Contemporary Arts in Northern Nigeria*

CFP: Culture and Society in Post-Colonial Nigeria in honor of ULLI BEIER

2011-06-30T09:09:00.000+01:00

Still catching up

Institute of African Studies

CALL FOR PAPERS

Culture and Society in Post-Colonial Nigeria in honor of ULLI BEIER.

November 28 – 30, 2011

The conference is being organised in honour of Ulli Beier, not only to invoke his memorable role in the cultural production in Nigeria from the years immediately before and after the independence, but also to incite robust discussion on his entire oeuvre as a cultural interventionist. In literature, in performance and in Visual Arts, the long list of artists that Ulli Beier’s many fora (Black Opheus, Mbari, Mbari Mbayo) fostered is a proof of his sterling contribution to African culture.

Culture itself encapsulates the dialogic production of meaning and aesthetics through a variety of practices. It also captures discourses associated with a mix of public and private institutions such as cinemas, the media, museums and other sites of socio-historical production. Discourses around such issues expose the mindset of a people; they mirror where a nation is coming from and the direction in which it is moving. After fifty years of independence, Nigeria requires looking back to assess itself. The project of evolving a new Nigeria has placed emphasis on political and economic factors rather than developing cultural potential for sustainable development. This is a huge lacuna given the fact that culture plays a significant role in the life of a nation.

The conference is intended to stimulate new dimensions of assessing the predicament of pre-colonial Nigeria, privileging cultural history and production. More specifically, we anticipate an interrogation of the double-bind of fusion and rupture of politics and culture. In an attempt to answer many questions that emanate from this, we expect that the conference will generate theses from a wide range of perspectives such as economics, art and science, among others.

Sub-themes include but are not limited to the following:

* Culture Theory

* Culture, Gender and (Wo)Men’s rights

* Culture, Democracy and Governance

* Globalization, Mass Culture and the New Media

* Material Culture and Cultural Performance

* Culture and Ecology

* Traditional Medicine and Spirituality

* Conflict Prevention and Management

* Social Movements and Ethics

Keynote speakers:

Professor Akin Ogundiran, Chair, Africana Studies Department,University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC.: Topic: Crises of Culture and Consciousness in the Postcolony: What is the Future for Nigeria?

Professor Wole Ogundele, Director Centre for Black culture and International Understanding, Osogbo, Osun State.: Topic: He Lived among the Orisha: Ulli Beier and the Yoruba Cultural Revival.

Conference Venue: Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

An abstract of not more than 250 words is expected to reach the conference organizers through the following e-mail addresses:

Ohioma Pogoson tellohio[at]ahoo.com

Ayo Adeduntan grandeekay[at]ahoo.com

not later than August 15, 2011. Participants shall be notified of the acceptance of their abstracts by August 31, 2011.

CFA: Cambridge/Africa Collaborative Research Programme

2011-06-29T09:40:00.000+01:00

I should have published this earlier but I’m currently still catching up with things on the ground here in London, sorry …

Cambridge/Africa Collaborative Research Programme

With support from the Leverhulme Trust and the Issac Newton Trust, we now have a programme of academic and intellectual exchange that will establish longer-term partnerships between Cambridge and particular African universities. A group of five Africa-based scholars, chosen out of a competition organized around a particular theme, will come to Cambridge for six months of research. A Cambridge lecturer pursuing research on the yearly theme will coordinate the programme. At the conclusion of the Visiting Fellows' tenure in Cambridge, the lecturer involved in the previous year's activities will go to the African university with which we have partnered to convene a conference. The five African hVisiting Fellows will also attend. During the following year an edited volume would be produced, published on the Centre of African Studies' book series and co-published by a press run by the partner African university.

Africa-based scholars are invited to apply for the 2012-2013 fellowship programme, which will be centred on the theme of 'Art and Museums in Africa'.

An application package can be downloaded here.

Art and Museums in Africa

African art has long been globally famous but has also been controversial both intellectually and politically. Most obviously, the scramble for African art engaged in by western museums and art collectors has been condemned as an appropriation, as has the borrowing of forms and motifs derived from African arts by European modernist artists. Within disciplines such as art history and anthropology, there has been much argument about appropriate methods and concepts for the study of African art traditions. In the epoch of decolonization efforts were made to establish new museums in African states, relevant to local aspirations and new national cultures. Over the same period efforts have been made to revive customary art practices, and to create new craft industries, sometimes in the context of post-conflict and AIDS-prevention community projects. Over the last 50 years modernist and contemporary arts have also emerged and have gained increasing international recognition, while typically lacking secure financial or institutional support within African states.

This theme aims to support a wide range of interests in historical and contemporary arts in Africa and in changing practices in local and national museums and art institutions.

Visiting Fellows for 2010-2011

The five Visiting Fellows for the academic year 2010-2011 are:

Dr Tunde AWOSANMI of University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Dr Eiman EL-NOUR of Al-Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Sudan

Dr Oyeniyi OKUNOYE of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Dr Kenneth SIMALA of Masinde Muliro University, Kenya

Dr James TSAAIOR of Pan-African University, Lagos, Nigeria

These five scholars spent time in Cambridge, pursuing research on the theme 'Myth and Modernity in African Literature. In August 2011 the Centre in collaboration with the School of Media and Communication, Pan-African University, Lagos will convene a conference at the Pan-African University.

For information about the conference and the call for papers 'click' here

Research Horizons Conversations across continents.

Each year, academic dialogue is enriched at the Centre of African Studies by the arrival of a group of African scholars who spend up to six months researching and working together.

To read more click here

Africa Seminar: Reflections on the Arts of Northern Nigeria

2011-06-04T13:10:00.001+01:00

Shameless self-promotion, well, kinda … shameless promotion of the kinda stuff I’m interested in:

The Centre of African Studies, University of London

Africa Seminar

Dr David Heathcote: Reflections on the Arts of Northern Nigeria

Chaired by Dr Charles Gore (SOAS) and comments by: Katrin Schulze, PhD (SOAS)

Trained as an artist in Canterbury and subsequently at the Slade School of Art, David Heathcote taught in Southern Rhodesia from1960 onwards and then in Nigeria at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 1967-1979, before returning to the United Kingdom to practise and teach art. His most recent solo exhibition was in 2011 at the GV Art Gallery, Chiltern Street, London.

During his time in northern Nigeria he extensively researched Hausa arts and published articles on African art (among others). His seminal book, The Arts of the Hausa (1976), accompanied his Commonwealth Exhibition on the same theme

Followed by reception

Thurs 9 June 2011, 5pm-7pm

School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street/Russel Square, Brunei Gallery Room B101

VOXAFRICA STM interviews Bino and Fino creator Adamu Waziri

2011-05-18T11:14:00.001+01:00

A worthwhile distraction while I amend my thesis:

BBC4 Interview with Stuart Hall

2011-05-08T08:27:00.001+01:00

Via Africa Is A Country, , Stuart Hall on BBC 4’s Thinking Allowed

The Prime Minister recently criticised what he called 'state multiculturalism' and said it had failed, arguing that Britain needs a stronger national identity. Is it time to turn our backs on the multi-cultural idea? And what would a stronger national identity mean to people who feel at the cultural margins of our society? As the politicians debate, Laurie Taylor speaks to Britain's leading cultural theorist, Stuart Hall. They discuss culture, politics, race and nation in a special edition of Thinking Allowed.

Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Stuart Hall is a British cultural theorist, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of the Open University (UK) and former chair of INIVA whose work has been highly influential in media and cultural studies in the UK.

Paper Worlds Popular Imagery of Wissembourg

2011-05-07T18:05:00.003+01:00

To my best of knowledge, chromolithographs illustrating Muslim religious motifs were exported from Europe to the Arab world from about the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. In a new publication, an exhibition catalogue, that I still need to lay my hands on, Malou Schneider explores images of this kind produced by an Alsatian printing house based in Wissembourg/Weißenburg. The printing press was founded in 1835 by Jean Frédéric Wentzel. According to the Wissembourg Herald Tribune, the company maintained close trade relationships with Egypt in particular.

Outre cette actualité politique, les images traitèrent sans disctinction des sujets religieux aussi bien protestants, catholiques, juifs et même arabes comme ce retour du Tapis sacré à la Mecque grâce à Hassan Auvès, le correspondant de l’entreprise au Caire qui diffusa les images de Wissembourg en Egypte !

The below video documents provides a sneak preview of the exhibition which was shown at the Alsatian Museum between October 2010 and January 2011. If you pay close attention you can get a glimpse of the prototype for one of the motifs produced for Muslim markets. It depicts a Muslim man on horseback fighting demons. A chromolithograph depicting this very same motif and collected in Morocco can be found in the collection of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, 'The Faithful's Fight against Demons.’

(Video Source: CultureBox)

The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency in Action

2011-05-05T10:50:00.006+01:00

No comment.

(this video was published here by Next Magazine)

Oh, well, I can’t help it.

As somebody who derives visual pleasure from the accidental collages of different kinds of posters and graffiti (at their best, they do liven up otherwise drab urban spaces) I have mixed emotions about this. Yes, when I was in Nigeria, the part of me that grew up on moral tales about taking responsibility for your local environment grieved at the sight of Pure Water bags in the streets. This part of me appreciates the value of what these guys are doing. But, it also makes me sad, somewhat. The colourful collages of these posters in the background of photographs documenting the recent elections (and, sadly, the violence that followed) have become an integral and iconic part of my memories of (the reporting of) these events. – Imagine our ancestors had approached the graffiti at the walls of the caves of Lascaux with the same zeal for stainlessness! …

You got to admit they add colour, no? (source: 2SpaceNet, ultimately poss. Reuters)

Yes, I do acknowledge that this are not the caves of Lascaux and that this act of ‘iconoclasm,’ I am sure, is informed by an earnest concern with public hygiene (which is why I put the ‘…’ around ‘iconoclasm’). But, that doesn’t mean that policies about the management of public spaces aren’t informed by ideologies that favour some forms of (public) expression above others and that these distinctions do not reflect broader discourses about (cultural) citizenship. I believe they do. One (wo)man’s act of vandalism is another one’s expression of a disadvantaged minority or a piece of street art. One (wo)man’s act of reconstructing a public space is another one’s act of erasing artefacts of local history or even an act of ‘iconoclasm,’ … and to this art historian the Lagos State authorities removal of election posters is also the destruction of a visual artefact of the 2011 elections and an exercise of control over a local visual culture which, to my mind, is always also a form of expression and reflection of relations and identities within a local culture.

Again, I do understand the criticism of some that election posters were pasted upon almost all available surfaces and, significantly, obscured vital signage. But, to my mind this is also evidence of an ingenious use of limited resources (here, space) and symptomatic of my experience of Nigeria: never subtle, always … well, as somebody ones put it: Nigeria is live in Technicolor. (image source: France 24)

For the record, I do not mean to criticise Lagos authorities for the removal of election posters in their state. This is not my call (even less so since I am currently still writing from London). Nevertheless, the mixed emotions with which I responded to the video got me thinking again about the contexts in which we label some objects as pieces of art and their destruction as acts of iconoclasm while we deny others this label and routinely discard and destroy them … and, yes, a reminder that at one point I will have to dig further into the use of terms such as ‘sanitation’ in policing local cultures, for the record: not only or even primarily in Nigeria.

