominent art foundations in Nigeria. They include Ben Enwonwu, Kolade Osinowo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Nike Art Gallery, Ovie Brume and Abayomi Barber. All of them instituted prizes in their own areas of the art and each winner was equally awarded a prize accordingly. The overall winner usually has a place in the NGA art gallery as a demonstration of his/her proficiency in this regard. This is so because talent hunt has been able to expose a lot of kid artists ever since it started a few years ago. “And we will continue to do our level best to discover more new talents,” Okoroma promised.
