A little flea called St. Aying

I have to confess to an idea, a little flea somebody put into my ear already quite a while ago and that's now established a family that's slowly working its way right through my brain. The flea's called: St. Aying. - Sure, the originator of this little insect is currently not really relevant in any plans I'm making but this little monster has nevertheless developed a live of its own. Or rather, some environmental factors have encouraged the flea to start his little family that is now effecting my plans for next year:

For a number of reasons, some due to my own originally wrong approach, some to certain deplorable character traits of mine, others to time wasted on, lets call it: administrative issues (I already lost over two months earlier this year, another two weeks this month and will probably have to spend some more time on it later next month), I'm not really satisfied with the progress I have made with my research, the reason for which I originally came. And now it looks like there might be an opportunity to get a job here and, hence, extend my stay for another year or so while accomodation is provided and I earn a living wage.

I haven't yet really made up my mind and would be very grateful for any comments, hints and feedback ... I'm not yet hundred percent sure about the implications regarding my grant and the regulations of the school. After all, I was hoping to use this time to finish and write up my PhD while still in the field, while being able to rather easily contact my informants to clarify any questions I might be having. Hence, I will have to undertake a little bit of research before I take any final decision but ... well, I got a tentatively positive feedback from my supervisor just today and feel quite encouraged by that. So, yeah, really interested in further feedback and opinions ... you can leave comments on this side and you have my email, I assume, so pls. help me make up my mind and take the right decision!!!

Guys, its finally getting hot here, hot by Nigerian terms this is, I mean, don’t try to tell me anything below 30 is hot – its not, this here is hot. I mean, even stubborn me is now seriously thinking about giving up on her jeans (though they’re so practical getting on and off the achabas) and considering to leave the fan on overnight – just in case NEPA discovers it has a heart and some pity with a suffering baturiya and sends light. I guess, I hope, the heat means that finally, finally the rains are also reaching Kano. After the first couple of thunderstorms in Maiduguri I was actually deeply disappointed to come and find that Kano, which supposedly has the milder climate, actually has hardly seen any rain yet. Yesterday it rained … somewhere, all we got were some excited winds, some lightning and the occasional thunder. That’s like holding a piece of chocolate right under the nose of a chocoholic on diet!!!

Apart from the heat and a tiny little accident with an achaba (too much traffic, the driver too impatient and my foot too fat to fit through the needle-hole he wanted to get through … or rather, one toe to many and now the little one’s a bit … well, I really don’t want to let the art historian hang out by analysing the different shades of blue, red, green and yellow!) I’m actually still enjoying Kano. In fact, looks like Samir (of the barber shop right around the corner of the camp) is tomorrow going to show me where to go swimming in Kano. If I’m not already brain-dead by then, that is. I’m meeting with Ibrahim in the early eve, will go for some nice food with later, 11pm I’m invited for clubbing (yeah, I’m curious as well) and tomorrow at 8:30 (latest) I’m meeting Eunice and her friend for church. So, I might as well fall asleep at the pool … let’s just hope their life guards are attentive enough to safe me in time.

Health and Safety a la Nigeria

I don’t know whether the term jincheng means anything to any of you, but if it does you know that they – even for motorcycles – are not the … how to put it: I’d say with a bit of squeezing and a stable luggage thingy there is just about enough space for the driver and two adult passengers – and these two are better in good terms because that is the closest you’ll get to anybody here in public, in fact even at home somebody sooner or later would ask you to get a room if you really want that much body contact.
But this being Nigeria – and the health and safety standards my WEA tutors hammered into me during last year’s teaching course simply don’t apply here – some parents actually manage to pick up five primary school children with a bike like this. Just so you get it right: That’s two children in front, the adult driver, three kids clinging to each other (the last one to the luggage thingy as well) behind him, and a couple of schoolbags hanging down at the side. And now don’t be fooled into thinking that I’ve seen this on a quite neighbourhood street where traffic goes slow (and even there would be bumps that make me to hold on tightly to the luggage thingy in order not to fall off the bike). No, BUK road does by no means qualify as such, at this particular time of the day its closer to an express way in character. In fact, daddy (?) was apparently in such a hurry that he still had to overtake my already speeding achaba driver!
Don’t get me wrong I’ve seen people transporting five or so mattresses (on end on the passenger’s head who’s holding them and the driver balancing the other end), goats (actually, I’ve seen some poor goats tied onto the roof of a VW-bus on the highway between Maiduguri and Kano) and whole pieces of furniture (an office desk) on those bikes; bus conductors are routinely hanging outside the door if the bus is full (or just the men’s section if they don’t put men and women together) … you get the point, but hey, come on, hold on for a sec and think that this is not just about your own adult life but also that of those kids!!! Or do you really have so many that one falling off the bike doesn’t really matter?!? – Sorry for getting cynical.
(No photos unfortunately of either as each time I was either myself on a bike or in a care too squeezed in to pull out my camera. So you’ll just have to believe me.)

