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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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:
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."
By Stanley Oronsaye with agency report, December 8, 2010, 01:14AM
While President Goodluck Jonathan is justifying the lifting of the ban on textile materials, furniture, toothpicks, and cassava products, the Nigerian Textiles Manufacturers Association has expressed shock at the development.
Executive secretary of the association, Jaiyeola Olarewaju, said without rectifying the anomaly in the operating environment, the move would destroy the sector. He said that the lifting of the ban, when local textiles could not compete with foreign made ones, would lead to complete over running of the local market.
“Stakeholders maintain that the ban should be maintained until the operating environment is conducive, as most industry products cannot compete because of current high cost of production,” Mr. Olarewaju said.
Listing the problems still plaguing the sector, he said that electricity was still not available, the cost of diesel, gas, and LPPO were still prohibitive.
Ban lifting justified
Justifying the lifting of the ban, President Goodluck Jonathan said the move was predicated on the need to discourage smuggling of the products and to benefit from the revenue that would be derived in import duty payments.
“Unpatriotic persons have capitalised on some of the lapses in our enforcement strategies by making use of neighbouring ports to import these items and ship them overland to Nigeria. The result today is that our economy is worse for it, even as we are losing billions each month on duties that ought to have accrued to government,” Mr. Goodluck said on his Facebook wall posting.
According to him, the objective of the ban, which is to stimulate local production, is not being met.
“We are thus losing vital income that could have been directed into critical sectors such as education, health, and critical infrastructure,” Mr. Jonathan said.
Aggravated unemployment
However, Mr. Olanrewaju faulted the move, saying that it came at a time when government was providing support to the industries to revamp their operations.
“The government is more concerned about the loss of revenue, but it forgets that lifting the ban when products cannot compete with foreign made ones would only lead to shutting of these industries and would aggravate unemployment situation,” he said.
He wondered how its members would pay back the loans from the Bank of Industry (BoI) if the industries could not be productive because of the new policy.
“It means that the government will take over the factories sooner or later when they cannot meet their obligations to BoI. Government should continue to protect us until the operating environment is right,” he said.
That’s what happens when you don’t pay attention for a few days/week/months, you miss out on articles like this which touches upon the subject of one of your core chapters. I’m not quite sure when it was published (google tells me 21/04/2010) but check it out on Next Online. I still take the freedom to fully reproduce it here, simply because I don’t think there has yet enough been written (at least not in publications I have had access to) about this art tradition (compare that to the breadth of literature on truck arts in Afghanistan/India/Pakistan):
As children growing up in Benin City in the 50s, we had to invent games. Benin City being a popular stopover town on the main road that linked the then capital, Lagos, and the Western Region to Onitsha and the Eastern Region (and even Cameroon), was a busy and ideal place to spot the many cars and lorries (before the advent of luxury buses) that passed through. So, we invented a quiz game based on memory, observation and descriptive powers. Essentially, the game was to spot a lorry, memorise its licence number, know its brand name, its colour and the inscriptions on the front board above the windscreen; which was where most of the idiomatic and poetic sayings were boldly written.
The lorry-spotting quiz game was intricate and complex. The variations went like this: you called out a licence number, or a brand name, or the inscription, as clues. Your opponent was then supposed to fill in the other bits of information. The first clue could be God’s Time Is The Best and, if you knew the lorry, the answers would be LE 268, Bedford, Blue. You had to match the clues to particular lorries. Or you could start with LE 268 and the correct answer would be God’s Time Is The Best, Bedford, Blue. The inscription and licence number were the major clues.
Surprisingly, any attempt to fake or cheat was invariably found out; for, at most, within two weeks, these same lorries frequently passed through Benin City in one and then the opposite direction. Also, it took most lorries about one whole hour to stop for a food-and-petrol break and then drive through and out of Benin City. This meant that children who knew and participated in the game would most likely have seen the lorry, and memorised its peculiar particulars.
As our fascination with brand names: Bedford, Austin, Morris; colours and licence plate numbers gradually faded, we became more fascinated and intrigued by the messages the lorries bore. The messages became the main point of interest and the major clue in the lorry-spotting puzzle.
‘No Telephone to Heaven’ became my all-time favourite message. Maybe it was because telephones were relatively new and few in Benin City then. It was always a big thrill when we were allowed to talk on the telephone with our friends; some of whom were in ‘far-away’ Agbor. The idea of Heaven and talking to Almighty God himself, I agreed, was both unthinkable and impossible!