But for now I leave it at this.

Good Morning Newspaper Procrastination

2011-05-04T11:02:00.004+01:00

No, despite living in London I haven’t watched the Royal Wedding. Instead I tried to combine pleasure and work by taking my laptop to the balcony to soak up the sun while typing away at my article. Or so the theory went. The truth is that not much work was done that weekend. Not for a lack of trying. Honestly. Each morning I got up with the intention to work hard. I started the day with a healthy diet of tea, muesli and the news. … And then the news got the better of me. And, here I am today wondering how to finish this article on deadline …

But, again, habit got the better of me and I started the day with the news. And, of course, I came across a number of articles I’d like to take time to reflect upon. But, let’s face it: That’s a luxury I don’t have with a deadline looming. Let’s be honest: An intellectual exercise it might be, but its also just another excuse to procrastinate and not face the peer reviewers. So, instead, of writing a nice and thought through blog entry, I have scraped together whatever self-discipline I have left and decided to just post an extract and a link.

ART OF THE MATTER: In the web of plagiarism

Next Magazine, By Mufu Onifade, April 30, 2011 10:27PMT

Last month, Abiodun Olaku, one of Nigeria’s most brilliant artists and seductive colourists, alarmed the world through his Facebook page. He posted a screaming protest on his wall: “People, see what I discovered... This is the criminal activity of a young artist called Fagorusi Segun, who’s been copying and doing only-God-knows-what with my paintings… He’ll be feeling the hot breath of my lawyers very soon!”

What came to mind immediately was to search for the accused on Facebook. Lo and behold! There lay one of the pictures showing Segun at work, unbelievably plagiarising one of Olaku’s popular Gray Tunes painting series. There were other paintings with an eclectic transfiguration – still from Olaku’s collection. The next question: who is Fagorusi Segun? He is a final year painting student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, but beyond his location or affinity, Olaku’s alarm was strong enough to attract mixed reactions from many Facebook subscribers. Virtually all of them without exception know Olaku, but Fagorusi seems wallowed in obscurity. The reactions are as diverse as they reflect the perceptions of Nigerian society.

Goldberg 2000 Bestiaire et Culture Populaire Musulmane et Juive au Maroc

2011-04-23T12:40:00.001+01:00

Sometimes you find gems in the most unexpected places – and a book that should be required background reading for anybody attempting to study the religious chromolithographs that were produced and consumed during parts of the 20th century by Muslims in the Levant, North Africa and West Africa in the library of the Natural History Museum.

I am indebted for this find to a hint from Mirjam Shatanawi of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam I received via the H-Net list for Islamic Art. The book she recommended is Bestiaire et Culture Populaire Musulmane et Juive au Maroc by Andre Goldberg, a sort of dictionary of the significances of different animals in Moroccan popular culture. And, yes, at first it doesn’t sound like anything relevant to the study of religious chromolithographs. But bear with us.

The chromolithograph depicting Sheikh Ahmad Tijani al-Hasani shows him accompanied by a gazelle while a falcon (eagle?) is cruising the sky above him. A lion rests next to Ali in the print that shows him surrounded by his sons Hassan and Husayn as well as to the feet of Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Hasani. Animals populate the Ark of Nuh/Noah. And, iconographically related prints in other collections include a snake and, more curiously, a peacock into the depiction of the primordial couple, animals in the court of the Solomon, a lion in the image showing the imprisoned Moroccan Sheikh Rahal al-Boudali (top row, to the right of Ibrahim/Abraham’s sacrifice) and the lions, snakes and scorpions in the illustrations of the tomb of Sheikh Ahmad al-Rifa’i.

So, clearly, anybody interested in the iconography of these religious images needs to consider the significances of these animals in the popular cultures that produced and consumed them. And that is where Goldberg’s book comes in. That, and the fact that it illustrates and discusses a selection of religious chromolithographs collected in Morocco some of which were produced in Casablanca and others imported from Cairo.

I have only started reading the book – being written in French it takes me double the time that an English or German language volume would – and I am happy finding illustrations of a number of chromolithographs. Another useful piece in the puzzle. I am also captivated by the multiple significances that these animals connote(d) in popular Moroccan culture. Of course, while some of these meanings may have been shared across the region in which the religious chromolithographs were produced, others will have been interpreted differently in the various local contexts including in Nigeria. Nevertheless, as I already said, it is another piece in the puzzle – and a push in another, hopefully fruitful direction of inquiry.

P.S. Did I mention that Goldberg also illustrates vehicle arts in Morocco, thus (on a comparative level) contributing to another strand of research I’d like to explore further …

Vanishing Art: Art Works Incorporating Religious Prints

2011-04-22T23:09:00.004+01:00

Not sure I understand what’s going on here but considering that I’ve spend the last few days re-immersing myself into my research into religious chromolithographs its fascinating: popular religious imagery re-emerging in … oh, well, that’s the bit I’m not sure I understand: “vanishing art.” And, its too late for me to try again, I’m too tired. All I wanted to do was share with you those rather curious images. Enjoy.

al-Buraq an-Nabi (The Buraq of the Prophet), 2010

Note sure I have seen many images closely resembling this one but then, the fact that al-Buraq seems to fly westward may be taken to suggest that this is another illustration originating from South Asia which is simply not my area of, err, ‘expertise’ (in so far my limited insight can be called ‘expertise’ at all). Anyway, it’s interesting: probably the only illustration of al-Buraq I have seen that depicts the animal with blond hair. Not sure this is of any further significance, though.

Founding the Fatimid Order Cairo, NY, August 20, 2010

If I’m not mistaken, the image in question depicts Zuljana or Dhuljanah or Dul Dul, the horse of Husayn ibn Ali. Once more I am handicapped by my lack of Arabic but I am sure I have seen similar images reproduced in poster format in collections of popular Muslim imagery including the volume by Centlivres & Centlivres-Demont and the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. The print in the collection of the Tropenmuseum was collected in India. According to the information provided by the museum (in Dutch), the background (the pyramids apart), actually depicts an idealised heavenly garden characterised by a stylistically Indian (Mughal?) building with minarets and a tomb (reference: Debris 2008: 510-12).

Now, why the title of the collage as well as the English-language caption at the bottom of the postcard suggest an Egyptian rather than Indian connection, I really don’t know. Maybe this particular postcard originated in Egypt, maybe its simply artistic freedom (the inclusion of the artist’s initials and surname in the caption would suggest the latter). Equally, I don’t quite understand (but, again, I haven’t quite managed to weave my head around the concept of “vanishing art” the artist, Peter Lamborn Wilson, refers to) why this motif would be considered (part of) a project called “vanishing art.” It seems to me that the production and consumption of similar images continues via Indian street traders and the internet. What really fascinates me about the particular piece used in this artwork, is that it appears to be a postcard. There is even what looks like a postal stamp in the upper left corner. – Seriously, somebody help me out: Is/Was this the only motif available in this format? If not, what other motifs are/were available? Where are/were they produced and predominantly consumed?

Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Arts Sale, 19 June 2011, Lot 58

2011-04-19T23:11:00.005+01:00

I tend not to comment on politics here, especially Nigerian politics. I follow them but I don’t think I do understand them well enough for any opinion worth your time. And, anyway, I probably use the very same sources that you do, thus having little to add. (Although in private I do have opinions, however uninformed, and feel for anybody who was injured or lost relatives in any of the outbreaks of violence. Allah ya kiyaye Najeriya. Allah a kawo sulhu. If I remember my Hausa correctly.) So, instead of commenting on yesterday’s events, I’ll offer something I know a little bit more about: another comment on the religious posters I collected in Kano and the international trajectories of this tradition of visual piety.

A few weeks ago I mentioned here that I had stumbled across the illustration of an Egyptian print depicting al-Buraq in the catalogue of a British auction house. I got in contact with them and they were really kind and helpful. Yesterday I had a brief telephone conversation with the owner. Today, I went to Bonham’s in London and had a chance to have a quick look at the whole set of prints. I worry a bit about the impression I made but, in my defence, I hadn’t slept well and had a stiff walk there after waiting half an hour for a bus that is supposed to come every 4-6 minutes. With my social inadequacies and student wardrobe I don’t come across as particularly professional at the best of times but today I actually failed: I really should have asked to sit down and spend a bit more time with these prints and looking a bit more closely. I am sure that would have been alright and much more professional than sitting here now and realising the details I should have paid more attention to. Anyway. What’s done is done. And, it’s been helpful nevertheless, first of all for the opportunity to see in the original and actually feel some of these prints I had been reading about. So, what else did I find out (apart from a lesson in how not to conduct your research)?

The set I looked at consists of ten chromolithographs that, according to the owner Ali Ahmed, were produced in Cairo in the 1920s. This coincides with the period during which according to one of the scholars who studied these prints, Peter Schienerl, this tradition of chromolithography took roots in Cairo. They illustrate Nuh/Noah’s Ark, Ibrahim/Abraham about to sacrifice his son Ishmael/Isaac, the court of King Solomon, al-Buraq, the Imam Ali ibn Talib accompanied by his sons Hassan and Husayn, and Khaled bin al-Walid. The chromolithographs are of two different sizes, 416x567mm and 250x330mm. The set of larger prints includes Nuh/Noah’s Ark, Ibrahim/Abraham’s sacrifice, al-Buraq, Ali with his sons, and Khaled bin al-Walid. The smaller prints illustrate Nuh/Noah’s Ark (2x), Ibrahim/Abraham’s sacrifice and al-Buraq. The printer’s marks are only visible on some of the larger prints and, according to Bonham’s (yes, I need to get back to my Arabic lessons), they identify their producer as Matba’at al-funun al-Jamilah. This appears to be the company, Fine Art Printers, to which Schienerl refered to as the major producer of what religious chromolithographs in Cairo between the 1920s and the mid 1970s. The smaller prints lack printer’s marks. I am not sure whether they are of the same age as the larger prints. Schienerl suggested that the smaller prints represented another generation of religious chromolithographs that emerged in the 1970s. But, who am I to question the assessment of the owner.

Personally, I was particularly surprised by the quality of the larger prints. Unlike the prints I collected in Kano, they displayed a larger variety of colours and shading was executed more delicately. The smaller chromolithographs, however, were characterised by a reliance on block colours and hatching similar to the Nigerian prints. I think this is particularly apparent if one compares the larger sized chromolithograph depicting Abraham attempting to sacrifice Ishmael/Isaac with the smaller sized one in the set and the print I collected in Nigeria in 2008 (sorry, Bonham reserves the copyright for its images so I can’t juxtapose them here, instead pls. make use of the links).

Again, some of the chromolithographs in the set displayed a close resemblance to the respective motif in the set of prints I collected in Kano. These include the illustrations of Nuh/Noah’s Ark, Ali and his sons, al-Buraq and Abraham’s sacrifice of Ishmael/Isaac.