Running up and down FAA Departments

I’ve been running up and down between the Fine and Applied Arts Departments at the Federal College of Education and Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso, here in Kano distributing questionnaires for students and members of staff, finishing off the Hausa translation of the student questionnaire – yes, students at Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, tomorrow’s (art) teachers don’t know enough English (at least theoretically the language of instruction in schools after the first years) for the teaching to be conducted in English, let alone for me to administer English questionnaires -, and attending (or trying to) teaching sessions. If I find time in-between that I’m making rather extensive use of the library of the History and Culture Bureau that contains some BA, MA and PhD theses on Kano, its history and local crafts – currently finally reading Prof. Salihu Suleiman’s thesis on the role and relevance of art in education in Nigeria (Ohio State University, 1974, unpublished, I think). Prof. Suleiman is the one who put together the original curriculum of the Creative Arts Department in Maiduguri and I’m hoping that his thesis is going to give me some insight into his intentions and ideas behind it. (And, as I’m running out of time I might not be able to stop over for a longer period of time in Bauchi where, if I’m not mistaken, he is currently based, so his thesis might be the closest I get to him.) Well, and Thursday’s holiday (Democracy Day) I used to hunt down the local lorry drivers, or rather I tried to. I thought I knew where they were (Unguwa Uku Motorpark) but turned out I was wrong. So the very helpful officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers put me onto an achaba into the town, more exactly Kofar Mata. There, just next to the local Gidan Wanka da Bahaya (well, how do I translate this best? I have never used one but think it’s something of a public bath and toilet – honestly, here Kano is so much ahead of Maidguri where I’ve never seen any public conveniences at all. Instead … you don’t want me to spell that out here.) … anyway, close to the Gidan Wanka there is supposedly a workshop of lorry painters. Problem is only that there are at least three of those Gidan Wanka close to the gate and two of them were at a road that was closed off because of Democracy Day. My achaba driver tried to argue with the guards on my behalf – he might have felt that they should have made an exception for the baturiya on research – but they insisted to treat me like everybody else and, yes, I think they did the right thing there, although it obviously delayed me. Anyway, so I will have to go back there one of the next days and ask around for somebody to point me towards the right direction … whenever I’ll find time between FCE, SRCoE, Kano State Polytechnic (they have an art department and resume next week), the library and other appointments.

Still alive and finally moving on to Kano!!!

Alright, its almost exactly two months since my last entry. Sorry for that but, to my defence, there has hardly been anything worth reporting going on. I spent my time dealing with administrative issues – I mean, anybody seen and/or remembers the Asterix and Cleopatra film? There is this sequence when Asterix and Obelix are requested to just get a simple document from some Roman bureaucrats and kept on being send from one to the other and nobody actually feels responsible … That gets kind of close to the experience of the last few weeks, just without the magic drink!

Since yesterday I’m free (for the moment) and will travel to Kano to continue my research there. Finally. I have been waiting for this ever since I came back from Abuja/Lagos and have had people there asking were I was several times. So, now I’m finally actually going and really looking forward to a bit of a change and some progress with my work.

