Tag: Onobrakpeya

For some time, Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya’s House 41, Oloje Street, Papa Ajao Mushin, Lagos, has become a Mecca of a sort. Daily, local and foreign tourists, researchers and art enthusiasts, including diplomats throng his home and studio to discover and appreciate the rich collection of modern Nigerian art being produced by one of Nigeria’s living art legends.
Despite the bad roads in the neighbourhood, human traffic to the studio is on the increase. Last Saturday, a delegation from the Nigerian Field Society led by Edouardo Blondeau was at the studio on excursion. The tour, which lasted about three hours, took the society members round the studio as well as the Ovuomaroro Studio Annex at House 15 Oloje Street, Mushin, where works by some of the studio assistants and disciples were displayed.
Onobrakpeya, who was assisted by his son, Mudiare, conducted the team round the facilities, explaining some the works to the guests. At House 15, a documentary video of Onobrakpeya was shown to the visitors to provide background information on the artist and his works.
Leader of the delegation, Blonde, a French national, described the visit as a very rich one promising that the society would keep in touch. He added that the visit was a great moment for exchange of ideas between the members and the legendary artist. Blondeau recalled that the society had visited the renowned artist in the past to share knowledge and learn from his wealth of experience in the art.
“We came here to see the studio where those masterpieces originate from. It is a small place but expands in time and space considering the creativity of Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya. I was captivated by the works around the studio, which provide inspiration. It looks like a comfortable space though crowded,” he said.
On the themes of the works, Blondeau said: “It is all about African heritage which is the underlying message in most of the works in order to preserve them and people can be proud of it. As one of the living legends in the art, we find him very resourceful to share his wealth of experience with members of the society. He is charming and humble to be with. In fact, we have had relationship with him in the past.”
Onobrakpeya said the visits offer the tourists many opportunities to know the environment, collect artworks, savour the aesthetics of the collection on display and the philosophy behind the works.
“Interestingly, they are not deterred by the state of the roads and the environment generally. They will always come,” he said.

Hogan Lovells, a global law firm, and the Lagos Court of Arbitration have celebrated one of Africa’s most-respected artists, Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya. They hosted a group exhibition titled: Onobrakpeya and the Harmattan Workshop at the Lagos Court of Arbitration, Lekki. The exhibition featured over 300 artworks created at the yearly Harmattan workshop organised by Onobrakpeya at Agbarha-Otor in Delta State. Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports. 

IT started 23 days ago and it will hold for four months. The first three floors of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) building in Lekki will host no fewer than 300 artworks by Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya and 124 Nigerian and international artists who participated in the yearly Harmattan workshop which began in 1998. The event,which started on September 16, will end on December 16.

The exhibition, titled: Onobrakpeya and The Harmattan Workshop, is the first to be hosted by the LCA. It is also the first time a global law firm is partnering a Nigerian court to promote contemporary indigenous art. Aside the size of the collections, the exhibition is being sponsored by two notable corporate bodies committed to the promotion of intellectualism and cultural values in Africa.

The Onobrakpeya workshop was conceived in 1988, when the famous artist began an informal training for his colleagues.

A giant metal sculpture Forest of keys stands close to the entrance of the LCA building, literarily welcoming guests. Also on the ground for visitors to savour are artworks in The road to Agbarha-Otor series. The works by 124 artists capture the various scenes, emotional and physical landscapes of the serene Agbarha-Otor community in diverse media, ranging from painting to sculpture, print and mixed.

At close range, The road to Agbarha-Otor gives viewers the panoramic view of the vegetation of the Niger Delta community, its flat landscape, thick mangrove and rain forest and the human activities that include farming and fishing. But the styles of presentation of the works vary from one artist to another: stylised, realistic, impressionistic, expressionistic and abstract, among others.

A walk to the other three floors gives the visitor a holistic view of the collection, including works by Onobrakpeya on the first floor; Our Culture Our Wealth, which shows sculptures and video screening of objects on the second floor as well as Friendship & connectivity/experimentation and self discovery on the third floor.

At the preview recently were the Hogan Lovells Africa team, including their Head of Africa office, Andrew Skipper; the President of the Lagos Court of Arbitration, Yemi Candide-Johnson; Onobrakpeya and the curator of the exhibition, Sandra Obiago.

On the firm’s interest in Nigerian art, Skipper who is also a director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, said: “Hogan Lovells has great respect for Africa and the art of Africa. We support African culture for its uniqueness, beauty, and transformational quality. Professor Bruce is an inspiring artist and teacher whose works we are in awe of, and who is changing the lives of the disempowered people across Nigeria who he trains.”

He noted that Nigeria is one of the key markets the global law firm operates in, and that when you understand the culture of people it is easier to do business with them.

