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Jimbay, a dance production company, staged its first major production on Saturday, March 12 at the Ibru Gardens in Victoria Island, Lagos. The production, titled, ‘Tears in the Rain’, is the first in a series called ‘Corridors to Power’. According to the Logistics Director of Jimbay, Folakemi Cole, the Corridors to Power project is aimed at “getting artists to be more influential in society.” “Art is a very important part of life in general,” she said. “In the Western world, the arts are well acknowledged. Our aim is to achieve that degree of recognition and appreciation for the arts and artists here in Nigeria.” The evening started with cocktails and musical performances from up and coming artistes like Sammie, DFG, Aduke and East. Although all the artists who performed at the pre-show were virtually unknown to this reporter, they however all proved to be talented in their different genres of music which ranged from RnB and Hip-Hop to acoustic soul. The guests were highly impressed as they showered each talent with loud ovations. Amongst the guests were rapper Kel, dancer Dayo Liadi and singer Elvina Ibru who also served as one of the sponsors of the show.

The show

The main event started on time, at 7:15pm. The 55-minute dance production included solo and group performances that incorporated different dance forms like traditional African dance, contemporary dance, ballet, salsa and hip-hop interspersed with monologues from some cast members.

The theme of the production was a call for dance appreciation in Nigeria and proportionate pay for services rendered by dancers. The monologues which were added to further the theme, told the tale of the plight of dancers in this part of the world. According to Anthony Edet Offiong, artistic director of Jimbay and one of the choreographers, each monologue was based on a personal experience of the dancer that narrated it.

In one of the monologues, drummer Ebisidor Asiyai, talked about how he lost his sister. She had died in childbirth, a death that could have been avoided if he had the money for her medical bills. But no thanks to his profession, he had been unable to do right by her. In his own monologue, Offiong compared the regard the public has for doctors to the one they reserve for dancers. “If you go to a doctor and he charges you 50K [fifty thousand naira],” he began, “you would pay him – no questions asked. But you come to me, a dancer. You want me to perform at your event. You say you want something that puts the “spectac” in spectacular. But when I charge you 50K, you would ask me ‘Is it not just dance? Is it not to just to jump from here to here?’ If it is so easy to jump from here to here, why don’t you do it?” The audience responded with self-conscious laughter at this. He then went on to make brief reference to all the thought and planning required in putting up a production also, the creativity, time and effort involved.

Spectac in spectacular

Cole who also performed in the production as a dancer, in her monologue, talked about how every profession deserves respect. Another dancer, Ugo Obiayo, expressed her wish to have the finer things of life derived from her work as a dancer but as this is not her reality, she continues in dance because of her love for it.

However, by the end of the production the theme seemed to have been over-flogged as, in spite of the personal touches, each narrator reiterated what the other had said, especially about the lack of financial gain in the dance profession.

Still, the dance portion of the production was, to use Offiong’s words, pure “spectac in spectacular”. Each routine was carried out in a timely manner with one running smoothly into the other, despite multiple wardrobe changes by the cast. The entire production spoke of professionalism, commitment and talent.

The dances were energetic, emotionally expressive and captivating to watch. Though there were certain levels of individual expressions in the group performances, they were still performed in seamless uniformity. One of the routines, a contemporary ballet performed by Paolo Sissiano and Folake Cole, was particularly riveting. Accompanied by a love song, it took the audience through the throes of attraction, ecstasy and loss/heartbreak experienced by lovers. The dance literally drew sighs of longing from the audience.

‘They are talking about me’

In the final act of the entire production, a lady seated next to this reporter lamented, “I don’t want it to end.” During Edet’s monologue where he talked about clients offering dancers little pay in exchange for huge expectations, this lady had turned to her daughter to say in self-deprecation, “They are talking about me.” The same conflicting sentiments of appreciation and under-appreciation were also shared by the host of the event, Aderonke Adebanjo of Smooth FM. Speaking to NEXT at the end of show, she enthused over the entire production saying, “I thought it was fantastic and I am hoping and praying that [the dance company will] get the funding they need to go on tour.” However when asked if she would recruit them at fifty thousand for a private production, she said, “I don’t think that they would charge fifty thousand, because that is pretty excessive for a dance company.” But then she quickly added, “Unless they get to a certain level. If they are that good I am sure I would pay fifty thousand. And I am sure these guys are good enough for fifty thousand.”