Though, its not completely true that nothing news-worthy happened the last few weeks. After all I just acquired a new senior brother!!! Abdul Azeez, as he is called, is working at the Postgraduate School at Unimaid and we’ve been coming across each other a lot during the last few weeks (usually he making me wait for him for hours!) and we’ve finally decided that this had to be formalised somehow – hence, now he’s officially the senior brother I never had. And I love the way people look at us when we tell them so: Same mother, same father!!! No, really, he’s coming after daddy and I’m more looking like mummy! Love it. Now I just need to work out how to tell my parents!!! (-:




Oh, and I experimented with local baking techniques and it actually works: you can do a reasonable bread in a pot on firewood if the pots half-filled with sand and the bread rest on that very same sand. – Tomorrow we’ll try whether it also works for pizza, though, I couldn’t find cheese when I was running up and down the shops today. Supposedly there is some kind of tinned cheddar available from some shops at Gidan Madara but … couldn’t find it! Just tinned cream fresh. Which is not exactly the same. But we’ll see how it works out.

P.S. Just as a side-note: My usual internet cafe has currently not working generator so is not available and somehow I seem to be unable to open facebook from the one I'm using currently. So to all facebook friends, sorry, bear with me until I'm finally in Kano!!!

And, again I have been asked to come up with, this time an article, on rather short notice. Ususally that wouldn't be an issue at all and in fact, as I'm back in Maiduguri mainly to sort out some administrative issues and can't really plan any other activities before I know my appointment dates, it should really be giving me something useful to do with my time here. But ... I don't know, usually writer's block is not a serious issue for me and I have written essays in shorter periods of time but now ... I actually wonder whether this is not rather stage fright then a writer's block. I mean, I can't even make up my mind which aspect of my field research to write about!!! So, yes, maybe its really the fact that this is not 'just' for my supervisor but will be printed and potentially read by lots and lots of people. - And before you mention it, no a blog is something else. Its not even meant to be academically sound in terms of content and language!!! ... ... ... Oh, and before I give the wrong impression again: there is a part of me that is really really happy to be back in Maiduguri, its just that in terms of my research I should have moved on to Kano by now!!! As a private person I'm happy to be back here and have some more time with some people I really care about.

Back in Maiduguri

I have just arrived back from two weeks travelling on the occasion of the exhibition of the works that have come out of the British Council workshop in Kano I attended before Christmas. The exhibition entitled ‘Celebrating the Traditional Crafts of Northern Nigeria’ was held at Terra Kulture, a culture centre with restaurant and exhibition space on Victoria Island, Lagos. For the moment, just let me say how happy and grateful I am to be safely back in Maiduguri. I mean, I have done the nine to ten hour journey between Maiduguri and Abuja before and actually really enjoyed watching the landscape slowly getting less dry, lusher and more tropical the further south we get. The only thing I ever seriously worried – other then the pain in my back and legs – was the speed with which these cars manoeuvre these streets full of bigger and smaller potholes. And, as a matter of fact when Nabil and has Lagos based friend urged me to take a flight from Abuja to Lagos and back rather then a bus because the road wasn’t safe I didn’t really take them serious. It was more to appease Nabil who even told me he’d rather give me the money for the flights and know I’m safe then having me take the bus that I finally took a plane (using my own money, of course). Irony, irony, it appears that the car I took from Abuja on my way back here only narrowly escaped some armed robbers on the supposedly safe road between Damaturu and Maiduguri. In fact, I learned a young girl was shot. And that only a few minutes drive after an army check point. Had we left the motor park half an hour earlier, had the driver known the road (he usually serves the Abuja-Sokoto road and had to be directed by the passengers) and, hence, driven faster … I don’t even want to think about it and I’m just immensely grateful to be safely back in Maiduguri! For the moment …

Signature Gallery, Abuja

On my way back from Lagos to Maidguri I had another stop-over in Abuja and I used the day there to meet up with Hussein Akar, the owner of Signature Gallery in Abuja. He wasn’t around when I first popped by on Thursday on the way from the airport to Ella’s place but I was able to make an appointment for the next day. I was a bit nervous about meeting him because, despite the recommendation to see him by his uncle at the Signature Gallery in Lagos and Nabil’s friends, I wasn’t really quite sure whether I had enough questions for him to justify disturbing him. However, it turned out to be a really useful and interesting discussion. In fact, he was kind enough to call one Zaria graduate during our conversation to pass on one of my questions and provided me with his number and that of somebody at the Society of Nigeria Artists before I left. At the same time, his emphasis on Zaria graduates, Lagos as an important place of residence for artists from different parts of the country and also the art market, his suggestion that it might be more fruitful to go via galleries and the Society of Nigerian artists then local art schools in the north itself left me a bit insecure about my own approach. But maybe, because I am anyway not really satisfied with how I conducted things here in Maiduguri, this is a good impulse to further review and change my approaches … But this is something I will have to discuss with my supervisor first.