Skipper reiterated Hogan Lovells’ commitment to investing in Nigeria despite the economic challenges. “Hogan Lovells has a global view. We look at things in the long term and we know that Africa will be strong, so it is critical for us to be here. Nigeria is a country where you simply cannot Not be in, and we are here for the long term,” he reassured.

Lagos Court of Arbitration President Yemi Candide-Johnson expressed the court’s willingness to continue supporting art and culture in Nigeria, noting that the court had opened its doors to art lovers to showcase art works, and challenging other corporate bodies to do same.

Commending Hogan Lovells’sponsorship of the initiative, he said: “Sponsorships like this shouldn’t be a one-time initiative. It is important to find sponsors who are in it for the long term and Hogan Lovells is filling a huge vacuum in this regard by lending their support to this initiative.”

Candide-Johnson said works of art were a product of rigorous intellectual reasoning, which helps a people identify their root, project the future and showcase their cultural diversity. He said LCA would encourage and invest in any intellectual endeavour capable of promoting sound minds and intellectual advancement, a category works of art falls into.

He said LCA staged the exhibition to show the world that Africa has a rich culture and is blessed with many great intellectuals that are able to project what Africa stands for through world-class works of art.

On the link between arts and arbitration, Candide-Johnson said both involve deep thinking and systematic building of variables to arrive at end results that promote harmony in the society. 

Onobrakpeya described the Harmattan workshop as an alternative source of art education, saying that the artists have the freedom to express themselves without being bogged down by academic settings or expectations, and are actually able to develop themselves. “People in the rural areas also get access to learning that they would not normally have, and we are discovering people who are able to use their art to tell stories,” he said.

The three-month exhibition is the fourth outing by the workshop. To Onobrakpeya, this year’s show is of very high standard, adding that there were some works that are not exhibited as a result of logistics. “Time to prepare for the exhibition was relatively short. So, we couldn’t present all the works. I look forward to more of this quality show and our corporate bodies should take the initiative in joining in the promotion of Nigerian art,’’ he said

Curator of the exhibition Mrs Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago said instead of complaining of space constraints, she decided to look outside the box to present art in multipurpose buildings in Lagos, such as LCA building. She noted that such window of opportunity is what the Wheat Baker Hotel and Radisson Blue Hotel in Lagos are offering the art.

She however recalled the challenges she went through to hold he exhibition, saying it took her almost two years of seeking sponsorship and ideal venues. “For two years, I have been looking for sponsors and ideal venues. Hogan Lovells is an example of a great sponsor of African culture. We started the dialogue about this partnership last year. In fact, I need to show art to a new community that is leading in the nation’s economy in the area of law. Interestingly, some of the works on display have not been shown anywhere,” she said.

Obiago described the curating of the exhibition as a tough assignment, especially the selection of works that made the final collection on display.

She disclosed that the exhibition is one of the most complex shows considering the works and size of collection, funding and supporting as well as finding ideal venues.

The preview session also featured several discussions on the potential importance of art to the economy as an alternative source of income, as well as the need for more corporate entities to invest in art and culture by supporting informal education centres and developing art in Nigeria.

To ensure that the threevmonths are effectively maximised in luring larger and diverse audience to the exhibition, four tour guides are on ground to take viewers round the exhibition. This, she said, was expected to lure other corporate bodies to follow suit in opening up to art shows.

One month after the opening of his solo art exhibition, The Best of Bruce, Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya was a guest artist at Temple Muse on Victoria Island, Lagos, penultimate Saturday. He  reflected on the symbolic changes he experienced while growing up.  These stories of change he translated into visual art forms, such as the Abananya series, as part of the exhibition, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

The gathering was a moderate size of collectors, artists and enthusiasts. The stories of change by the legendary artist, Prof Onobrakpeya, which are depicted in Aba na nya series, a metaphor for change, were unique. The guest artist,  in a white native attire and a black cap, arrived at  the venue few minutes before the start of the event. As he took his seat in front of the audience, he was welcomed with a 15-minute documentary, Red Hot: Nigerian creativity, showing some footages of his workshop and studio sessions as well as talks on production processes of art work, inspiration and art as investment, among other issues.

Onobrakpeya’s stories of change range from political issues to governance, economy and social life of Nigeria since the pre-colonial days. In particular, Aba na nya narrative is a collection of stories, which reflect on changes, small or big, that have enriched or impoverished our lives as the nation moves from traditional to modern time.