Interestingly enough, the larger of three prints in the set illustrating Nuh/Noah’s Ark presents the motif on a plane sheet of paper without any decorative borders but includes inscriptions including of the shahada on the ship’s pennant. In this it resembles an illustration of the same motif by Kriss & Kriss Heinrich and collected in Cairo in the 1950s as well as the print I collected in Kano in 2008. The two smaller sized chromolithographs are distinguished by a decorative border including (and here it comes again, I need to take Arabic lessons again) what I guess are the respective verses from the Qur’an. They also present a mirror version of the motif depicted in the larger print in the set. No other inscriptions have been incorporated into the image. In all but the absence of the inscription in the pennant, the Nigerian print appears to follow the larger of the three chromolithographs.

Another interesting aspect that was raised during the conversation with the prints’ current owner Ali Ahmed: He explained that this kind of images was more closely associated with Shi’ism rather than practices of Sunni Islam. Interestingly enough, Elisabeth Puin and Schienerl indeed argued that this tradition of religious imagery may be traced back to Iran. However, these images appear to have been produced and found audiences among Muslim populations in an area stretching from Morocco to the west to Syria in the east, from the costs of the Mediterranean to the north to the Sahel belt to the south. If I am not mistaken, the areas on the African continent are predominantly, if not exclusively, Sunni. So the appeal of these images cannot be limited to Shia Islam. Maybe, Khenchelaoui provided a clue here when he discussed similar chromolithographs within the context of pious practices associated with Sufi Islam in Algeria, in particular the reverence of the Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. Or, maybe, Ahmed’s assessment reflected contemporary interpretations of Islam’s teaching about the arts and the use of religious imagery that have changed since the period during which these chromolithographs were produced in Egypt. I don’t know (yet) but these certainly are interesting questions to explore. No?

All references here. (Oh, the ease of inserting just one link, I should have posted my bibliography on a separate but associated page much earlier!)

Nka Roundtable III: “Contemporary African Art and the Museum”

2011-04-13T07:25:00.002+01:00

Chika Okeke convenes another virtual roundtable at the Nka blog.

Nka Roundtable III: “Contemporary African Art and the Museum”

Over the next several weeks curators and directors of major museums in the United States, Germany, Japan, South Africa and the UK will engage in spirited but substantial discussion on the relationship between contemporary African art and the museum. I expect excursions into the history of this relationship, its crucial moments, state of affairs, and challenges that remain. In the process, we shall debate issues of presenting this material in art and ethnology museums; the politics of acquisitions and display; museums and scholarship; and the place of contemporary African art–relative to the “traditional” and western contemporary. I suspect that there will be surprising turns in the course of our discussion, but I am certain that the deliberations of this diverse, unprecedented and distinguished panel of curators will surely be of immense value to students and scholars working or interested in this exciting, dynamic field. Please join us!

Convener: Chika Okeke-Agulu (Princeton University)

Participants: Marla Berns (Director, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles), Christa Clarke (Senior Curator, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ), Laurie Ann Farrell (Director of Exhibitions, Savannah College of Art & Design Gallery, Savannah, GA), Khwezi Gule (Chief Curator, Hector Pieterson Memorial, Johannesburg), Kinsey Katchka (independent scholar/curator), Yukiya Kawaguchi (Associate Professor/Curator, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka), Clive Kellner (Curator-at-Large, The Gordon Schachat Collection, Johannesburg), Karen Milbourne (Curator, Smithsonian National Museum for African Art, Washington DC), Raison Naidoo (Director Arts Collections, Iziko: South African National Gallery, Cape Town), Enid Schildkrout (Chief Curator/Director of Exhibitions, Museum for African Art, New York) Chris Spring (Curator, British Museum, London), Ulf Vierke (Director, Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth), Okwui Enwezor, Salah M. Hassan.

Surely, once again, worth following closely … Find it here.

CCA, Lagos: Art-iculate Lectures Series, Spring 2011

2011-04-12T08:28:00.002+01:00

In my inbox this morning …

Art-iculate Lectures Series, Spring 2011

In 2008, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos began the Art-iculate Lecture Series to increase dialogue, encourage debate and stimulate exchange in visual art and culture in Nigeria. By prioritising the provision of an independent discursive platform through our public programmes, we actively encourage the development of critical perspectives as well as engage with topical issues that affect our society specifically as well as the world at large. To much acclaim, Art-iculate has featured lectures and presentations by Slyvester Ogbechie (U.C, Santa Barbara), Didier Schaub (Doual'Art, Cameroon), Solange Farkas (Videobrasil, Sao Paulo), Yacouba Konate (University of Abidjan), Monna Mokoena (MOMO Gallery, Johannesburg), Shahidul Alam (Drik Agency, Dhaka) and Chika Okeke-Agulu (Princeton University), amongst others.

Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 4:00 p.m.

Venue: Terra Kulture, 1376 Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island

CURATOR TALK

Kristina Van Dyke

Kristina Van Dyke is Curator for Collections and Research at the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, where she co-manages the curatorial department and oversees the museum's archives, library, and exhibitions department. She received her M.A. from Williams College and her Ph.D. from Harvard University, writing her dissertation on the nature of representation in the oral cultures of Mali. Since arriving at the Menil in 2005, she has curated Insistent Objects: David Levinthal's Blackface, Chance Encounters: the Formation of the de Menils' African Collection, and Body in Fragments. In 2008, she reinstalled the African galleries and published African Art from the Menil Collection.

Kristina Van Dyke will provide an illustrated overview of The Menil Collection's history and discuss its unique curatorial philosophy. She is currently developing three research projects: a study of Malian antiquities and cultural heritage issues; an exhibition exploring skull imagery in sculpture from Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon; and an exhibition on the theme of love and Africa.

ARTIST TALK

Yinka Shonibare, MBE

Internationally acclaimed Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE will discuss his artistic trajectory over the past two decades, presenting key themes from his vast and diverse artistic practice.

Yinka Shonibare, MBE was born in London and moved to Lagos, Nigeria at the age of three. He returned to London to study Fine Art first at Byam Shaw College of Art (now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) and later at Goldsmiths College, where he received his MFA-graduating as part of the ‘Young British Artists' generation. Shonibare has become well known for his exploration of colonial and post-colonial themes. His work explores these issues through the media of painting, sculpture, photography and, more recently, film and performance. With this wide range of media, Shonibare examines in particular the construction of identity and the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe. Having described himself as a ‘post-colonial' hybrid, Shonibare questions the meaning of cultural and national definitions. In 2004 Shonibare was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and in 2009 he won a commission for the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square, for which he unveiled in 2010 a scale model of Nelson's ship HMS Victory in a bottle. He has exhibited at the Venice Biennial and internationally at leading museums worldwide.

This edition of Art-iculate is supported by Shonibare Studio, The Menil Collection and Terra Kulture.

Shonibare's visit is supported by The Menil Collection, Houston and is part of the preliminary research for work to be presented in the forthcoming exhibition Love and Africa (2012–13) taking place in Houston and Lagos in collaboration with CCA, Lagos.

For inquiries, please contact info@ccalagos.org, or visit www.ccalagos.org.

Naija Langwej Poetry Contest

2011-04-05T20:39:00.001+01:00

I don’t really understand much about poetry. I read (not as much as I used to) but not really poems. I enjoy rhythm and rhymes but in songs and recitations. So, I don’t really know much about what I am going to advertise right now. But, it sounds interesting. And, I have a soft spot for Pidgin.

Call for Submissions: Poems in Nigerian Pidgin

Arojah Concepts, an Abuja based edutainment outfit in collaboration with SOMETIN FO EVRIBODI has concluded plans to publish an Antoloji of Naija Puems (Poems in Nigerian Pidgin) and thereby wishes to invite interested Nigerians to send in their entries.

The anthology which will be released in the third quarter of the year is part of efforts by the organizers, in collaboration with the Naija Langwej Akademi and the Institute Francaise de Recherche en Afrique au Nigeria (IFRA Nigeria) to promote writings in Naija Langwej (aka Nigerian Pidgin) which is growing steadily across the country.

Send between 3 and 5 poems written in ‘Naija langwej’ (Pidgin English) to arojahconcepts@yahoo.com or edbabor@gmail.com.

Conditions:

* Submissions need to be original and have not been published before

* Submissions should not exceed 2 pages using MS Word format (Garamond, 14 point)

No topics have been specified and contributors are free to explore any theme and subject of their choice including the Nigerian and other cultures.

Ten poems will be selected from all the entries received and the poets will receive various categories of prizes in appreciation of their creativity.

Submissions need to be received before Friday 29th of April 2011.

Submissions to arojahconcepts@yahoo.com or edbabor@gmail.com. For further enquiries pls. contact 0803 453 0786 or 08080900813

Ulli Beier

2011-04-04T09:58:00.004+01:00

This weekend Ulli Beier died.

Reading through obituaries this morning and flicking through biographies I feel the loss not only of a pioneer of the art histories of non-Western cultures but a whole generation of intellectuals. Still, I wonder whether there still are those who like Ulli Beier who came to Nigeria in 1950 and deeply involved himself in the country’s then burgeoning creative scene, whether in this I could follow his example or whether I even should. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Mbari Artists and Writers Club in Ibadan and later the Mbari Mbayo in Osogbo as well as the magazine Black Orpheus. The Osogbo art workshops of 1964 (did I get that date right?) produced artists and artistic traditions that, again through his tireless promotion organising exhibitions, gained international reputation. And, as a German I have to mention his role in the foundation of the Iwalewa House at the University of Bayreuth that remains an important space for the promotion of non-Western arts in Germany (and for a moment almost tempted me to Bayreuth for my PhD). Maybe I am just idealising a past that, with hindsight, appears ripe with opportunities and creativity and overlooking its challenges and problems, especially when viewed through the current anxieties of my upcoming viva and applying for post-doctoral positions. Maybe. And, surely there are those I today admire for their work in Nigeria and across the continent. But, judging by the obituaries in Nigerian publications this was a man who – like is former wife Susanne Wenger who died two years ago - is still remembered for this contribution to contemporary Nigerian arts in the 1950s and 1960s and, judging by the obituaries (already here, here and here), is fondly remembered for his contribution beyond the small professional and academic world of contemporary Nigerian arts.

Respect. And, RIP.

P.S. Chika Okeke has published a lovely poem on his blog.

The Visual Culture of Nigerian Politics: Police Detain(ed) Cleric over Goodluck Jonathan's Campaign Poster

2011-03-26T07:51:00.002Z

Some while ago the Daily Trust reported that a prominent Sokoto-based scholar has been arrested on charges of defacing posters promoting the campaign of current president Goodluck Jonathan:

Police detain cleric over Jonathan’s posters

Daily Trust, Wednesday, 02 March 2011 00:00

Rakiya A. Muhammad, Sokoto & Misbahu Bashir, Abuja

Prominent Islamic scholar in Sokoto Sheikh Abubakar Jibril was arrested by the police on Monday afternoon and was flown to Abuja yesterday over what police sources said was the defacing of some campaign posters of President Goodluck Jonathan. The Sheikh, who is the Chief Imam of the Farfaru Juma’at Mosque in Sokoto, was arrested with his two sons, his driver and a domestic aide, according to relations and the police. Spokesman for the Sokoto police command ASP Al-Mustapha Sani said policemen on patrol arrested Sheikh Abubakar and the others while they were using black paint to deface the posters of the president and his deputy at some roundabouts in Sokoto metropolis at about 5pm on Monday.