‘The Lord Is My Shepherd’, ‘Remember Six Feet’, ‘Save Journey’, ‘Slow And Steady’, ‘No Hurry In Life’, ‘Trust In God’, ‘God’s Case No Appeal’ and ‘Beware Of Friends’, were some of the memorable messages of my lorry-spotting youth. They were in the realm of social/public service and traffic education; more so when I remember that in those days on the narrow Benin City-Lagos road, there were many signs that read, ‘Beware, Elephant Crossing.’ In essence, these lorries took their messages across Nigeria and, can be rightly regarded as innovative travelling billboards with words of warning and wisdom.
Later in my early teens when my father was transferred to Yoruba land, I noticed that nearly all the lorries (Bolekajas) were Bedford and their messages were in Yoruba. Being that kids master languages fast, I was able to decipher that my favourite ‘Ewe Nla’ meant that a big leaf can never become a small leaf.
When I travelled with my Kings College multi-sport team to play against Achimota College near Accra, I was amazed to notice the Ghanaian versions of these lorries. Called Tro Tros, they were all Bedford, had their own fascinating messages with a definitely Ghanaian flavour and a different sitting arrangement; with the passengers’ backs towards the driver’s back, both looking at opposite directions.
Advent of Mercedes lorries
As from the 70s, a new dimension of lorry-body-art became noticeable on Nigerian roads. It seemed that all the Bedford, Austin, Morris lorries had disappeared, to be replaced by Mercedes Benz 911 lorries. The shape of the front of the 911 is all moulded metal and so a new form of lorry art or travelling art evolved. This is tailgate art. The messages on the back top wooden board are mostly not exciting, mostly mundane ‘Peace Movement’ or in Igbo accompanied by a huge date of a calendar year. On the tail gate are artworks; usually stylised, of lions in combat with men wielding karate kicks (the influence of Chinese films) and a speed limit. ‘No Standing’, ‘Horn Before Overtaking’ are standard instructions which are always disobeyed. Another original aspect of tailgate art is the signature and addresses of the artists that are prominently displayed.
A few months before Pope John Paul 11 was to visit Nigeria in 1998, I ventured into what was literarily a museum of stationary travelling art. Travelling through Mgbidi between Onitsha and Owerri at night, we drove past mile-long German Benz luxury buses parked on either side of the road; each with a religious motif, usually Jesus, painted on the back, and holy Catholic scenes on the sides. ‘Covered By The Blood Of Jesus’, ‘Psalm 119’ and ‘Jesus Saves’ were some of the iconic talismanic messages offered to potential passengers of these luxury buses that ply long distances across Nigeria.
Diseye Tantua employed a mix of these sayings in a collaboration that incorporated fragments of Fela’s Afrobeat lyrics for his Afro Pop Art ‘Look & Laugh’ exhibition in Lagos in 2009. In works like ‘Time Wait 4 Nobody’, ‘Original Hustler’, ‘Democrazy’, ‘Water No Get Enemy’, ‘No Event No History’, ‘Suffer Work & Chop’, ‘Life No Get Fotokopy’, ‘Chop Alone Quench Alone’ and ‘No Time 4 Nonsense’, Tantua made this marriage successful by blending colour and meaning to achieve new reason.
A carefully selected mix of classic, loaded, one-liners; expressions of witticism, wisdom, warning, wailing, barbed street humour, quasi-spiritual invocations, veiled threats, political protest, social commentary, common sense; the sublime and absurd masterfully hued and garnished in colour tones.
Foretaste of uprising
In an astonishing journey down the Forcados River in September 2005, I got a foretaste of the great unrest to come in the volatile oil-rich Niger Delta. At virtually every turn in the snaking creeks, we were accosted by armed red- head-band-wearing militants in motor-powered dug-out canoes, who wanted to know our mission. Our knowledge of the lingua franca of the Niger Delta let us through. Then out of the blue we saw ahead of us a huge goods-and-people transport boat.
Incredibly, on the back of the huge loaded boat, was a painting of a man with both his arms raised aloft in a clenched-fist salute of defiance and revolution, and above his head was written the slogan UPRISING. For those familiar with reggae music, this piece of travelling art is a tribute to Bob Marley’s album with the same title. As I raised my hitherto hidden camera to grab a sneak shot; in what could be odds of one in a million, a young man riding on the roof of the boat also raised his hands “in uprising” to collaborate Marley’s musical statement and the mood of the Niger Delta. The message was clear.
Also, not sure whether I already before linked to this article by Soyinka on the same subject.