Goethe Institute

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.

Galleries

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.

National Gallery of Arts

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.

Terra Kulture

Terra Kulture

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.

Lagos

I’ve never been in Lagos before and had heard some not too encouraging stories about the dangers and pitfalls of this city. So, when one of Nabil’s best friends, Zico, offered to host me I was actually really grateful and relieved. Not only because this would save me quite a lot of money as accommodation in Lagos is really expensive but also because I offered that his driver could be me up at the airport – yes, airport. Both, Nabil and Zico strongly urged me to take a plane to Lagos rather then a bus as I had originally planned and with all that money for accommodation saved I had run out of arguments. So, I spend my first few days at Zico’s place at Victoria Island and, wow, what a change after four months without much power supply or running water!!! I mean, can you believe it: a proper shower with hot water! Well, and air condition, a well filled bar, a dart board in the lounge, a household help and a driver. Oh, and the guys were not only pretty nice and entertaining, they also took me out for dinner and a proper night out on Saturday! Only … I don’t know whether its my East German upbringing, all those socialist values coming through, or just that servants are not part of the lifestyle of anybody I know or … I don’t know, to me there is something weird about this kind of expat life style the guys introduced me to. I can’t really put my finger on it but … I mean, one of their friends actually told me that he’s in Nigeria for a few years now and has never taken suya (barbequed meat Nigerian style, delicious) and that’s not because he’s vegetarian or so! Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed getting some extremely nice Indian, Chinese and Tex-Mex food as a change from my usual diet of local dishes and the occasional Lebanese treat but … and also it was great to spend a whole night out chatting with the guys and dancing but having security escort you back to your car because it is not safe to go on your own kind of leaves a bitter after-taste. I mean, at the end of the day the insecurity of Lagos has a lot to do with the enormous gap between rich and poor in this country. I mean, this gap also exists in Maiduguri but somehow it appeared more clearly to me in Lagos – come on, a house help, a driver, security at the gate, air condition, outings which are paid for in 10.000s of Nairas on the one hand, piss poor beggars at the road side on the other hand, that just rubs it in. I don’t know, I don’t think I could live like that … and yes, I know that’s quite hypocritical in a way to say that because not only did I absolutely enjoy having European standards again for a few days (and chances are I will go back to them at the end of this year anyway) but even in Maiduguri I’m better off, enjoying a better life-style then many Nigerians and there I don’t really think about it …
Anyway, after a few nights, the guys got a short notice visit from some business partners and because the company pays for the apartment I had to quickly move out. Looking back that was actually quite funny, how Zico didn’t know how to tell me and ended up calling Nabil in Maiduguri to call me back in Lagos and break the news to me. And, how I then started to ring all the hotels in my guide book – and of course, the only one I actually got through didn’t have any room for the same day – and already saw myself sleeping under some bridge when Zico’s driver came to pick me up because I had to leave before my calls had achieved anything. In fact, they had already found a hotel for but neither Zico nor the driver had told me, so for two minutes I had a proper panic attack … anyway, the hotel turned out to be good value for money and was right back in Nigeria – I mean, streets bustling with traders and food stalls around it, bucket showers, cockroaches, air condition but the window doesn’t close anyway, suya, fried yam … what a change from Victoria Island and a pretty welcome one in a lot of regards. It took me a bit out of this bubble that expat life in Lagos appears to be to me. This is not to say that I’ve experienced anything close to the ‘real’ Lagos of most people based there – there were too many areas, especially at the mainland I didn’t go to, partly for lack of time (which I mainly spent at the National Gallery and about this more another time) and because I was told it would be pretty dangerous to go there on my own – even more so at night, to the extend that I was seriously told off for going out in the dark on my own to buy some dinner from a suya stall two corners away from my hotel, an area I was told was otherwise safe enough. But it certainly accorded me some independence and flexibility that I never feel I quite have if I’m staying with somebody else – and giving that there was a lot of things I felt I had to do in Lagos, a lot of places to go to – this was actually quite good.