Sani said they were arrested over inciting public disturbance and have been transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja.

In Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer DCP Olusola Amore confirmed that five people including Sheikh Abubakar were being held at the Force CID and that they were arrested for allegedly defacing the posters of the PDP presidential candidate and his running mate. He said they were also suspected of inciting dislike for Jonathan and of acts capable of fanning the flames of public disturbance.

[…]

But a civil society activist, Ibrahim Tudun Doki described the arrest as political intolerance by the Jonathan regime. Tudun Doki, who is a House of Representatives candidate of the Congress for Progress Change [CPC] recalled that General Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign billboard was destroyed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last week and that the police did not arrest or charge anyone to court for the action.

[…]

Read the full article here:

I am not in a position to comment on the accusations or the political ambitions that may or may not have informed the whole incident. And I have been hovering about how to express my kind of perspective in a way that fit this blog. Let me try.

I am fascinated by the idea that authorities in Sokoto would accord sufficient significance to the disfigurement of the current president’s campaign posters to take such drastic action. My interest in the relationship between (aspects of) visual culture and politics predates these news. Visually one of the defining impressions of my spring/summer 2007 visit to Nigeria was the prevalence of murals of politicians alongside the roads on which I travelled. Even in what appeared to me more remote areas of the country, there was the occasional house on which the portrait of a politician had been painted (as well as those ‘decorated’ by an advertisement for, if I remember correctly, Simba Motors). During a stroll through Zaria’s old town I stumbled across the abandoned signs portraying politicians. What an effort and what skill invested into visual communications considering that I had been previously warned to expect an impoverished visual culture. It also highlighted that there was a political culture that employed visual means of communication. And, that is rather interesting. It contradicted some of the statements I had read in the limited body of literature that spoke about visual culture in northern Nigeria.

There are prominent historians of Nigerian arts who argued that Islam had prevented the development of ‘meaningful’ (whatever that means) traditions of visual arts in the region or that, alternatively, it had only sustained abstract, aniconic artistic traditions. Instead, incidents like this one suggest that, in addition to a lively visual culture of politics, there is a substantial investment in these images. Why else the drastic reaction? This iconoclasm, if that is what you want to call it, is not religious but political. Not unlike the global Muslim reaction to the Danish cartoons cannot be understood in religious terms only. As Jytte Klaussen has demonstrated the political context in which these images were published significantly contributed to the escalation of the affair. This is not to say that northern Nigerian visual culture is not influenced by the presence of Islam and prominent interpretation of its sources with regard to the arts. For example, it would be interesting to know why President Goodluck Jonathan has chosen to promote his campaign using music videos – including a short song in Hausa [1] but Ibrahim Shekarau hasn’t.[2] The answer is probably complex but I wouldn’t be surprised if (in the widest sense) religiously inspired attitudes towards music videos and the dancing they depict had played a (possible small) role here. But to restrict the discussion of visual culture in northern Nigeria to the religious argument, would clearly mean to miss important dimensions. And, surely, this incident is another reminder of just that.

[1] I got no political investment here on any side but I was too happy to find I had not totally forgotten Hausa not to link to it.

[2] Or did I just not find it on Youtube, correct me if I'am wrong! Pls. I’d love to know.

Searching for references to the arts in colonial memoires: Noel Rowling (1982) Nigerian Memories.

2011-03-24T20:31:00.001Z

The memoires of colonial officers in Nigeria and their wives are weird reads. How to best describe why? Well, I guess this sentence almost at the very end of Noel Rowling’s (1982: 77) Nigerian memories summarises it:

‘People to whom colonialism is a dirty word never seem to understand that it was only because we believed in what we were doing that we were able to cope with miseries like that.’

It is hard to accept that they thought they did what was right – but then, I am German and thinking of the generation of my grandparents, the atrocities committed by Germans in WW2, who am I to judge? It is hard to read past the colloquial racism and the prejudices. Sometimes it is so bad it gets almost satirical. I don’t mean to pick on Mrs. Rowling in particular but she has a gift for expressing her sense of the superiority of English civilisation and, sometimes, self-importance in phrases that make me simultaneously squeal and laugh out loud. This is one of my favourites (p. 28-29):

I found the Bible a book I could translate into Hausa, as life in Africa 1935 was very similar to life in Palestine when Jesus was alive.

Surely, this comparison would have British colonial officers and their wives as members of the Roman occupying forces, no? But, you probably cannot expect anybody in the eve of their life to completely pick it apart and question the very foundations upon which it was built. Or can you? It nevertheless makes those memoires rather uncomfortable reads. But those memoires nevertheless, provide one or the other gem that goes via my research. An expression of admiration for the architecture of Kano here, a casual remark about Nigerian reckless drivers and their reliance on appeals to divine protection written across the backside of their lorries there. So, let me share some of them:

Architecture and wall decoration in Kano:

p.11

Kano City was a very old city, surrounded by a mud wall with carved entrance gates at the four points of the compass. Nearly all houses were built with sun-baked mud bricks and often colour washed. Those belonging to rich merchants and members of the royal house were usually big square buildings with ornamented walls and doors, and with flat roofs where the ladies of the harem would take the air in the evening.

p. 48

A new mosque was built while we were there, in the traditional style, and was beautifully ornamented. The colours, of all shades of brown and gold were very restful and the palm trees, mango trees, and citrus, grown haphazardly everywhere, gave plenty of shade.

[Does anybody know which mosque she maybe referring to? Is it the central mosque which was eventually replaced by the current building in the 1950s?]

Lorry Decoration

p. 44

... and so unsafe vehicles and dangerous cars were left speeding on the roads, a menace to passengers, other cars and pedestrians, with only a notice in large letters attached to the back of the vehicle saying ‘God help us’ to ensure, as they thought, that they would avoid disaster.

p. 54

African drivers are an amazing brotherhood. They nearly all drive too fast and never worry about the state of the roads. It is a common sight in the south to see a mammy wagon with the sign ‘God Help Us’ or,’ May the Lord keep us safe’ printed on the back of a lorry containing passengers.

Slightly Off-Topic: Africans in European Art

2011-03-23T09:47:00.007Z

Thanks to a recent blog entry by Afro-Europe, I learned about these two sites which are surely worth sharing even if they are not in any way related to my current research interests. But I guess, they are rather relevant within wider discussions about the relationship of Europe and European artists with Africa. And, guess what, that relationship long predates Picasso. No disrespect intended (if there ever was a good commentary of on the horrors of 20th century warfare, its Guernica!). But there have been Ethiopians who adapted and transformed Byzantine Christian art. There were the so-called Afro-Portuguese ivories probably one of the world’s earliest examples of tourist art. There the influences of Christian missionaries on 15th century Congolese arts. And, of course, European artists have depicted Africans long before ideas about racial hierarchies and the slave trade affected their vision.

Panels at the Filarete Door at St. Peter’s Cathedral. According to Lowe (2006), they respectively depict Pope Eugenius IV Consigning the Decree of Union to Abbot Anthony, the Head of the Coptic Delegation at the Council of Florence and …

… The Departure of the Coptic and Ethiopian Delegates from the Council of Florence. Both were completed in 1445. (Image Source)

Bust of the Congolese Ambassador to the Vatican at the Basilica Sainte Marie-Majeure

Water Colour by Bernandinio Ignacio, a capuchin monk, 1740 (Image Source)

So, here are two websites and some publications I’d like to quickly recommend:

* The Image of the Black in Western Art is a series of publications resulting form a research project originally started by Dominique de Menil in the 1960s.

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume I: From the Pharaohs to the Fall of the Roman Empire (November 2010)

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume II: From the Early Christian Era to the “Age of Discovery”: Part 1: From the Demonic Threat to the Incarnation of Sainthood (November 2010)

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume II: From the Early Christian Era to the “Age of Discovery”: Part 2: Africans in the Christian Ordinance of the World (November 2010)

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume III: From the “Age of Discovery” to the Age of Abolition: Part 1: Artists of the Renaissance and Baroque (November 2010)

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume III: From the “Age of Discovery” to the Age of Abolition: Part 2: Europe and the World Beyond (Fall 2011)

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume IV: From the American Revolution to World War I: Part 1: Slaves and Liberators (Spring 2012)

* The Image of the Black in Western Art, Volume IV: From the American Revolution to World War I: Part 2: Black Models and White Myths (Spring 2012)

On their website, there is a nice image gallery and a video of a presentation by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Two articles that have come out of the project have recently (February 2011) published in Apollo Magazine: The Image of the Black in Western Art and Race in Classical Art.

Even more resources are available on the website of the exhibition Black is Beautiful. The exhibition examines selected works by artists from the Low Lands that depicted Africans. It offers an interesting selection of short videos, for example explaining who the women is standing next to Moses in this painting by the Flemish painter Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678):

(Image Source)

Find the answer here.

These are, of course, not the first exhibitions and publications on the subject. Already in 1970, Snowden published a volume on depictions of Ethiopians in Greco-Roman Arts. In 1992 Pieterse published White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture.

P.S. Let me clarify, why I think these historical depictions are important. This has nothing to do with absolving Europeans from the history of slavery, colonialism and contemporary forms of exploitation. Rather, they highlight that European perceptions of Africans changed throughout time in response to historical circumstances and the nature of the relations and trade between Europeans and the African with whom they had contact. As such, they provide evidence that racism is not natural but an ideology that evolved at a particular time in response to and in order to legitimate historical relations. This is not to say that there were no negative stereotypes before the Atlantic slave trade required a re-imagening of Africans as lesser humans to justify the trade. I suspect to an extent we are hardwired to fall back on stereotypes in our relations with other human beings. Nobody can genuinely know and understand the personal and collective histories and cultural influences that make every human being on this planet the person they are. But, I guess it’s important that these images document that stereotypes can change and be adapted – and, most importantly, that they do not provide a historical truth but just one interpretation. No?

Ugandan Former Child Soldier and UgandanArtist Peter Oloya on Art for Peace

2011-03-20T14:06:00.002Z

Having shared with you a recent essay about political art the other day, this seems the appropriate follow up: Peter Oloya, a Ugandan former child soldier and artist currently in Lagos, Nigeria, using his art to promote peace and healing.

