I'm slowly catching up with my notes on the various issues
of West Africa magazine that I'm flicking through between writing sessions.
Here's a short commentary on life in Lagos by Mark Webster, then of the Financial
Times, where the piece had first been published 1 October 1979 – in a
special issue on Nigeria that I still have to get my hands on.
In the spirit of all things lorries and lorry art, here's
the bit of the piece that laments the city's road maintenance.
For
travelling short distances, you can use motorbike taxis called Okada. These
motorbikes are quick, cheap and save a lot of walking but they are also very
dangerous. Okada accidents are very common but safety equipment are now
provided because the state government and in fact the Federal Road Safety
Commission has mandated it. If you want to take the risk, you can safely halve
their first price, and usually there are lots to choose from. Before you try
and negotiate, confirm the fare from a local. If you have a Nigerian friend,
let them negotiate for you as the quoted fare differs greatly for locals and
foreigners (for obvious reasons). Choose an older driver as the younger ones
are cowboys.
Safety
Helmets are a must at all times for both the rider and passenger. Majority of
times these are ill-fitting and sometimes even absent.
By
law, Okadas are forbidden to ply after dark(7PM) for safety reasons. Avoid
taking an Okada for long distances, while it's raining and in the night since
majority of mainland is devoid of street lights.
(my
emphasis)
This
reflects Kunle
Adeyemi's use of 'cowboy' as somebody who is willing to takes risks. And,
possibly, takes a step further into daredevil or recklessness territory.
I am not enough of a regular on Twitter not to miss
the one or the other tweet that might be interesting and have some bearing on
the theme of this blog. So, here's one that didn't escape me – although I've
seen it somewhat late. So, here's two more images of lorry decoration from
Lagos to add to the collection!
Also, a new exhibition Identity: An Imagined Stateat the Centre of Contemporary Arts in Lagos opens 31 October 2009 and will
‘bring together for the first time works by twelve established and emerging artists of different cultural, geographic and social backgrounds from Nigeria, Africa, and South America. Their works consider from both local and global perspective, the issues around identity in relation to Africa. As a point of departure, the exhibition explores associations with the label ‘African’ and has been contextualized in a manner that reflects on, but without answering, ‘what or who is an African.’ By exploring these themes the exhibition tells the story of belonging, displacement, uncertainty, visibility and negotiation through the medium of video art.’
Participating artists include Jude Anogwih (Nig), Lucy Azubuike (Nig), Uchay Joel Chima (Nig), Luc Fosther Diop (CAM), Bouchra Khalili( MOR/FR), Vanessa Padilla (ECU), Thando Mama (SA), Grace Ndiritu (KEN/UK), Emeka Ogboh(NIG), Berni Searle (SA), Aicha Thiam (SEN) and Kemang Wa Lehulere (SA).
When I was in Nigeria last year members of the National Gallery, who’s archive and library I had come to use, pointed me towards a gallery that had only recently opened and housed a well equipped up-to-date library. So I went to Yaba and after a bit of searching – the place was still new and, of course, neither the taxi driver nor any of the people I asked on my way through the immediate neighbourhood knew the place – found the best equipped art library I had seen since coming to Nigeria. But probably more important than the library, the Centre of Contemporary Arts is still alive and kicking and Bisi Silva is promoting contemporary African and Nigerian arts worldwide. – If you want to know a bit more, start with her blog. Anyway, now the effort, talent and energy going into the project have been acknowledged by Next Magazine:
Bisi Silva’s Art Place
By Obidike Okafor, 26 June 2009
When the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) opened its doors in 2007 for its first exhibition, ‘Democrazy', a show displaying the works of the trio of artists, Lemi Ghariokwu, Ndidi Dike and George Osodi, it only marked the beginning of a stream of exhibitions and programmes that have brought over twenty five speakers and drawn international collaborations.
"I feel we have packed five years of programmes into these eighteen months," said Bisi Silva, curator at the CCA.
The journey to the promised land where CCA stands, started out as a teenage fascination from Bisi Siva, stimulated by images of the Incas civilisation from Peru.
She grew into a woman armed with an MA in Curating and Commissioning of contemporary art from the Royal College of Arts in the UK (she is also believed to be the only curator in Nigeria with a professional qualification in curating contemporary art, and the first in Africa).
"Starting my space has always been a personal and professional dream, I did not know when or how it will become a reality. It was when I decided to take that leap of faith to start in an environment where there is little or no funding for the arts and almost nothing for those who want to set up projects that deal with art," she said.