Abuja

I’ve been in Abuja for a few days before but didn’t really enjoy it last, so apart from a chance to see Ella, a friend and recent graduate from the Department of Creative Arts here in Maiduguri, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. Even more so as I was hoping to attend the opening evening of the exhibition at Terra Kulture of the works that have come out of the British Council workshop in Kano I attended before Christmas. The exhibition entitled ‘Celebrating the Traditional Crafts of Northern Nigeria’ was held at Terra Kulture, a culture centre with restaurant and exhibition space on Victoria Island, Lagos. But couldn’t leave Maiduguri early because I was hoping to attend an event at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) branch here on 16 February and stopping over in Abuja made it impossible to reach Lagos in time. In the end I could have easily left earlier as the Saturday Art Club at the NGA didn’t take place, but that I only found out at the day itself. Anyway, I spent three nights in Abuja where I stayed with Ella and her family. And, while my primary objective had been to obtain a letter of clearance from the head quarters in order to use the archive and storage of the NGA in Lagos – being in Lagos anyway for the exhibition I can as well make the most of this say - Ella and I also visited some more art related places – in particular, the exhibition at the Arts and Culture complex and signature gallery. In addition Ella also tried to show me some of the places in Abuja she likes and/or thought would interest me. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time but still managed to get some lovely Italian style ice cream – the first proper ice cream I had since I’m in Nigeria –, go out one evening for snooker and some drinks, in effect the first time in months that I stayed out longer than my nine o’clock curfew here in Maiduguri, and visited some of her friends and family that are based in town … oh, and as they have a pretty reliable power supply where Ella stays in Abuja I also managed to watch most of the second serious of Ugly Betty, and if you’d seen how I was glued to that serious in London you’d know what that meant to me!!! So, yes, while I’m still not really a fan of Abuja this time I really enjoyed my stay – basically, thanks to Ella!

Lorry Painters in Maiduguri

Lorry Painters in Maiduguri

There are three main motor parks in Maiduguri and close to each of them there also appears a place where lorries are repaired and, assumingly, painted. And with painting lorries I don’t just mean spraying them in some colour but producing these wonderful designs that for me distinguish lorries and trucks here in Nigeria from those on German or English roads. [Just to give you an idea of how beautiful these trucks are check out some of my pictures: …] Generally the whole business of lorry painting is associated with Jos but since I am here I have seen trucks that appear to have been painted in numerous other places, in fact, every bigger centre of trade appears to have at least some lorry painters. This is at least the impression the signatures and contact details lorry painters practically often leave on their designs convey.

Anyway, it appears the there are no lorry painters at Tashin Kano, one of Maiduguri’s big motor parks. When we asked for them one evening last week workers there didn’t even really know what we were talking about – and my friend who accompanied is fluent in Hausa, so it wasn’t an issue of language. And, in fact, on Saturday an artist based close by confirmed to me that there actually are no lorry painters based there.

However, after that frustrated evening trying to find them at Tashin Kano I discovered a lot of those beautifully decorated trucks in a side street of West End Roundabout in an area where a lot of traders appear to be based. I took quite a few snaps, most importantly I came across one design that appeared to be executed in Maiduguri. Next day I returned with a printout of this particular motif and started asking around whether anybody knew the guys. And, luck being on my side, the guy who owned the truck pop up, took me down to Tashin Baga and helped me find two lorry painters. Another one was introduced to me on Friday when I was asking for one of them and nobody could locate him. And, finally, I also came across the one who did the body work of the motif I had printed out and turns out he’s in his seventies and must have been in the business for decades. Problem is I will need a translator to speak to him and I’m running out of time.

Anyway, I managed to talk to three of them … or rather I had a proper interview with one of them, the two others … well, basically I spend the morning being dragged around by them and shown off to different local officials and the afternoon to get them talk to me and commission some works while they spent the money I gave them to by (non-alcoholic) drinks on getting drunk around me. Anyway, while it’s not been a particularly pleasant and efficient afternoon I think I still managed to get some relevant information out of them and to commission them to each execute one of their designs on canvas for me. Today I was able to already collect two of them, another one – inshallah or by God’s grace – on Wednesday.

The interesting thing is that only one of the three lorry painters is originally from Maiduguri, and by this I mean that he was born and brought up in the town. In fact, it appears that he is a graduate of the Creative Arts Department at the University of Maiduguri. The other two did not only grow up outside the town and state but also had there training there – one in Kano and the other one in Jos. So, there might be some interesting links between the different places, maybe it might even be possible to come up with some kind of family tree.