Art for peace

By Obidike Okafor

Next Magazine, March 6, 2011 12:31AM

Peter Oloya is a Ugandan artist with a troubled past. The former child soldier dropped his gun for weapons of art and has been painting, drawing and making sculptures since then. The graduate of Ugandan’s famous Makerere University where he studied his art experienced firsthand, the over two decades of war between the Lords Resistant Army (LRA) rebels and Uganda government that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead. “I lost 21 relatives. I and my mother were abducted by the LRA, I was 11 years old. I survived death as a child soldier and managed to escape after 20 months. With what I now call my trauma as a loner, I discovered my artistic talent and worked as a self taught commercial wood carver and supported my family and saved money to study art. Art has restructured my life and those around me” he said.

[…]

Moved by the suffering of the youths in Internally Displaced Persons camps in the face of war in northern Uganda Oloya wanted do something, so he used art as his medium for social change. “Art restructured my life. I lost my childhood and teenage stage of life growing up amidst war but I can prevent someone from walking down my painful path. And since art gives me hope and reasons to live, I decided to be a source of change in the lives of many. It is on this basis that in 2004 I founded Art for Community Development, a community based organisation operating in Kitgum and Gulu Districts in Northern Uganda to provide psychosocial support, life skills training in art and craft, to the formerly abducted and disadvantaged youths at the grassroot,” he said.

[…]

Oloya had selected Nigeria as his destination after he was awarded the residency, because he saw similarities between the outbreak of violence in Jos and that in Northern Uganda where he was raised. … “I am deeply touched by the conflicts in Nigeria and Sudan. In relation to my experience in northern Uganda, I want to be part of the peaceful solutions in Nigeria and Africa at large. Out of interest, I chose to be part of the change I see. I am working on a peace art project themed ‘Nigeria: Towards a Culture of Peace, Unity, Non-violence and Co-existence’ with selected artists, members of the wider community , from both the Moslem and Christian faiths, from northern and southern Nigeria to promote the culture of peace, non violence and co-existence of Moslems and Christians in Nigeria,” Oloya stated. He also hopes that the message will ring in the hearts of other Africans across the continent. ...

Oloya will give a talk at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos and take part in an art peace project in Nigeria called Hope and Despair. This sounds like a worthwhile project to promote. If anybody has more information pls. let me know and I’ll update this blog accordingly.

Good Intentions: Bidoun's Negar Azimi on Political Art

2011-03-19T12:52:00.000Z

This touches a nerve with me. Here, I am writing and researching about the arts while around us natural disasters and revolutions unfold. Nigeria is in the run up to the elections and there are recurring reports about violence. I read it. I hope the best for Nigeria and feel with the victims of violence. But ultimately I write about the destruction of political campaign posters. So, what’s the role of the arts in politics? Does art have a role in politics? Negar Azimi of Bidoun Magazine published this interesting article on the topic in Frieze Magazine.

… It is difficult not to recognize in this sea of political shows the art of the token gesture. Of course, many of these exhibitions were thoughtful … Still, a look at their conceptual underpinnings reveals a tightly circumscribed universe of ‘the political’ in which artists address the problematics of power, the question of ‘what is to be done?’ (Istanbul 2009), and finally, use a familiar cast of set-pieces of contemporary art (mostly the installation or the documentary as zeitgeist … to put forward one-liners about any number of issues … Take a good look at the institutions that host these exhibitions, and a familiar medley of programming emerges. An annual line-up may include one show devoted to gender, another to Islam, and perhaps another to Israel to balance out the former – and rarely is the work of artists whose politics we don’t like featured. … When David Wojnarowicz’s 1987 film A Fire in My Belly was pulled from ‘Hide/Seek’ at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington dc last November (the offending scene depicts ants crawling about a crucifix, inspiring complaints from the Catholic League and others), art spaces from across the US leapt at the chance to host the work. New York’s Museum of Modern Art even bought it. … The very fact that the censorship inspired such an outpouring was important, and yet, it couldn’t help, at times, but feel like a form of institutional self-congratulation – another version of ticking the box alluded to above.

All of which leads to the question of what is the difference between representing politics and actually enacting it? Representing politics entails describing a work by starting a sentence with ‘it’s about … x’. When Sam Durant makes sculptures of gallows or Taryn Simon photographs individuals on Death Row, it’s about how capital punishment is a bad, barbaric practice. But what happens next? And what is the good of engaged art – whether it takes the form of governmental critique or institutional critique or otherwise – when it is subsumed back into the system? … Does sitting around a room exchanging experiences and ideas about the war in Iraq nurture a false sense of engagement or community or could it inspire someone to write a letter to their local representative, take part in a protest, or, as a public figure, take a public stand? Does such activity, to return to a worn but handy cliché, simply preach to the converted, or, when, say, placed in public spaces, like museums, pull in a few new converts to the flock?

Read the whole essay here.

Presidential Debates: Shekarau on the Kano State Censorship Board and the Hausa-Language Film Industry

2011-03-19T10:28:00.007Z

During yesterdays’ presidential debates Ibrahim Shekarau was asked about and commented on the Kano State Censorship Board and the effects of its policies on the Kano based film industry.

Video streaming by Ustream

Carmen transcribed the relevant bit (I did as well but she catches some phrases I didn’t).

[Time Code: 44:45]

Moderator: Now, you say that but in practical terms the impact of the hisbah in Kano has included killing a film industry that was providing employment, what is known in Nigeria as Kannywood. So there has been an exodus of filmmakers out of Kano, who get harassed when they are on shoots, who have been asked to submit their scripts for inspection, and a total disregard of the people’s rights to express themselves through art in that particular way.

Shekarau: No, I think that is totally wrong. The hisbah has nothing to do with the censorship. We have a full fledged censorship board, created by law through the legislation. And the censorship board has created rules and regulations that govern the conduct of any film industry. We have a right to decide what is right for the community. The government has the moral responsibility to protect the right, the interest, the instant transformation (?) of the society. (Clapping). So all we did, all we did, we said, if you want to register and run a film industry, you should comply with A,B, C, D, F, and we told anybody who feels any of these rules and regulations contradicts the provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should challenge us in court, and nobody has done that anyhow.

Moderator: You seem to be very strong in terms of protecting the rights of the majority. What about the rights of the minority inside the state that you govern.

Shekarau: We are protecting. In fact it may interest you to know that Kano state today is the most peaceful state in Nigeria. If you ask any of the so-called minority or non-indigene, they are quite happy, they are quite peaceful. In fact, today, you will be surprised to find that those you call non-indigenes or even the non-Muslim prefer to go for settlement of disagreement within the community either to the hisbah court or to the censorship board. We don’t have any problem at all. The rules are working. The society has accepted it. The film industry is thriving very well. All we say is abide by the rules and regulations. And there is no community that will live without guiding principles, without rules and regulations and will think that there will be discipline and order in that community.

I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on Shekarau’s claims here in any detail. Let’s just say that the news sources I follow do not quite bear out the picture of peaceful co-existence of the Kano State Censorship Board and film makers the governor paints in the debate. There have been court cases and there is talk of prominent film makers relocating to Kaduna. I leave it to Carmen to provide you with further detail on the disputes and legal battles. She is more familiar with the Hausa-language film industry and has been blogging about ongoing developments here. I am confident she will also link to the responses to Shekarau's comments by stakeholders in Kano's creative industries if and when they are published.

Some Inspiration: Florie Salnot's Plastic Gold

2011-03-17T09:43:00.005Z

I first came across Florie Salnot and some of the work she had undertaken with Saharawi refugees in Western Sahara during last summer’s degree show of the Royal College of Art. I collected some promotional postcards containing the address of promotional website and planned to write a short post. But then I got distracted. After all I had a PhD to finish. And eventually I forgot. Until this morning when cleaning up my desk I stumbled across one of the postcards. It had been demoted to a table mat for the army of tea cups that gets me through the day. I had a second look at it and, once again, I found myself thinking what a wonderful idea this was. And, guys, isn’t there some inspiration in here to creatively deal with the waste problem in Nigeria?! I know, all your fashionable ladies may be a bit sceptical a the idea of ‘recycling jewellery’ (and, yes, this is my old complex about not being able to keep up with fashionable Nigerian women speaking here – honestly, how do you keep crisp and clean in that heat when I’m getting soaked in my own sweat?). And, while I think its brilliant, the cute little purse made from pure water bags (sorry, no photo) I have recently seen may not be to everybody’s taste. But, I defy you to find anything not to like about this gorgeous jewellery made of ‘plastic gold’ (Salnot’s more than appropriate term)!

Me thinks they’re gorgeous. And, it’s so easily done, so low tech. So, for those of you looking for inspiration, here’s short introduction to the project from Salnot’s website.

What is the Plastic Bottle Project?

I have designed a technique and some specific tools to enable the Saharawi refugees to produce some pieces of jewelry with the very limited resources which are available in their camps, i.e.: plastic bottles and sand.

The Saharawis are former nomadic people who used to live in Western Sahara. In 1975, Morocco annexed their territory. Since then, over half of them have been living in exile in a barren and remote stretch of Algerian desert. The other part of the Saharawis lives in Marocco.

The Saharawis used to have a craft tradition. However, as at today, the lack of the resources (e.g.: leather) their traditional craft was using and the few sales opportunities for the type of products they had have made their craft decline.

Plastic bottle project-The technique

The technique I have designed, enables the Saharawis to use the bottles in a very simple way, in order to make pieces of jewellery. The technique uses the energy and equipments available in the camp: hot sand and simple hand tools (a knife, a drawing nail board).

The plastic bottle is first painted and then cut into thin stripes with a cutting tool. After that, any type of drawing can be made by positioning some nails into the holes of a nail board: the plastic stripe is placed all around the nails and the whole is submerged into hot sand. The plastic stripe reacts to the heat by shrinking all along the nail drawing and keeping its shape. The piece of jewelry then requires a few last steps and fittings to become finalized. It is a very simple technique which, however, has the power to make the non-precious become precious.

Find more information here.

Attribution/Non-Commercial Pls. ...

2011-03-17T00:07:00.004Z

Google Image Search, eh?

There you are looking for something completely different and stumble across one of your images on another blog.

Brilliant. Or not.

I am not quite sure how I feel about it. I should be happy that somebody seems to share my delight in these images, no? But the author of said blog - yes, SpiralUpward, it’s you I’m talking to - has neither linked to my Flickr set nor this blog. And, because one needs to log in to comment, I cannot even leave a reply on the blog to link to the set or add context to the images he/she republished. So, I am having rather mixed feelings about this.

This is somewhat hypocritical of me, you say?

Fair enough. I am reposting articles and images a lot of times. My Flickr sets include images taken from articles. And, let’s face it, even ‘my own’ images represent the work of others, i.e. the Nigerian artists who produced those posters, stickers, and lorry paintings. But, in my defence, my writings acknowledge my Nigerian sources and I do make an effort to include links and attribute the work of others to their authors (yes, do let me know if you notice that I have missed one).[1] So, I do think it is only fair to expect others to do the same.

So, for the record:

By all means, do make use of any information on this blog you find useful. If my passion for the stuff I study is contagious, brilliant. If you spread the news further, even better. But do identify me and my blog as your source (you and I know that northern Nigerian arts and this blog could do with the publicity ;) ). Include the blog in your bibliography, link to me, etc. And, pls. extend this favour to my sources – links to articles and image sources are included in my posts. In other words, stick by the rules that apply to anything published under Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial License.