The status quo "remains embarrassing for a nation such as Nigeria, with one of the largest and richest heritage in the world. Successive ministers of cultures have not been able to build a befitting cultural infrastructure even during the oil boom. It shows a total disregard for who we are and what we can be."
In trying to break uncharted areas in the art world, the curator felt that there were few avenues for critical discourse. So, like a scientist experiments, discovers and develops, Silva set out to create a space that like a laboratory will allow artists to develop themselves, experiment on new ideas and interact with colleagues from different parts of the world and the African Continent.
"There was nobody out there for the teeming population of artists who needed to keep abreast of what is happening in other parts of the world," she said. Thus, the CCA was born.
Curators are not exempted from CCA's searchlight, as Silva constantly tries to use the centre to raise the bar for curatorship. "Curating is not about bringing artists together and knocking paintings on the wall," she insisted.
"Curating is a highly complex undertaking which involves the ability to articulate profound ideas about a society in which we live, whether historically or contemporary; the ability to engage with the past and communicate it with the way it impacts not only on the present but the future; and to find artists who are not compromising conceptual depth and artistic output."
Tucked away in a corner of the Sabo area of Yaba, the CCA which doubles as a gallery and library, is far from the fashionable stretch of galleries that dotted the Victoria Island side of Lagos. "We are an educational establishment and not a commercial gallery," Silva maintained.
"Besides that, there is the never ending traffic and of course the very high cost of rent." Yaba will do just fine for the CCA, it seems. The curator believes the location is perfect for a major percentage of the centre's target audience.
"This includes students (three of the nation's major citadel of learning are located at Yaba). "We show works that raise questions and compels the viewer to find answers," she said.
The centre's library started with books from Bisi Silva's own library and grew with the addition of titles purchased as well as those donated by International organisations. "Interaction with the library has not been great," she said, suggesting the virtually nonexistent reading culture in the country.
"It's true that few artists have made use of the wealth of publications that exists in CCA library. I can only presume that they have personal libraries or they don't read and don't keep up with developments, which is most likely. The results are there for you to see.
"A stagnant artistic scene in which the repetition of the same artistic strokes is the rule and not the exception and which contextual superficiality prevails unchallenged." she added.
This year alone, the CCA has embarked on projects to give more visibility to African artists and also generate income for long-term sustainability. Their first port of call was the Johannesburg Art Fair, where they were the only African based organisation outside of those located in South Africa.
Featured artists for the CCA were from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Nigeria, Turkey and South Africa. Next was a collaboration with the Sakshi Gallery in Mumbai, India, with an exhibition of works by artists including El Anatsui, Uche James Iroha, Nnenna Okore, Moroccan Safaa Erraus, and others from Zimbabwe and Gabon.
Bisi Silva is satisfied in the belief that there are tangible results to the CCA's activities. Based on exposure acquired by Emeka Ogbo at the Video Art Workshop held at the CCA, he recently featured at the Venice Biennial. Uche Joel Chima will also head off to a video art residency in Holland next year.
Performance artist, Jelili Atiku, has already exhibited in Japan. In October 2009, the Centre for Contemporary Art will hold its first ever video art exhibition; participating artists to include some of those people who have benefitted from the centre's initiative over the last 18 months.
Sharing what she feels will be the next step for the centre, Bisi Silva said, "The advantage of being a small organisation is that we can run faster than others with our ability to look inwards for inspiration and our global reach. The organisation will continue to mutate, all things being well."
2010 promises to be an exciting year for the CCA. Silva called it "a landmark year in the history of Nigeria. 50 years of independence; and CCA will be asking who we are and who do we want to be, through a diverse programme that explores art, fashion and post colonial identification."
In addition to commercial galleries there are obviously also the foreign cultural institutes in Lagos, most prominently the Goethe Institute, the British Council and Alliance Francaise. The Goethe Institute was currently holding a very interesting exhibition of works by Ayo Aina, a graduate of ABU Zaria, and I had originally meant to attend the opening on Saturday evening. However, unfortunately this was the day Zico’s business partners decided to come down to Lagos and I had to evacuate the room in his apartment – and after the panic attacks involved in searching for a hotel room on such short notice and finally having arrived at my new place in Obalende area it was already over an hour late and I honestly really wasn’t in the mood to leave the room again. I still think that this was really bad timing and I lost a good chance to make some interesting contacts in the town but there will another chance another time. Anyway, I finally went to the Goethe Institute on Monday morning hoping to make an appointment for some other day. I ended up having a brief but informative conversation with the director right then. I have to confess that I was a bit surprised b this and otherwise would probably have asked one or the other additional question but on the whole I think I got most of the information I had come for. The occasion of my visit had been that the Goethe Institute organised a workshop for photographers in Kano some time last year. During my brief visit in June/July I had attended the opening of the exhibition of the works that had come out of this workshop at the History and Culture Bureau in Kano. Now I was interested in some more background information on the workshop as well as other activities of the Goethe Institute in the northern region. In addition I had planned to visit the Alliance Francaise in Lagos but between the other places I attended I didn’t really find time to do so. I would really have been interested in the reasons that the branch in Maiduguri was apparently closed and to clarify whether the Kano outlet is still active or, as somebody has suggested to me, largely stopped its cultural activities. I guess I will now have to find out from the branches.