Again, I haven’t left a message here for a while, so, instead of a long text and explanations maybe just a few snaps of the final exhibition at the Department of Creative Arts, Unimaid.

Since, then I’m actually more around town, trying to talk to the guys in the numerous art shops around town. Just yesterday I was hinted at one by the former head of the arts department at the local college of education, and actually, finally, finally, a proper calligrapher. He appears to be all about town as well so its been a bit tricky to make an appointment with him but hopefully tomorrow morning …

In fact, let me also add one or two images of works by students of Kashim Ibrahim College of Education here in town. The only comment I want to make for the moment: when looking at them pls. bear in mind that many of them might not have had any art education before they joined the college, and I really mean none at all. Although theoretically art is compulsory subject in primary and junior secondary school many schools don’t teach it. Why? Well, lack of funding in the form of art rooms and art materials goes a long way to explain it. But there is also a lack of qualified teachers. And, understandably somehow, with the limited resources many headmasters seems to prefer to use the available funds towards technical and science education. So, as a matter of fact, many qualified art teachers seem to end up teaching other subjects or leaving the profession at all. A sentiment, by the way, many parents seem to share. So, yes, many of the students joining the college’s art department might not have had any art instructions at all … and of course, this might show in some of the works. Or, like a graduate of the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Maiduguri put it: With such a late start, how can (northern) Nigerian artists be expected to compete with Western artists who got their first art instructions in nursery, kindergarten or latest primary school?

Oh, and just to quickly contradict the impression that I’m pretty depressed here: I’m not. Most of the time I’m actually enjoying it (just think of all the delicious food around here … just say: suya!!!). And come on, does that look like I’m not enjoying myself here?

And some of the stuff that frustrates me I would actually find quite funny if it wasn’t me myself being involved in it. And wait until I’m back in good ol’ Europe because by that time I will think they’re funny and get onto your nerves with them!!! But more about this another time.

All about Town this week!

Last Monday one of my informants, Abdullahi – I might have mentioned him before, took me around to introduce me to some other artists in town. This came quite handy, as with some of them I had tried to make contact before, others I hadn’t even know about before. But in any case, in the end this yielded some interesting information. Especially as one of them is actually a sculptor by profession and when he decided to stay in Maiduguri after his Youth Service Year in Borno State had to think about ways of practicing his craft that would be acceptable locally and also earn him a living. Now he’s doing some really nice iron works, stair cases but also mirror frames, chandeliers, chairs, tables etc. And, occasionally he’s doing one or the other figurine he sells down in the south – one of which I now call my own and its really beautiful. Maybe one of these days I’ll post a picture.
I have also finally been to the museum again, though they didn’t seem to remember me from my visit in early July last year. It was actually quite interesting because I went with Abdullahi and the owner of one of the art shops he took me to. Curious how differently we react to different things and how much they seem to have enjoyed the visit and place while I’m actually quite critical of the lack of labelling, the state in which some of the exhibits are etc. In any case, I will have to go back, even though I still don’t really know how to best fit it into the context of my research and all the ideas of how to organise I have in my head.
Next week will be a challenge as I will have to finally get started seriously with the crafts in the town – I should have started earlier but I will need a translator and feel a bit shy about this … I know its silly, especially that this has stopped me to look at a whole sector of things in town but … I’ve never been an employer before, not even on small-scale.
Oh, and on a private note for all those who are not on facebook: Last week was the best ever food-wise. There were guest in the house for dinner on Friday and Saturday – the latter being Sarah’s birthday dinner – and accordingly some delicious food was prepared. I had lots of salad, fried fish, fried chicken pieces, jollof rice and yam balls. And on Sunday I was invited for a cheese, olives and Lebanese bread breakfast and later pounded yam with groundnut sauce for lunch!!! And, I’m invited for more of the same coming Sunday, only at a price: I have to watch Champions League, Manchester United against Tottenham … and I really loathe football. Not good right now anyway, as everybody gets excited about the African cup of Nations. And, I really haven’t had cheese since I’m in the country so … what else could I do but go?