Now, let me go back to this original Google Image Search and double check whether I correctly remember in which German collection I had seen this beautiful al-Buraq chromolithograph …

[1] I know, I know, they do not come out in the design of the blog at the moment. Frankly, I don’t understand why. I’ve tried several times to change the template so they appear in a different colour and it doesn’t allow me to have them automatically underlined as MS Word does, weirdly enough. I’ll work it out one day, insha’allah. Meanwhile, they are there. Usually I insert the link into the headline of the article I repost or, where biographical info is concerned, the author’s/artist’s/etc. name. And, if it says that you can find more information ‘here,’ in most cases ‘here’ will take you to the website in question.

Set of Islamic Chromolithographs sold at Dreweatts

2011-03-14T23:07:00.002Z

Look what I found: If that doesn’t look very much like one of the chromolithographs I collected in Kano in July 2008! These were auctioned at Dreweatts some while ago. Not sure whether they were actually sold or not. Anyway, with these being estimated at around £300-£400 the Nigerian prints certainly were the better buy. Sorry, Dreweatts.

The Tate Modern's Kerryn Greenberg in Lagos

2011-02-27T21:14:00.000Z

I already told you about last autumn’s symposium Curating in Africa at Tate Modern and the videos documenting the event at the Tate’s video channel. So, I naturally assume, that you will be interested in the organiser Kerryn Greenberg return visit to the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Lagos. Here’s what Next had to say about it:

With love from the Tate

By Obidike Okafor,

Next, February 19, 2011 04:09AM

United Kingdom-based South African curator, Kerryn Greenberg, held a session with members of the art community at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Yaba, Lagos on February 10. She shared her experiences and the aspirations for one of the major art institutions in Britain, the Tate Modern, where she works. Her talk, centred on plans for African artists on the continent and those in the Diaspora, was delivered to an audience comprising art collectors, students, artists and representatives of the National Gallery of Art.

Greenberg, who was in Nigeria for a two-week residency at the CCA, noted that curating is as essential as the art being displayed. Touching on the objectives of Tate Modern, she disclosed that the museum has realised the importance of expanding its African content after a decade of existence, hence its resolve to have a rich representation of contemporary and modern African art.

Curatorial past

The curator, who has a Master of Arts degree in Curatorial Studies from Bard College, New York and who joined Tate Modern in 2007, also spoke on projects she has handled in the past. They include Frédéric Bruly's ‘Bouabré'; Francis Alÿs' ‘The Story of Deception', John Baldessari's ‘Pure Beauty'; Nicholas Hlobo's ‘Uhambo' and Rothko's ‘The Late Series'.

She also gave insight into the intricacies of curating at the Tate Modern, using Francis Alys' works as an example. She noted that works by the talented artist start with an uncomplicated action either by him or others, which is thereafter documented in a range of media. Greenberg said his work explores issues affecting Latin America and border zones in areas of conflict.

While nothing that Alÿs, uses video projection and film, the curator observed that he also spreads his ideas through postcards, adding that painting and drawing are equally central to his work. Greenberg talked about some of the artist's video installations including ‘Tornado'; ‘The Green Line' and ‘When Faith Moves Mountains'. She disclosed that it was difficult to get the right equipment to screen ‘Tornado' at the Tate Modern because it was shot in high resolution.

Life at the Tate

Taking the audience through the different levels at the UK museum, Greenberg disclosed how each floor affects the artist's showing. "Level Four is for more established artists, while Level Two, Level Three and Level Five are for smaller groups. Emerging international artists are shown on Level Two," she said.

Greenberg whose first African curatorial project was South Africa's Nicholas Hlobo's ‘Uhambo' held on Level Two of the Tate Modern, further disclosed that the exhibition is the first of many that will involve Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora. Tate Modern, she added, will build relationships and show more works from Africa in the near future.

Greenberg also disclosed that she had earlier organised a symposium for African curators including Bisi Silva of the CCA. "I have been having conversations with artists in Lagos. I am always glad to collaborate with my colleagues from the continent," she said.

During the interaction, Bisi Silva wondered what relevant government organisations were doing to support collaborations between Nigerian artists and international organisations. Eze Obizue of the Education and Research Department of the NGA, responded that artists have benefited, as they had been part of Art Expos held in Las Vegas and New York; the Dak'Art biennale in Dakar, Senegal; Lagos International Art Expo and the African Regional Summit on Visual Art (ARESUVA), held in Abuja.

Advising young artists who want to be recognised internationally, Greenberg said, "Artists need to be ambitious, they are not ambitious. When they develop their works, they can find themselves. Apply for residencies, discover possibilities, and keep on trying if you want to grow internationally."

AAF Lagos: Call for Entries for LagosPhoto 2011

2011-02-25T17:11:00.001Z

African Artists Foundation just published this call for entries.

CALL FOR ENTRIES LAGOSPHOTO 2011

In 2010 the first - ever photographic festival in Nigeria took place: LagosPhoto. It was very successful, with over 25 participating photographers, several indoor and outdoor exhibitions, and countless visitors who experienced the wide variation in photographic practice represented: fine art, photojournalism, amateur, professional showcased in Lagos for over two months.

The African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), initiator and organizer of LagosPhoto, is now launching a call for entries for the next edition of the festival, to be held in October 2011.

As with the previous edition, the main theme of the festival remains ‘No Judgment, Africa Under the Prism.’ Within this theme we are looking for the Hidden Stories of Africa as a sub theme to further guide our selection. Photographers from all nationalities and backgrounds are called upon to submit their stories for consideration to be included in the festival. We are interested in all sorts of stories: positive, negative, objective and subjective. Stories that show a side of Africa we are not used to seeing in the current media. The theme does not indicate a bias towards a photojournalistic approach but rather a sort of guide towards today’s contemporary image culture especially in Africa. Photographic style and approach are very important in the selection process.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: 20 MARCH 2011

Please read the guidelines below for submission carefully before submitting your work for consideration.

Guidelines for submissions for LagosPhoto 2011

LagosPhoto / AAF calls on photographers and curators to submit their work or proposals for LagosPhoto

1. When can I submit my work for the LagosPhoto 2011?

We welcome proposals submitted by 20 March 2011.

2. Who is invited to send in work?

We welcome work and proposals by professional photographers, photography curators and institutions from all over the world.

What kind of work can I submit?

LagosPhoto 2011 wants to show the Hidden Stories of Africa, and any photographic story that is connected to this theme may be entered. Besides traditional photographic essays we welcome photographic art projects, and photography based multimedia presentations.

What complementary information do I need to add to my submission?

The work should be accompanied by:

* C.V. with contact details (in English)

* a short and clear description of the series/project (word/pdf) (in English)

NB. Sending in a specific series is far better than just giving us a web address where the series is to be found.

How many series and photographs can I submit?

We have no guideline for the amount of series or photos that can be submitted. Stories need to be edited to relevance; we suggest a maximum of 25 images for one story.

What are the technical specifications?

* We only accept material submitted through DVD, CD-ROM or email (10 Mb max.)

* Digital files should be provided at high quality and at a resolution of at least 1000x1500 pixels. Images through email preferably in JPEG format.

* Always save files in RGB or grayscale mode, not as CMYK. If color management is used, please include the color profiles in the image files.

* Your work should be sent as separate image files, no PDF or Word files. Powerpoint, Director, MPEG files (and such) or video DVDs may only be used when concerning a multimedia presentation that cannot be presented otherwise. Even then send some separate images (stills) in addition.

* Submissions will not be returned.

7. When can I expect a response on my submission?

Please do not expect a quick reply. We will moest probably receive hundreds of submissions and they will take some time to process. Please rest assured that everything we receive will be carefully looked at and that everyone will receive an answer.

8. How can I submit my work?

All submissions can be sent to our office in Nigeria via email or post:

Lagos Photo 2011 - African Artists’ Foundation

54 Raymond Njoku Street

Off Awolowo Road

Ikoyi

Lagos

NIGERIA

lagosphoto@africanartists.org
lagosphoto2011@gmail.com

You are also free to send in your work by a file-sharing service like yousendit.com or wetransfer.com

9. How will my work be presented, if selected?

LagosPhoto is not able to ship or show any original artwork under its responsibility. All selected work will be produced under the auspices of the AAF / LagosPhoto. By submitting work you agree to these guidelines.

10. Will I be invited to Lagos for the opening ceremony?

If you are selected to participate in the festival, we will do our utmost to pay for a trip and stay in Lagos for the opening ceremony, however this is not a guarantee. You are of course invited to the opening ceremony and additional program as an exhibiting artist.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: 20 MARCH 2011

Two Upcoming Events

2011-02-21T11:48:00.003Z

The last few weeks have been busy for a variety of reasons. Hence, the hiatus on this blog, an even longer hiatus than usual. But since I found these two in my inbox today …

First, an interesting event – and publication – if, like me, you’re interested in the intersection between arts/visual culture and ideas/discourses (and if you enjoy and informal chat over a free drink, I’m sure there’ll be opportunity for that as well).

Special issue launch

Print Cultures, Nationalisms and Publics of the Indian Ocean

Africa. Journal of the International African Institute

With guest editors Isabel Hofmeyr and Preben Kaarsholm

Monday 28 February 2011, 6pm

Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

The Indian Ocean region is an important geo-political arena, and is making its presence felt across a range of disciplines. This special issue provides an overview of emerging trends in the rich field of Indian Ocean studies and draws out their implications for scholars of Africa. The focus is on the role of print and visual culture in constituting public spheres and nationalisms. Themes addressed unfold between Africa and India as well as along the African coast from KwaZulu-Natal to the Arab world. Attention is paid to the transnational dynamics of Islam. The contributions extend debates on print culture, nationalism and publics within African studies and demonstrate how research on the Indian Ocean can be enriched through insights from East and southern African studies.

The International African Institute (IAI) and Cambridge University Press (CUP) invite you to celebrate the launch of this 2011 special issue of Africa. This is the first issue of the journal to be published by CUP as part of a new publishing partnership with the IAI. CUP and the IAI are also collaborating on the International African Library monograph series and the Africa Bibliography, currently being digitised as an online fully searchable database.

ALL WELCOME

Monday 28 February 2011, 6pm

Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

RSVP to Stephanie Kitchen, sk111[@] soas.ac.uk

www.internationalafricaninstitute.org // http://journals.cambridge.org/afr

And, yes, a slight East Africa bias today, there’s another interesting event organised The Centre of African Studies at SOAS that you may want to put into your diary.