There must be quite a number o galleries in Lagos and I have certainly not visited all of them. However, I managed to have a look at some of them in the mornings before going to the National Gallery or in the afternoon after having finished there for the day. The first gallery I visited, apart from Terra Kulture where the works of the Kano workshop were exhibited, was Nimbus, a rather small space attached to a guest house in Ikoyi, just off Awolowo Road. I didn’t’ find any works by artists from the northern regions of Nigeria there but a good collection of back issues of New Culture Magazine as well as Nigeria Magazine which were on sell for 500 Naira (£ 2). Also on Awolowo Road are Signature Gallery and Quintessence, and, in fact, with the owner of the former I had a brief but quite interesting discussion about the current generation of artists in Zaria and why he thinks their works do not perform well at the art market. He also strongly recommended I speak to the owner of the Signature Gallery in Abuja in more detail. The biggest surprise was the Centre for Contemporary Arts, which is a new outfit based in Yaba. In contrast to the other places this one has been conceived more as a cultural centre with particular focus on contemporary arts. It has an exhibition space and a surprisingly extensive library. In addition the owner, Bisi Silva, also organises talks and presentations on the arts. In fact, she invited me to come back towards the end of my year in Nigeria and give a presentation, something along the lines of research notes. Well, I don’t mind having an excuse to come back and explore Lagos a bit further – although, compared to Maiduguri and even Abuja this town is a money eating monster and I will have to have a serious look at my finances before I make that decision.
In Maiduguri the keeper of the local branch of the National Gallery of Arts (NGA), Mr. Edore, had suggested I check out the archives and storage of the NGA in Lagos. He also explained that I would need to obtain clearance from the Head Office, if possible the Director General, in Abuja. Hence, before I went to Abuja I contacted their public relations officer and finally met with her the day after I arrived. She was very kind and helpful and introduced me to the Head of Curatorial Practices. He in turn wrote me a letter of introduction for the keeper in Lagos. Once in Lagos, I went to the National Gallery. I was taken around the exhibition – which unfortunately only displays a limited number of works at the moment as the second exhibition floor is currently being renovated – and allowed access to the library, the storage of works and their files about works and the artists represented in their collection. Especially, the latter proved to be an interesting source about some of the better established artists from Zaria for which their contained extensive CVs. So much that I ended up spending almost three days making use of their facilities.
The advantage of flying to Lagos was that, despite a delay of about an hour, I arrived in good time to check out the exhibition at Terra Kulture still the first day. Practically, the exhibition venue was only 2 minutes drive from the apartment and Zico’s driver, who knew the place, dropped me there and picked me up again an hour later. Terra Kulture, by the way, seems to be a really lovely venue. On the ground floor there is a restaurant and on the second floor a quite big exhibition space. The exhibition was entitled ‘Celebrating the Traditional Crafts of Northern Nigeria’ and showcased works produced during but also independently of the British Council/Prince’s School of Traditional Arts Workshop. They were beautifully showcased and, good news for the participants, a good number had already been sold. Unfortunately I had missed the opening of the exhibition for which all the workshops’ participants as well as Fossua and David, the course facilitators, had come down to Lagos. By the time I arrived most of them had already travelled back. Only Sadiq had stayed behind to attend to the exhibition and its visitors as well as represent CADDAK, the craft organisation formed by the course members. Sadiq suggested that the feedback for the exhibition was very positive, something a member of the gallery staff confirmed. In fact, many visitors – Nigerian as well as expat – were surprised that Northern Nigeria had such beautiful art and craft traditions. This probably harks back to the general assumption expressed to me by many people that the north does, supposedly, not have any viable art traditions – and by implication meaningful contemporary arts. In fact, however, this exhibition and the works presented seem to have allowed CADDAK to make contacts with the local Chamber of Commerce who offered to assist them financially to attend and present their works at trade fairs.