Inside the premises of the National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos, are many art studios where visual artists practice their art and showcase some of their works. Most noticeable are the works of Monday Guobadia, a Benin man, whose art works transcend Nigeria’s regions and landscapes. A sculptor of note, he speaks to Edozie Udeze about his works and other travails of an artist
Monday Guobadia is a Benin man, thoroughly schooled in the basic concepts of the Edo art. Trained in the traditional way of sculpting, he has since moved to Lagos to practice his art. He does his art mainly by knocking woods together to produce his works. At the Artistes Village, Iganmu, Lagos, where he has his studio, Guobadia is almost like a lone ranger. Far removed from the noise of the city and the distractions of other artists, Guobadia finds it much easier to concentrate on his work everyday. It was on a Saturday afternoon, he was seen keenly patching up rough spots and edges on an elephant he had just completed.
The patch up was to prepare it for spraying and eventual painting to have the final result. He was glued closely to the carved elephant very carefully observing the areas to be patched in order to avoid mistakes. He looked up from time to time, surveying the image by going round it in a circle, not really missing anything. His many years of practicing this art has indeed prepared him for this level of dexterity. “I love the woods”, he intoned, as he looked up briefly to welcome this reporter. “As you can see here, I have two works. One is this elephant and the other one over there is the head of Idia – It is the FESTAC’77 mask. You know Queen Idia is from Benin”. There was an appreciable grin on his forehead. “After this elephant, I’ll complete that one”, he says with a sound note in his voice.
Then he suddenly took a brief break from his work, saying”, lets go inside. I want to show you round the studio”. A small place though, but piled up with an assortment of works ready for sale. Even though some were yet to be completed to attract the necessary attention, Guobadia was not in a hurry to complete them. “Art works come stage by stage. You do not just jump into it. The mood comes and you just grab it”, he says with authority. ‘I once had this studio in Ikoyi. That was when I first landed in Lagos. Unfortunately it did not stand a test of time. It was from there I moved to this place at Iganmu, within the premises of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), an appendage of the National Theatre”.
Guobadia, like most artists took time to develop the environment to suit his purpose. “When I came here it was a barren piece of land. I developed it myself with my money to get it to this stage. But you know what? When the former General Manager of the National Theatre brought his bulldozers, he destroyed my studio with millions of artworks inside it. Up till today, we have not heard from the minister who promised to compensate us”.
Still aggrieved and in pains – over the huge losses, he had since moved on by erecting a temporary studio from where he now operates within the same precinct. “We are still hoping to be compensated”, he surmises, moving from one work to the other. “I try to make do with the little space I have here. First, I do the carvings outside, then bring the finished works inside for safekeeping. These works as you can see now took me different periods of time to complete.
“Of course, I do a lot of casting, molding, sculpting and so on. That’s why I have a rich studio that houses all sorts of works. I usually resume by 8 in the morning and close by 6 or 7p.m. This way, I give myself enough time to do lots of works in a day”. He has a makeshift home within the premises where he sleeps most often. “At times I go home once every week to be with my family, otherwise I stay here mostly to avoid distractions, knowing Lagos traffic and tension”.
There is a replica of the Oba of Benin and his queen well-seated in his studio. The two wood works almost appeared real – something you can feel as if you are meeting the royal father face-to-face. “Oh, it is done with an expensive wood”, Guobadia declared. “It is a special wood meant to symbolize the subject-matter”.
Wood works
“This is not the type of wood that termites or weather conditions can wear out easily. I took time to get it to fit this work. You can see how it glitters, how it stands like a golden calf. This is the type of wood the government usually exports. I got it from a well-trusted customer in Ikorodu, Lagos. The symbol is the crown on the head. The regalia is the epitome of the Oba of Benin in his splendor. The beads on his neck are peculiar to him – to his office – and no other king or royal father has exactly those type of beads. Once he wears them, you can see the totality of his authority. So also is the queen, who equally has her own symbolic beads. This is why these two works came out elegantly. I did so on purpose in order to have rich works symbolic of Benin tradition. When the Benin king appears in public, he wears all these ornaments, mostly during the Igue festival, when the people want to see him in his splendor and radiance”.
There were other works representing other traditional symbols of the general public. “When I finish the work here, the colour will look like milk colour. The woods are natural and pure, that’s why they look as if they’ve been painted. “Even as it looks good now, it took me almost two months – two months of painstaking efforts to complete”.
To get this works ready for completion, Guobadia uses chisel and mallet to trim the woods. “You have to first of all get it to the proper shape, being careful not to distract the orientation of the wood to get your desired taste. This is the most difficult aspect of the job because it is with the chisel you get the wood from the rough edges to the smooth form”, he explained carefully, cuddling one of the works.
“Yes, there is a fibre glass work over there. It is a palace woman also in her own special pose and poise. It is not only always wood works you see here. This work is an abstract form. That’s why it looks as if the woman has only one hand. And you see the texture of fibre glass is quite different from that of wood. Then the ostrich over there is made of woods. The tiny wood on its neck is to define its features properly. This took me just two weeks to complete”, he explains with ease.
For those arrays of works in his studio to come to completion, Guobadia ensured that no moment of relapse was entertained. “I put in the best of my professional acumen to bring my works to fruition, otherwise, you won’t be able to consider me a thorough professional”, he states. Inside, he has all sorts of masks mainly with black background, cutting across Nigerian regions. There are also a collection of Ife traditional bronze works specially done on woods. Guobadia is vast; he is versatile, he thinks deep and produces works that catch the eye.
“I have done this for a long time. Self-taught, I began way back in primary school by knocking objects together. With time I perfected some of these things to come to this level. This one is called, from the posture, acrobatic woman. She is ready to do her sport, to summersault in her brazen form. This ones are two lovers, ostensibly in a romantic pose. You can also see a hippopotamus over there. I made it in a big form to bring out its elegant nature when it prowls in the seas and oceans”.
Other works adorn the rather crowded studio which shows how committed Guobadia is to his calling. “Over there is Ife head”, he informs”, shifting slightly towards the work. On the face of the work are the traditional tribal marks of a typical Yoruba lady of old. The head is indeed unmistakable and Guobadia feels it is part of ensuring that most of these legacies are not allowed to fade away. “We have to keep our traditions alive”, he enthused with a glimmer of hope on his face. Then there is the eyo masquerade, with the symbolic stick as if it was ready to strike. This is to show how relevant the eyo is down here in Lagos”, he says. “So, also there is a symbol of an artiste, a musician precisely, playing a saxophone.
He says: “that’s Fela; it is precisely the symbol of Fela as a great saxophonist. You can’t miss that anywhere. Close to it is a giraffe. But I also do relief. At a time the Oba of Ijora called me to do one for him. At times too, I do big projects for people”.
As an artist, he says he does not make his works very expensive”. People who come to patronize me know that I do not price my works high. There’s no money and people want to acquire works. So I encourage them, by ensuring reasonable prices. Mostly, white people come here to buy. But there was a time the Federal government banned our works from being exported. That also affected the fortunes of my artworks. The government is invariably killing the art because it is these white people who mostly have the money to purchase the art. So, let government rescind this decision so that we can live on our works”, he pleaded most passionately.