Presentation at the Borno Museum Society

Alright, finally some impressions on my first research paper presented in Nigeria, ever. Its now almost a week since the presentation but because it came about on such short notice I spent so much time last week preparing, i.e. in front of the computer, that I had a strong desire to stay away from it for a few days … alright, the whole truth is, in addition I did some typing for some friends and (host) family who had to hand in assignments and by Saturday I was so tired that I left half of my equipment at the internet place, in fact, a quite important part: the power cable. This is the second time I left something essential in that place and got it back – last time it was my purse – and I seriously start to wonder whether I do have a whole set of guardian angels, plural because there must be at least one fully occupied with looking after all the things I loose and forget all the time!
Anyway, getting back to the presentation: You probably haven’t heard of the Borno Museum Society yet but they do have regular lecturers and occasionally publish really interesting books with regard to regional history and culture. Last week it was my turn for the presentations. “Contemporary Arts in Northern Nigeria – Research Notes.” I had been told in advance that attendance to the lectures fluctuates a lot depending on the topic, speaker and time of the academic year but could be anything between 10 and 50 people. To be honest, after I heard the 50 I became very reluctant to hand out any of the invitation letters I was given. I mean, 50 people is quite a daunting number, isn’t it. Especially if you are not familiar with them and the ground rules of the lecture series. And even more so, if you are expected to talk about a department of this very same university at which you’re giving your talk. And even worse, if the head of this department is chairing the session. I was even more discouraged when I first entered the lecture hall, or rather the conference room of the Centre for Trans-Saharan Studies, and found that the whole arrangement was very formal, rather for 50 than for 10 people and no way to rearrange anything to make it feel a bit more intimate. However, in the end only about 15 people turned up, most of them about 15 to 30 minutes late.
So, I started my presentation about 20 minutes late and actually made my way through it without any major complications, in fact there were not even the usual complains that I was speaking to quickly! (Not sure whether I’ve really become slower as a result of the teacher training with the WEA last year or these people are just used to quick speakers.) However, the questions at the end were … how do I put it? Challenging?
Some of them were to be expected, for example, I was very well aware of the fact that I hadn’t yet paid sufficient attention to the crafts in the region. Others came a bit to my surprise but mainly because I never had thought about it - like the request to include primary and secondary schools into my research. This makes of course a lot of sense if you think that this is were art education starts and children are prepared or discouraged from taking the subject further. However, at the same time there are probably thousands of primary schools in the region of northern Nigeria and I can’t really think of how I could ever choose a representative sample. And, of course the question of religion or rather Islam and arts was raised.
This was to be expected as I am talking about and trying to conduct research into the arts in a dominantly Muslim part of the country. And, obviously, I am interested in any argumentations with regard to that relationship. But, it should be equally obvious that as non-Muslim and not even an expert in Islamic arts I’m less than qualified to have an own opinion with regard to what is permitted or not. ence, I’d really like to hear all the different arguments, those of artists and art teachers but also local Muslim scholars. (However, with regard to the latter I’m not quite sure how best to make the contact.) And, maybe, but only maybe, by the end of this year I will be able to have a more clear idea about the relationship between arts and Islam or rather how it is understood here in northern Nigeria. – And with regard to that, I will have to have a more detailed discussion with some of the members of the audience to better understand their view and the arguments it is based upon.
So, yes, at the end of the day it was a good and intellectually stimulating experience – and it surely helped to refocus me after the holiday break. However, I have just been asked to present another paper or even the same one in another context and I have to confess the little scare in my tummy is right back with me!

Presenting a paper?!