Last December, Onobrakpeya who is one of Nigeria’s greatest experimental artists, presented a magnificent body of works at the Temple Muse Christmas Art Salon, which includes metal foils, prints, plastocasts and his new Abananya series on canvas. Onobrakpeya has received many local and international awards, including a Honorable Mention at the Venice Biennale, and a Living Human Treasure Award in 2006 from UNESCO. He is one of Nigeria’s famous pioneer Zaria Rebels, an art movement he started together with the late Prof. Uche Okeke, Yusuf Grillo, Demas Nwoko and other students at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in the 1950s.  Since his student days, Onobrakpeya and his group have revolutionised our art by drawing attention to our old and timeless African values while appreciating global best-practices and universal human values.

Despite being in his 80’s, Onobrakpeya continues to amaze his audience with   innovations and experiments;  his new Abananya works, which symbolise change in society, are a series of individual mask- like faces created from engravings and multi-media collages with pieces of cloth, which are photographed using a new xerograph technique. Onobrakpeya has created close to 50 such works with a vision to create a major installation of 100 faces, each representing a unique story of change. The exhibition curated by Sandra Mbanefo Obiago will run till January 30.

 

Visual interpretation of change

To illustrate some of the symbolic changes in Nigeria, the master artist recalled how Ogogoro (local gin) was a threat to many people’s lives, the GOWON (Go On With One Nigeria) slogan during the civil war, the impact of NYSC on Nigerian youth, and how an old literate teacher now illiterate of the information technology among others.

One of such stories set in the early 70s, according to Onobrakpeya, is Egosone the local gin (Ogogoro) drinker who on the whisper that policemen were around in the village dived under his bed to retrieve the bottle of Ogogoro. “The drink is also called Akpetechi, Push me I push you, Sapele water and Emereka. Egosone’s friend, Ovedje was not lucky.  In the raid, he was arrested for possessing a full tin of undiluted brew of the alcohol. At the station, the drink had to be tasted by many policemen to certify that it was truly illicit.

“In the process,  very little was left at the bottom of the tin that was presented in court as evidence against him. Notwithstanding, he was sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour. Ovedje, overjoyed at his release from prison six months later, was crushed when he learnt that Egosone had died under his bed while trying to hide away the exhibit that would have sent him to jail,” he recalled.

Onobrakpeya who stressed the importance of protecting our cultural through literature, art and symbolism also highlighted the efficacy of traditional medicine, which was unfortunately linked with superstition and fetish practices. He said all these attitudes are beginning to change as herbs and traditional method of healing are being investigated and put to use not only in special research units but also in government approved hospitals. “A case in point is the Aro Hospital in Abeokuta where Dr Adeoye Lambo employed traditional healers to remove psychological fears from the minds of bi-polar challenged patients before applying orthodox western medicine or even traditional herbs,” he said of the change in healthcare delivery system.

 

The making of Abananya

 

The pictures are facial masks which tell stories of change that have affected our collective lives. The stories invite us to tell our stories of the changes. They are composed of lines, textures and colours are engravings photographically combined with the montage off cuts from textile materials. The final image comes in form of a print on paper or canvas. And the process is called xerography. Abananyan is an Okpe word which became well known as an expression of disapproval of inferior new Ankara textile materials introduced into our markets. Abananya is a metaphor for change.The pictures are not graphic illustrations of the stories of change, rather each is a medium through which one rambles back in time. The dominant element in the pictures is mask, riddled with lines through which one can peep to see dark or varied colours of the past buried in our minds. Few of the masks express wonder or surprise; most of them are stoic in appearance, refusing to pronounce good or bad on the changes.

 

Favourite of the lots

 

“I don’t have any favourite story among the lots. They are all interesting and exciting to me. But the Gowon, NYSC, Federal Colleges, and the itinerant teacher stand out among them. The entire series is mirroring the many parts of the changes that have shaped the Nigerian society till date. On how art can effect change in society, when artist create work people see it and get the messages therein. Like Totem of Delta, artists use their works to sensitise the people and the environment for a conducive life.

 

Late Prof Uche Okeke’s

influence on my art

 

“The late Okeke practically influenced me into writing my ideas down. He was a great philosopher among us. He repositioned the Uli art for the world to appreciate. He taught me how to document my art. He was a master in that aspect. The academics, collectors and artists will miss him. His Asele Institute was one of the inspirations for the setting up of Harmattan Workshop. I pray someone will take over Asele Institute and develop it. Harmattan Workshop is a space where artists can come together and collaborate to learn techniques under an old master and exchange ideas. The works of the younger artists often inspire my own art. There is need to promote dying art forms such as pottery and blacksmithery, which the workshop always encourage.

 

Return of Mammy Water

 

“The Return of Mammy Water series will herald the ascension of Black race in the world in the future. Earlier at the start of the event, he requested for a minute silent in honour of his late friend, Prof Uche Okeke who died on January 5.”