Africa Seminar Series

Art Education in Kenya

Thursday 10 March 2011, 5pm

B102, Brunei Gallery Building, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Speakers: Alla Tkachuk (MASK), Donald Maingi (Birkbeck College, University of London), Mercy Kagia (Kingston University), Nicholas Addison (Institute of Education, University of London), Chair: Chege Githiora (SOAS, University of London)

Please RSVP to cas [at] soas.ac.uk

CFP: Critical Encounters: A Graduate Student Symposium in Honor of Sidney Littlefield Kasfir

2011-01-29T13:42:00.002Z

Critical Encounters: A Graduate Student Symposium in Honor of Sidney Littlefield Kasfir

Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, Art History Department, and Institute for African Studies announce a graduate student symposium in honor of Sidney Littefield Kasfir.

Keynote address

Friday, April 22, 2011

7:30 pm

Chika Okeke-Agulu, Assistant Professor of Art History, Princeton University is a curator, artist and art historian and co-author of Contemporary African Art Since 1980, will deliver the keynote address.

Graduate Symposium

Saturday, April 23, 2011

9:30 am – 5:30 pm

“If tourist art, the lowest common denominator of what is thought by Westerners to be inauthentic in African art, can be deconstructed in ways that make the definition of authenticity full of self-contradictions, then the same kinds of questions can be asked even more readily about other non-canonical categories such as “elite” or “international” art. Now, in the closing years of the twentieth century, it is perhaps time to bring the canon into better alignment with the corpus, with what African artists actually make, and to leave behind a rather myopic classificatory system based so heavily on an Africa of the mind”

— Sidney L. Kasfir, “African Art and Authenticity: A Text with a Shadow” in African Arts

Throughout her career Dr. Sidney L. Kasfir has sought to rethink the way scholars, artists, museums, and viewers understand and categorize African art. She has attempted to expand our classificatory system, without allowing generalizations to dilute the complex efforts of artists, cultures, and visual languages. This symposium, organized in honor of her retirement from Emory University, considers three themes to which Dr. Kasfir has contributed: Commodification and Tourism; Heritage; and The Artist, the Workshop, and Cultural Brokerage.

Proposals should consider one of these three major themes. Papers should be twenty minutes in length. We welcome submissions from graduate students from any discipline and at all stages of their studies working with visual culture in Africa. Airfare and accommodations will be provided for students whose papers are accepted.

Deadline for submissions: Please send your cv and a one-page abstract by mail or email no later than February 5, 2011 to:

Elizabeth Hornor

Marguerite Colville Ingram Director of Education

Michael C. Carlos Museum

571 South Kilgo Circle

Atlanta, GA 30322

Ehornor [at] emory.edu

Selected speakers will be notified by email by March 5, 2011.

John Picton on Restitution of Benin Artefacts: Compromise, Negotiate, Support

2011-01-29T10:28:00.002Z

Compromise, negotiate, support

Suppose that a secure display facility were to be built in Benin City that conformed to modern international standards of conservation and climatic control: the moral case would then be very hard to ignore

By John Picton, published online 24 Jan 11

In 1897 Benin City, to the west of the lower Niger in what is now Nigeria (and distinct from the modern country of Benin, formerly Dahomey), was invaded by British military and naval forces in retaliation for the killing of British personnel by rebel chiefs in the area. The royal palace and much of the city was destroyed, the king was sent into exile, returning to Benin only in 1914 for his burial, and several thousand works of art in cast brass, sculpted ivory and wood, wrought iron, coral beadwork, woven textiles and other fabrics, and other materials, were looted by the British personnel. No plan of the palace was made, and no record of the distribution of its artworks. It was a process of both folly and vandalism legitimated only by the status of the officers who, of course, bagged all the best material.

Almost immediately this art began to be disposed of in London salerooms, the ethnographic museum in Berlin quickly acquiring what remains the finest and most comprehensive collection of Benin art amongst all the museums of the world. Once the British Museum had woken up to what was happening it secured a collection of 16th-century brass plaques, and in the years that followed began to put together what is now the second-best collection of Benin art; and as material continued to appear in the salerooms of London almost every museum in Europe and America with any claim to collections of international status was able to acquire Benin material. Moreover, in the late 1940s and through the 1950s, collaboration between the Nigerian colonial government and its Department of Antiquities, and British Museum personnel, the Nigerian Museum, Lagos, was able to acquire what is the third-best collection of Benin art. Meanwhile, in Benin City itself a small museum was founded to house the few objects that had missed the hands of the marauding British in 1897.

Upon his succession to the throne, in 1914, the new king, Eweka II, set about the wholesale reinvention of Benin City, reviving its ritual and ceremonial culture, making the best of such political authority as the colonial overlords would allow within their policy of government by indirect rule, and commissioning the writing of an authorised history of the city, kingdom and empire, by a local chief. Eweka also commissioned new works of art, setting up altars dedicated to his father and grandfather, and their predecessors: the artists, after all, had not been exiled nor their skills somehow taken from them. It was altogether the greatest and most successful of all anti-colonial projects in sub-Saharan Africa; and in Benin City today the king retains his authority (even the public display of a photograph of the king must be authorised by the palace, its secret police keeping a very close eye on things). Moreover, throughout Benin history the prestige of kingship has depended, at least in part, on the king’s ability to command the work of artists and direct innovation in Benin visual culture. The prestige of kingship and the ownership of works of art are indeed so intertwined that it should come as no surprise that there is a hunger in Benin City for the return of the material looted in 1897.

Yet there has been no formal request by a competent authority for repatriation and no attempt at diplomatic negotiation or, even, litigation. Indeed, it would be a complex exercise given the distribution of Benin art through almost every city and museum of Europe and America, where it takes its rightful place alongside the art of every continent and civilisation in world history thereby demolishing the once-fashionable attribution (in Europe) of “primitivism” to African art and civilisation. The moral argument in favour of Benin City remains nevertheless, not least because the looting of its art is not in dispute, which suggests that some kind of compromise ought to be possible. Here are some suggestions: the recognition by the museums of Europe and America that they do not have unproblematic ownership rights to this material—some recognition, indeed, that the king of Benin might have a case; the loan of material from reserve collections for display in Benin City, whether of a temporary or permanent basis; traveling exhibitions in which some of the great museums—the British Museum, The Museum of Ethnography at Berlin’s Dahlem complex, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example—might collaborate so that Nigerians get to see this material in Nigeria. The problem here, of course, is that adequate facilities of international standard do not exist in Nigeria. But suppose that a secure display facility were to be built in Benin City that conformed to modern international standards of conservation and climatic control: the moral case would then be very hard to ignore.

These considerations have arisen in recent weeks because of the proposed sale at Sotheby’s of an ivory mask carved around or soon after 1500. It is a costume ornament worn by the king, one of five known of this type: one in the British Museum, one in the New York Met; one in Seattle, and one in Stuttgart. It had been acquired by Sir Henry Galway (or Gallwey, 1859-1949), as Deputy Commissioner and Vice Consul of the Niger Coast Protectorate, and responsible for sending the king into exile; and the mask had remained with the Galway family since his death. The proposed sale would certainly have created a new record for the value of a work of African art, but the mask was withdrawn from sale, possibly because of the volume of protest coming from supporters of repatriation. Its present whereabouts and future are currently unknown. One imagines a private sale will be negotiated for a sum far less than that anticipated by public auction, and as the purchaser will prefer to avoid the attention of the repatriation lobby the mask will effectively be lost to public view for a generation. This is surely an outcome to no-one’s advantage.

John Picton is Emeritus Professor of African Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Animated Political Commentary from Nigeria

2011-01-28T10:10:00.005Z

Social networking sites, bless them. Bino and Fino today linked to these videos on Facebook. You will have to agree with us that these are beautiful examples of animation coming out of Nigeria as well as of this particular kind of Nigerian humour I admire. So let's hope we will see more from the artist/producer of these videos! You can find their Youtube channel here.

AS Judd (1917) on African Sight

2011-01-25T15:16:00.002Z

As I wrote yesterday, I have been flicking through Brian Larkin’s Signal and Noise again. If you have any interest in how images, films in particular, are ‘read’ across cultures you may already have come across the John Wilson’s account of the chicken in the margins of William Seller’s educational film on the tropical hookworm (which you can watch here). Burns (2002: 200) quotes John Wilson:

‘This man – this sanitary inspector [William Sellers] – made a moving picture in very slow time, very slow technique of what would be required of the ordinary household in a primitive African village in getting rid of standing water – draining pools, picking up all empty tins and putting them away, and so forth. We showed this film to an audience and asked them what they had seen, and they said they had seen a chicken, a fowl and we didn’t know there was a fowl in it. So we very carefully scanned the frames, one by one for this fowl and, sure enough, for about a second, a fowl went over the corner of the frame.’[1]

The reaction of Wilson’s Nigerian audiences to this film has been quoted repeatedly to illustrate arguments that seeing is culturally conditioned: We do not simply see. We do learn how to see as we are socialised into our societies.[2] This, however, was not quite how Seller’s interpreted the reactions of his Nigerian audiences. Burns (2002: 198) explains that Sellers had ‘originally begun teaching health lessons with a magic lantern but had decided that his audiences were incapably of recognising two-dimensional pictures.’ He quotes him:

‘It is well known that if an illiterate African is handed a photograph of himself or some scene to him he will invariably turn it to the wrong way up in an effort to focus his eyes on the picture.’

Seller’s eventually concluded that local audiences comprehended motions pictures more easily than still pictures. They, however, could not ‘impose any logic on them.’ Burns (2002: 198) quotes him explaining:

‘They looked upon the films as a collection of animated photographs a few of which they could appreciate, but they were quite unable to link the scenes together to form any kind of story. … if films were to be successful in conveying a story or teaching a lesson to these people they would have to be specially made …’

Burns discusses the particular filming techniques Sellers suggested in more detail in Watching Africans Watch Films (2002) as well as in Flickering Shadows (2002).

This all serves as a rather extended introduction to a quote I stumbled across yesterday evening (yes, a lot of stumbling recently in my research) and want to share with you: AS Judd’s (1917) account of African and European sight published in ‘Native Education in the Northern Provinces of Nigeria.’ (Journal of the African Society. Vol. XVII. No. LXV).

If we compare the sight, for instance, of an African boy with that of the average European, we find that the African has developed a keenness especially in detecting moving objects, such as the movements of game. Movement arrests his eye as it does not the eye of a European. The European tries to discern the form or the shape of the object looked for and not so much the movement, and hence does not detect so quickly. Pictorial representation may convey much to the European mind, but to the primitive pagan pictures of the most familiar objects are not quickly understood. Especially is this true of landscapes, the perspective as shown in Western art is not comprehended by the untrained mind, the colour only is seen by the eye. A stereoscopic slide is more readily understood. (Judd 1917: 8)

Note that Judd, who apparently was based in what was then Nassarawa Province, distinguished between ‘pagan’ populations and Muslims.

It is obvious that the Moslem would have very little place for pictorial art in his social system, part from the decorations of his house, his household utensils, or his clothing. (Judd 1917: 3)

The effect of the unconscious training of the eye is seen in the relative time it takes for a Moslem as compared with a pagan boy to learn printed characters. The Moslem, although perhaps unable to read the Arabic Character, has some idea of the form of letters from often seeing them, and when he is introduced to the Roman character he sees a difference in the shape of the black marks before him, and my experience has been that he more quickly learns the alphabet than does the pagan. (Judd 1917: 7-8)

Here, Judd’s assessment, of course, reflected wider colonial discourses that at least in Nigeria considered local Muslim polities as more civilised (though still not as civilised as Victorian England) than non-Muslim societies.