Today (04/01/08) around 1 pm I received a message from Gisela Seidenstricker-Brikay, an expatriate researcher based at the University of Maiduguri, asking me whether I could possibly present a paper about my research, past or now, next Friday. My first reaction was: No way I’m not going to do that, I’m not feeling ready to present anything, last of all my undigested impressions of the Creative Arts Department at the University of Maiduguri to a room full of members of this same university!!! On second thought, I tried to see it as an opportunity to get feedback, hints and corrections on what I have been doing so far – and as a means to force me back into focus after the holiday period. Honestly, I’ve become lazy!!! But, in my defence: There were hardly any students or lecturers around, the owners of most of the art shops also travelled. And, hmmm, my mind was somewhere else … Fichtenwalde, Berlin, London, … and, last but not least, trying to figure out how to navigate local moral standards and still enjoy an occasional dinner at the local Lebanese restaurant. Not that I have to come to any conclusions in this regard. – Yes, forgive me: I love most of the local food and especially the women of my host family always rustle up some delicious food but once in a while I really feel like something different … and I don’t mind the company either. So, I thought, yes, let’s do it and hope the pressure will get me focused and organised again. But now, a few hours later I’m panicking at the very thought of it.
For once, I don’t really know what to present. I mean, yes, I’ve talked to students and some lecturers, attended performances, went to Kano for the British Council Course on Islamic Art, talked to the owners of some of the independent little art shops in town BUT I don’t think I have properly digested all this yet, I still haven’t managed to locate a proper documentation of the department’s history or any kind of archival material (it doesn’t really help that the current Head of Department only occupies his post for about two years and doesn’t really seem to take any interest in the department’s history or that I’ve not been able to win serious attention from his predecessor Dr. A.L. Satti, who has been at the department for a long time but appears to be constantly too busy to see me for more then a split-second), haven’t still met all the lecturers at the department (its been exam period so they were not required to be around) or with others I’m just not good enough to impose myself onto their time, there are still many areas in town where I haven’t checked for art shops, and I not been to the local museum. And those are only the faults and gaps I’m spontaneously aware of!!! Arrrrghhh, what have I done the last two months?!
A second reason I’m extremely nervous is that I don’t yet really know the context of this presentation. Yes, she wrote it would be informal and the audience would be made up of university folk but how informal is informal in the Nigerian academic context?
The third one is my not very good experience with such research colloquiums in the past. You ask for feedback but what you sometimes get is an all-round dismissal without any constructive criticism or someone getting hooked upon some minor detail and ignoring the wider context and all the questions you actually had to completely destruct all your self-esteem and belief in yourself and your work.
So, what have I got myself into?!
Unfortunately it’s too late and I need to send her the details and title sometime tomorrow. So all that is left is to panic!!! … … … And once, I’m trough with this, go to bed, hope for the good old wonder of sleeping it over and pray for a Geistesblitz!!! Wallahi!

10 Finger Arts

The other day I finally received a painting, or rather two, I had commissioned some time early in November. I had met the guys from 10 Fingers Art Studio at the Borno Hotel Conference where they had a stall just next to Maiduguri’s Alhaji Mai Gana. I had particularly admired a picture of El-Kanemi, a reproduction of the most famous of all images of him, done in pyrotechnic on board. This was obviously impractical for me to buy so we discussed other possibilities. One idea was that they reproduce the image in oil on canvas for me in a radically smaller size. The other idea was that they paint me something that represents Adamawa culture or rather one of Adamawa’s cultures. This idea came out of the discussion in which both, Mustapha and Hassan, told me that they were actually based in Mubi, Adamwa state and that El-Kanemi had very little to do with their history. From my notes and memory we agreed they produce a cultural painting instead of the El-Kanemi one, after all the latter is a quite common image. And, I’m pretty sure I made that clear enough. However, yesterday Mustapha came around with two paintings, one of the El-Kanemi image and one of Wulma cultural dancers. He swore we agreed on two paintings. I don’t really want to accuse him of lying but I can’t help to suspect that he pretty well knows we agreed on one painting and just tried his luck. I mean, he wasn’t in the least surprised when I told him I remember to only have commissioned one painting and wasn’t the slightest bit willing to reduce the price for both together for me. And, I generally have the impression of he’s quite a clever businessman. For example he told me he would produce more cultural paintings for me and that this might just be the beginning of a good business relationship. And I would be very welcome to visit them in Mubi on my way to Yola – And I’m sure it will be very hard not to walk out there with another painting. In fact, the reason that I in the end bought both of them is the quite stark contrast between the two images. But have a look yourself:



I do seriously suspect that this has largely to do with the fact that the former is based upon an image, hence, the main composition and outlines are already provided, and has been reproduced by them at least one another time before, more likely several times.



Even more interestingly, Mustapha and his colleague Hassan have secured a contract with the Emir of Damaturu for a number of portrait paintings. While Mustapha was suggesting that he otherwise felt disrespected and mistreated by the organisers of the Borno State Hotel conference it is likely that this contact was made there.