While thanking the audience for their presence at the show and the evening’s sponsors and partners which included Sarah Boulos, Elvina Ibru and Alliance Francaise amongst others, Offiong mentioned that Jimbay intends to take the show on the road across the country, particularly to universities.

Nothing struck me more forcibly than the soft voice I was greeted with when I met Sefi Atta at her Victoria Island home. I almost couldn’t reconcile it with the strong passionate voice in her writings. It was when I watched one of her plays ‘The Cost of Living’ staged at the Terra Kulture that I decided to interview her. We immediately got down to business at the poolside. I asked the one question that had been bothering me first: why had she decided to write a Niger Delta story like everyone else?

Not the Niger Delta story

‘The Cost of Living’ is Sefi Atta’s second play to be staged in Nigeria. ‘The Engagement’ performed at the Muson Centre, Lagos in 2005, was the first. The author maintains that although ‘The Cost of Living’ is set in the Niger Delta, it is not a Niger Delta story.

“You could also say it’s a Louisiana story. It’s limiting to say that it is a Niger Delta story but people can interpret it how they want. I think if they come to see it, they can make up their own minds,” she says.

Atta describes the story as that of a dying man and a young man trying to make a living; and how, through negotiations, they learn life’s true worth. “I think the title pretty summarises the premise of the play. Obviously, there are much deeper themes than that and sometimes the title is just a gateway into the complexities of whatever play you are presenting; and in this case, it’s a summary and a gateway.” According to her, the play isn’t issue-driven, so the idea of it being a Niger Delta play doesn’t work for her.

“My work is never issue-driven. There’s very little mention in the play about the impact of oil companies in the Niger Delta region. The conflict in the play results from a clash of culture; and apart from sharing that space overnight, the two men have in common the cost of living and how it impacts on them.”

Sefi Atta is the author of two novels, ‘Everything Good Will Come’ (winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in 2006) and ‘Swallow’. Her collection of short stories, ‘Lawless’, now published internationally as ‘News From Home’, won the Noma Award in 2009. She says she was inspired to write her one-act play, ‘The Cost of Living’, by her move to the small city of Mississippi where she lives with her husband and daughter. She found it interesting that men from Mississippi moved to Rivers State to work while others moved from Nigeria to Mississippi. She thinks her visit to Port Harcourt as a guest writer (for the Garden City Literary Festival) on two occasions, might have also inspired the story of the play. Still insisting that it is not a Niger Delta story, she says she could have set the play in Lagos but it just so happens that the issue of kidnapping is more frequent in the Niger Delta.

Delving into theatre

The writer who trained as an accountant in London, shares her thoughts about Theatre in Nigeria. She appreciates the hard work put into stagecraft but feels that there’s a long way to go. With her play being staged this month at Terra Kulture, Atta has seen that theatre isn’t as much appreciated as she once thought. “I’ve learnt that it’s harder to attract a full house than I thought. Some people show up late and receive phone calls on their cell phones. But it was wonderful to have old friends, people I didn’t know and especially very young kids, 10-year-olds and elderly people. People of my parents’ generation, some of whom knew me as a kid before I started writing, (were also there) and I thank all of them for coming.” She also expressed joy at the appreciation shown for the production by some distinguished writers. “J.P. Clark came for one performance and Soyinka came for another. I hear he actually clapped and for me, that’s as good as it gets,” she says.

Writing career

Born 1964 in Lagos to a Yoruba mother and Igbira father, Sefi Atta began her writing career in 2002 with radio plays. She has written stage plays and screenplays, including ‘The Sentence’, also a one-act play that will be produced later this year in Germany. ‘The Cost of Living’ is the first to be produced in Nigeria. It has also been recorded for serialisation on by Smooth F.M, a radio station.