[1] If I’m not mistaken, this is from an interview with Wilson published in as ‘Film Literacy in Africa’ in the journal Canadian Communications (vol.1(4) summer, 1961, 7-14) Wilson is quoted more extensively by Marshall McLuhan (1962: 36-37) in The Gutenberg Galaxy.

[2] One discussion I particularly enjoyed – and, yes, it quotes Wilson as well – is Kulick & Willson’s (1994): ‘Rambo’s Wife Saves the Day’ published in the Visual Anthropology Review (Vol. 10(2). 1-13). The article has also been reproduced in Askew & Wilk (2002), ed.: The Anthropology of Media: A Reader.

Giant in the Sun - Colonial Film Unit (CFU) Clips at Website of the British Film Institute

2011-01-24T17:52:00.003Z

I have been flicking through Brian Larkin’s Signal and Noise again. And then I went online and found that some films by the Colonial Film Unit are available online via the British Film Institute. Watch Giant in the Sun, a ‘study of Northern Nigeria as it prepares for self-government’:

The commentator introduces Africa as the 'continent of the future' before he outlines, through a map, the different regions of Nigeria. First, the film highlights the continuing traditions of Northern Nigeria. Men travel on camels, while at the market a snake charmer performs while women cook food. 'Old native hand industries are very much in evidence', most notably in the production of jewellery and glass. At the industries in Bida, the commentator explains how the region's government is 'reconciling' modern production methods with traditional skills. In particular, the film shows the training centres established by the government, for example at Abuja, where preference is given to 'traditional native potters'.

Further traditional industries are represented by the dye pits of Kano, and weaving. This is followed by footage of a big new textile plant 'established by the Northern region development corporation together with a famous British firm'. The commentator notes that 'the workers are nearly all Nigerian', and this is also the case at the canvas and rubber shoe factory in Kano, which uses 'homegrown rubber from Western Nigeria'. Next the film shows the manufacture of tinned food and bottles, highlighting how 'mechanised industry is more and more becoming a part of modern industrialised Nigeria'. Sweets and cosmetics are also produced, yet nuts remain the single biggest industry. After further shots of industrial production, the commentator emphasises the continuing importance of agriculture, through shots of the Fulani tribe.

The film next highlights the efforts of the government in controlling disease and in improving health care. An African doctor administers medicine while a local nurse looks after a baby. This leads to a section on education, showing the efforts made for both Muslim and Christian children. Scenes from a higher education college follow, followed by footage of 'mock meetings' conducted by the Institute of Administration in order to train members of district and village councils. It attempts here to explain how government works, showing the district council in operation. This is followed by scenes of dancing, music and sport. It concludes with a 'Sallah' - a traditional festival and celebration - and a regatta. Finally, a compilation of scenes reinforces the film's messages. 'The foundations have been well laid by other older hands. The people of Northern Nigeria face the future with confidence, knowing that with the natural resources of the land and by their own efforts they can justify the proud title of Giant in the Sun'.

Find it here (sorry, there doesn’t seem to be any means of embedding the clip) and more films can be found here.

Its propaganda, of course, and should be watched as such but can anybody identify in more detail these images (posters? wall hangings? printed cloth?) at the walls of the glass workshop in Bida?

Video Recording of 'Curating in Africa' (21 October 2010, Tate Modern, London)

2011-01-03T13:22:00.005Z

I just received the news that the video recordings of October 2010’s symposium Curating in Africa at Tate Modern are now available at the institution’s video channel (four parts). Enjoy.

On a different note, this video of Christopher Ofili may be of interest to some of you.

On a Different Note: The Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Interfaith Foundation, Jos

2011-01-01T23:44:00.003Z

I try, sometimes more successfully than at others, to keep politics of this blog. Well, other than those directly affecting the arts and cultures. However, after a holiday period spent half following the latest developments of Sotheby’s plans to auction artefacts removed from Benin in 1897 – the part that prominently made it onto this blog – and half latest developments first in Jos and Maiduguri, then in Bayelsa and Abuja,[1] I find it very appropriate to link you the blog of this Jos-based organisation: The Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Interfaith Foundation.

Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Interfaith Foundation (YACPIF) is an NGO based in Jos, Nigeria whose mission is to prevent conflict and achieve and sustain peace through a community approach. YACPIF utilizes interesting and engaging activities such as rallies and sports to bring rival armed groups together to create and build lasting relationships. YACPIF registers young people between the ages of 14 to 40 who will stand for peace in a conflicted community as ambassadors of peace.

There are also a Facebook Group you can join and a Facebook fan site to get involved and/or receive updates about latest events.

This to me sounds like a very common sense approach to conflict prevention – and, maybe, there is a place for visual artists and the arts in this as well. As the recent report by the International Crisis Group on the historical and contemporary background to violence in northern Nigeria noted (the news coming out of Nigeria made that feel like appropriate holiday reading):

[Recent violent conflicts] are the product of several complex and inter-locking factors, including a volatile mix of historical grievances, political manipulation and ethnic and religious rivalries. However, the region has historically shown much capacity for peaceful coexistence between its ethnic and religious communities. Local conflicts are sometimes taken to represent the whole of northern Nigerian society, particularly by outside observers, which is far from the case. Traditions of peaceful coexistence show that conflict is not inevitable, and the right mix of social and political measures can alleviate the risks.

And, there seem to be indications that YACPIF’s peace ambassadors were already able to prevent further violence in Jos:

Gada Biyu/Kabong. In the first week of December 2010, Augustine Davou participated in the YACPIF Peace Cup Camp in Jos North. YACPIF has not been able to directly contact Augustine since then, but the following report has come from the Hausa Muslim community in the Gada Biyu area.

After they saw the dead bodies from the bomb blasts, the Christian youths were gathered to retaliate on the local Hausa Muslim community. The youths had started moving toward the Hausa community, but Augustine intervened to stop them from violence. Many of the youths said that they would not agree to put down their arms, but Augustine was a different voice, saying that they should not take the law into their own hands. By speaking peace, he was able to calm the Christian youths.

Angwan Rukuba. Luka Sambo has been involved with YACPIF from its inception. He mobilized the Christian youths from Jos North to attend the first peace rally in Kwararafa. Later, Luka helped to organize another peace rally in the Nasarawa area.

On Christmas Day, youth began demonstrating in Angwan Rukuba after the bomb blasts. Luka went to the site of the demonstration and reasoned with the angry Christian youths, telling them that it was not right for them to react by burning Muslim houses. At one point in his appeal for peace, some of the youth tried to beat him off, but security forces intervened. Eventually, most of the youths in Angwan Rukuba agreed to stop the violence and the demonstration was disbanded.

Bukuru/Gyel. The fighting between the Bukuru and Gyel communities was the most severe in the January 2010 crisis. Magaji Sule was one of the Muslim leaders of the fighting in this area. Two months later, tension began mounting between these communities and it appeared that a fresh crisis would start within hours. However, Rev. Pam was able to convince Magaji and the Christian youth leader to prevent the developing crisis by demanding that their youths put down their arms. Recognized a few weeks later as the first Peace Ambassador at the YACPIF Peace Rally in Bukuru, Magaji has continued to be a strong advocate for peace.

On Christmas Day after the bombings, Magaji helped to call together the Gyel and Bukuru communities to sign a peace agreement. Magaji describes the incident in these words, “When this thing happened, we called all our boys in the neighborhood, our parents, the youth and seniors, all of them. We said, Christians and Muslims, we must unite. We shouldn’t start fighting again. What happened there [where the bombs went off], Allah ya kiyaye. Here, we must stay in peace. We all sat together and decided for peace, and up until this time we haven’t had any problem.”

I should add that I’m grateful to Carmen for making me aware of the Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Interfaith Foundation, Jos (also see her latest column in the Weekly Trust).

So, on that note: I wish you all a peaceful 2011 and hope that initiatives such as this one not only successfully continue their important work but will also inspire similar projects elsewhere.

[1] … and then waking up the next morning, New Year’s Day, to the street in front of the estate on which I live cordoned off by police because a young man had been shot earlier in the morning and was in hospital in critical conditions …

Update V: On the Now-Cancelled Sale of a Benin Ivory Pendant Mask at Sotheby's

2010-12-30T14:18:00.001Z

I suspect people are tired of hearing of the ‘Sotheby’s and the Benin Ivory pendant mask’ saga. Nevertheless, this is worth a quick mention here:

The case has finally made it into the international mainstream media! Yesterday, the UK’s Independent published an article which today has been quoted in the New York Times.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Tribune reports that

There are strong indications that the Federal Government might have waded into the controversy surrounding the plan by Sotheby’s to auction some prized Benin artefacts, including a pendant mask of Queen Idia, that were stolen from the kingdom by British colonial officers.

The paper also suggests that

But, according to a source in the presidency, President Goodluck Jonathan had taken an interest in the matter. The president was said to have been following the development and had already initiated moves to get the stolen artefacts returned to the country. The source disclosed that President Jonathan had given instructions to the effect that no effort should be spared to get the Benin arts, as well as other such artefacts that symbolised the pride of Nigerians and their rich cultural heritage. The president also ordered that machinery should be set in motion to get the artefacts repatriated into the country.

Efforts by Nigerian government officials are only briefly mentioned in the article in the Independent when it quotes Orobosa Omo-Ojo, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Government on Arts, Culture and Tourism stating that

They [Sotheby’s and/or the Galway’s, I assume] should seek good counsel and refrain from selling the mask … Anything that makes them ignore this call [from] the Edo state government will [make us] use this as a starting point to protect our intellectual properties.

Beyond that, however, both the Independent article as well as the New York Times emphasised the activities of expatriate groups, in particular the Nigeria Liberty Forum, and informal social media alliances.

Probably as a result of the Christmas period, responses by academics continued to arrive in my inbox after Sotheby’s had already cancelled the sale. Most significantly for wider debates about repatriation, Peju Layiwola directly answered questions about the legitimate ownership of the artefacts removed from the palace in Benin in 1897 as well as arguments that throw into doubt the safety of these items if they were returned to Nigeria.

There is no contention between the Nigerian State and the Benin royal family over rights of ownership for Benin artefacts. Indeed, requests have been made by both the Nigerian state and the Benin royal family for the return of the looted works. … It may interest readers to know that when a few items of Oba Ovoramwen’s regalia, found in Britain, were returned in 1938, they were given directly to the reigning king, Oba Akenzua II. These artefacts did not find their way back to Europe or elsewhere, but were assimilated into the sartorial traditions of the palace. This underscores the importance of Benin cultural items as part of an existing culture.

On a completely different note – and I was trying to stay away from non-art related politics and news on this blog – but: those of you, who are praying, pray for a peaceful 2011 in Nigeria.