The title of the exhibition is apt. It is the intersecting of worlds of climate change – the mangroves and art. It is ongoing at the West Tower, Victoria Island, Lagos. And it involves Oriiz Onuwaje, the curator, and Dr. John Ed DeBebs, the exhibiting artist. Among the supporters are the National Gallery of Art, National Council on Climate Change and others. Olu of Warri was the special guest of honour when the exhibition opened in Lagos last week. Edozie Udeze was there.
The need to preserve and conserve the ecosystem has always been the utmost concern of those who love to promote good environment. In the Niger Delta areas of Nigeria, the rate of pollution, environmental degradation and so on, has been going on for a long time. Niger Deltans have cried, screamed, begged and tried to reach out to those who feel with them to come to their aid. There are many ways however, to draw attention to these ugly situations in the Niger Delta. One of them is through the art, hence the mangroves art show.
Over the years, artists have used their brushes and canvasses to demonstrate their interest in ensuring that the ecosystem in the Niger Delta is preserved. In fact, as more literary offerings are emerging out of the Niger Delta experience so also do art works in all genres. This is what is clearly demonstrated in an ongoing art exhibition aptly titled the intersecting worlds of climate change, the mangroves and art. The art exhibition opened at West Tower, the Wings office complex, Victoria Island, Lagos last week. It will end on March 18 and it is being supported by the National Gallery of Art, National Council on Climate Change and others. The opening ceremony was also graced by his majesty, the Olu of Warri who came with his large entourage from the Delta. His presence ignited the arena during which almost all the guests present rose to show their respect to him.
While taking guests and journalists round the exhibition hall, the curator, Oriiz Onuwaje, a seasoned visual artists and also an Itshekiri from Delta State was excited about the exhibition. He demonstrated how the mangrove plants and their roots have helped over the years to sustain the ecosystem. The mangrove forests of the Niger Delta, in his own words, ranks as the third largest in the world. And the roots help to absorb excessive waters and further save the system from undue flooding and so on. This is why the mangroves have to be preserved, nurtured and be allowed to be for the sake of the ecosystem and the people who live in the areas.
The artworks came in two forms. Some are life photos taken by Onuwaje himself while majority of the paintings are done by the exhibiting artist called John Ed DeBebs. DeBebs is a first class master artist who taught at the Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State, for years before going into private practice. But after an unforgettable incident and an encounter with Christ, he went into pastoral work. So for over 25 years, he was missing in the art sector, only concentrating on his mission to win souls for Christ. However, this project brought him out into limelight because the Niger Deltans needed him once more to deploy and display his high class artistry in this regard.
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The paintings are clear and imposing. All aspects of the creeks, the depletion of the earth, the polluted waters, the conditions of the forests, the environmental conditions and so on are replicated on canvasses. Not only that the canvasses are giant in size, they display to the core the remotest concerns and aspects of the jungles. DeBebs did not spare sentiments. He is deep, he used water colours and in some instances acrylic to bring out the harrowing nature of the environment. The mangrove forests hang out there on precarious wings of nature. The roots spring out from the stems of the plants and going back straight into the soil. They display some of the greatest wonders of nature. The roots hang out with force of nature. As they grow back into the soil, they also fortify the strength of the plants. At the same time they absorb waters in large volumes. In all, the roots contribute immensely to the reduction of excessive water in the creeks and other suburbs.
So the works were done essentially to show the importance of the plants in the quest to keep the environment healthy. It amounts to stark wickedness for anyone to tamper with the shrubs, more so, the mangrove plants and forests. It is for this reason that all the works concentrated on this thereby showing the mangroves in different positions, locations, sizes and terrains. It is from the works, one can see how deep both Onuwaje and DeBebs went into the foyers of the creeks to produce these spectacular and amazing works that have given the world a deeper peep into the conditions in the ecosystem. Ditto the Niger Delta.
Onuwaje further explained, “this show is to further show the conditions of the ecosystem, the environmental degradation and so on in the Niger Delta. It shows how the mangroves thrive in such rugged environment. This is like the first time we are having one subject, one artist on the mangroves of the Niger Delta. Everything we have heard about the Niger Delta before now was about trouble – pipe line rupture, oil spill, environmental degradation and all that. All of that contribute to the beauty of Niger Delta, to the Niger Delta environment. We are not saying those issues do not exist. What we are saying is that even in that disaster that we live in there is beauty there” he said.
So the mangroves exhibition as good as it looked is to celebrate the Niger Delta environment in its epitome, in its totality. “You can then see and feel the beauty of the mangrove forests. They add a lot of beauty to what makes the creeks what they are. We need to bring all that to the knowledge of the world. The world need to pay attention to these and other issues that the Niger Delta people live with from time to time. We therefore need to protect them. We need to conserve the mangroves. We need also to regenerate the mangroves. This is one of the befitting ways to get the people who have ears to listen”.
In his own statement while touring the hall and showing his works, DeBebs noted that it took him extra efforts to paint the works. He pointed out that some of the pictures with which he did his paintings were provided by Onuwaje. In it all, some of the painted works appeared more remarkable and real than the pictures. DeBebs said: “I was out of touch with the visual art circle for years. For many years, I did not exhibit any works. I concentrated on my mission to win souls for Christ. An encounter I had about 25 years ago changed my perception about life totally. Some of the works here I did myself when I went to the creeks. The essence of all this is to project the importance of mangroves. They need to be cherished and preserved to save the ecosystem”, DeBebs said.
He went on: “It shows the water system. It shows how the plants survive in the rugged environment. The beauty of what happened to me is that until a man comes to know Jesus Christ, whatever he is doing is meaningless. Until that encounter with Christ in Lagos, I was not a Christian. Thereafter I realised that everything I had was a gift from God. Even the artistic gift I have is for His Glory. So, I had that divine call to serve God. He then sent me to Bayelsa to serve Him to the fullest. I left everything to serve Him. There in Bayelsa I stayed to work for God.”
In the meantime, he suspended his professional career of painting. “Yes, I suspended art. At that time I left painting to pay attention to my Maker. I planted a church there. But three years ago, I began to return back to the brushes to paint once more. It was then that my friend Oriiz came with the idea of this project. Eventually it coincided with the completion of my studios because I knew I would come back to painting. It is my God given talent”.
On display were over thirty of his works. But in them all DeBebs showed a mastery which is rare to find in the works of most painters in Nigeria. He is far ahead of others in terms of his mastery of form, images and landscapes. He comes in a way to show that truly that the unseen hands of the Almighty is heavy upon his works and how he delivers them. “The paintings are on the mangroves and the role they play in the ecosystem”, he said.
In his own statement, the Director General of National Gallery of Art, Bashir Sodangi made it clear that the essence of the show is to further help to preserve the vegetations that help the existence of the Niger Delta. He said “Let these images of winding roots, flowing waters and vibrant landscapes prompt you to reflect (of all of us) on our attitude to nature, the way we treat the environment”. He described it as the low tide is the mangrove breath, a moment of rest before the ocean’s return. With a deep reflection on the importance of the show, Sodanji commended the curator Oriiz Onuwaje and the artist, John Ed DeBebs for their efforts that have led to this wonderful outing. It is time therefore to celebrate the beauty of art and nature and a world that is intricately woven into many canvasses, photographs and the like. It is upon all these that the whole essence of art is celebrated and made known to the world. The National Gallery of Art is however the foremost custodians of contemporary art pieces in Nigeria. This is a mandate the Gallery has had to contend with time and time again.