Atta describes her writing career as something that started accidentally. Although she had always been writing in her spare time, writing became full time in 1997 when her family moved to Mississippi. “I never thought I would make a living from writing. It was just an accident,” she says. She considers her career as full-time and even credits writing for her achievements so far, including her part-time teaching job at Mississippi State University. “All in all, I do make a living from writing, as a guest speaker and through my royalty cheques.”

About style

She doesn’t feel restricted to a particular style of writing. “I write what I want to write. I write what pleases me and interests me and that way, I feel I am always winning,” she declares.

Like many writers, Atta is a voracious reader. She likes to read newspaper articles and the news she finds in them are often a quarry for story ideas.

“Rather than turning from it, I like to delve into it from the writer’s point of view,” she says. What she hears and observes also influence her stories. As she informs, “My stories come from what I observe, hearsay, gossips, history, from my own experiences and the experiences of others that I get to learn about.” Although she has fun writing, she believes in taking time to write in-depth stories. She also has her preferences in the choice of books she reads.

“I like clean prose, almost journalistic, humourous writing, bordering on cynical, realistic writing, no fantasy, more informal than formal, strong voices and unique voices,” she declares.

Atta Girl

Sefi Atta has decided to take charge of her works business wise, by launching a self publishing outfit called AAA press. “It is in honour of my late father, Abdul-Aziz Atta who taught me about the importance of books. I was eight years old when he died and I remember how much he revered books. We had all the classics at home,” she recalls. However, “I didn’t read them then because I was too busy playing.” She also wants to launch her own production company, ‘Atta Girl’, based on the nick name given her by friends in school when she first caught the bug for writing plays. The company will be responsible for the production of her screenplays. “‘The Cost of Living’ is my first production under ‘Atta Girl’ – I’m a co-producer with Terra Kulture and Monu & Monu Productions,” she informs.

The future

In addition to screen and stage plays, the writer also she has a film in development. “It’s set in Lagos and it’s a family comedy drama. We’ll see how that goes. I’m just taking things day by day; and right now, I’m learning a lot from my collaboration with Nick Monu because I really don’t have theatre experience and he has had the best classical training worldwide as an actor and as a director.” And if all that is not enough, there are also two novels in the works. “I’m coming back to drawing on my own Nigerian experience. There will be a lot of reference to Lagos society. One novel is set in the early 2000s. It’s a thoroughly modern Nigerian story and the other is set in the mid – 1970s. It has more of retrospection on the history of Lagos, in particular Lagos society,” she says.

For Sefi Atta, it isn’t just writing as a means of living that pleases her but the fact that she does what she loves. The author says she still has a lot of writing to do and she doesn’t believe she has attained that career high yet.

“I’ve just started writing. I feel I’ve passed the elementary stage and I’m now in the intermediate stage. I measure my writing in dog years. I’m still a baby and I’m learning as I go along. One day hopefully, I’ll look back and be able to tell what my career high was.”

Why Art?

Art is one of the oldest forms of self-expression. It harbours instinctive and meditative impulses. It makes manifest those subjective, abstract, and fugitive notions, which define a people and record their history. To those who have the flair or talent, art becomes an inevitability. It comes naturally to some although, like many other pursuits, becoming versatile at it requires a certain degree of nurturing. Art is, above all, a powerful tool for inscribing a people’s ethos, aesthetic, and belief systems. It is central to the affirmation of culture and testifies very powerfully to the validity of a people’s history. Art allows people like me to leave their footprints on the thresholds of history.
Training I was a part-time student at Yaba College of Technology (where I studied with Yusuf Grillo, Adebayo Ajayi, P.A. Salu and others) before obtaining my first degree in Painting and Drawing from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1973). Did you say that was so last century? I followed up with two more degrees: the MA (1981) and Ph.D (1983), both in Art History, from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. But there are other non-credentialed trainings that have immensely enriched my perspectives and contributed to my own educational growth. Teaching generations of students remains a rewarding experience because the process is, of necessity, dialogic: I learn as much from them as they do from me. And, as a life-long learner, my training remains incomplete.
Medium Two-dimensional, mainly. I use oil, latex, acrylic, graphite, pen and ink, and collage on suitable and appropriate grounds.
Influences As an individual, I’ve come under multifarious influences. I admire the forthrightness, dedication, moral integrity, and altruism of such Nigerians as the late Simon Adebo, Akinola Aguda, Maitama Sule, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti and Bolanle Awe. My favourite artists include Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. I am comforted by those whose lives exemplify the triumph of modesty, creativity, incorruptibility, and hard work.
Inspirations I am inspired by the dedication and the indefatigable spirit of the downtrodden; by the poor but honest and hard-working farmer; the road-side trader; and the humble cobbler who toils relentlessly to eke a living. I am inspired by women whose protective instincts are immortalised by Prince Nico Mbarga in his hit album, ‘Sweet Mother’. I empathise with all spirits that are imbued by strong ethics, dependability, and compassion. In the season of the locust when our collective wealth is being squandered by a privileged but conscienceless class, I draw my inspiration from those who continue to do what is right, even when others are not watching.
Best work so far My best work, either as an academic or artist, is yet to be produced.
Least satisfying work I am my own best critic. I take cognisance of the varying degrees of conceptual and methodological approaches that sustain my work and discard whatever I find to be deficient or unsuccessful. Each signed artwork remains a valid spirit, complete with its own soul and attitude. All my work is accorded equal respect even though they vary in their demands and temperaments. The good, professional artist is one who is not afraid to push boundaries, but who also knows when to stop working on a given piece.
Career high point Each career path has its own peak, which is not necessarily a terminality. I enjoyed my time and work as Art Editor, art critic, and cartoonist at the Daily Times in the 1970s. Yet, I knew that I needed an academic environment to give me the intellectual amplitude that was necessary for my inquisitive spirit. Becoming a tenured, full professor, especially in reputable academic institutions in the U.S., represents yet another milestone. It felt good to be appointed Chair of art departments on two different occasions after two national searches were conducted. As a painter, I continue to explore and challenge myself. Every solo exhibition is issues-oriented. The artist, especially in Africa, advances the march of progress by deploying his or her art to highlight not only formalistic but also socio-political issues. I have very little tolerance for art that rambles.
Favourite artist living or dead Yusuf Grillo; Bruce Onobrakpeya; Hale Woodruff; and Kara Walker.
Ambitions To continue using my work-as scholar and visual artist-to edify concepts that extol our highest ideals. As one whose canvases are receptacles and archives for deeply personal visual soliloquies, I hanker after an art that conscientises my people; an art that is at once progressive and caustic. I want my art to speak to generations unborn-in another century or even another millennium-about the travails of hapless Nigerians; about the profligacy of the ruling class; about the entrenchment of mediocrity; about the institutionalisation of corruption and self-aggrandisement by those whose claim to wealth was through the barrel of the gun or through the ballot box.

The Nigerian-Italian art exhibition ‘Crosscurrents’ kicked off with a private preview on March 16 at the Civic Centre, Lagos. The event attracted quite a number of artists, art lovers, art patrons and curators alike who came to view artworks in different media -by ten Italian artists and ten Nigerian artists.

Oliver Enwonwu, Chair of the Lagos chapter of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) and one of the exhibiting artists as well as a coordinator of the exhibition, in a brief address described the event as momentous. He added that the exhibition tackles ‘identity and self discovery’.

The exhibition took up two floors at the venue and a few of the exhibiting ten from Nigeria were present. Though none of the Italian ten – Matteo Basile, Angelo Bellobono, Filippo Centenari, Francesco Cervelli, Alberto Di Fabio, Stefania Fabrizi, Omar Galliani, Jonathan Guaitamacchi, Adriano Nardi and Eron Salvadei – were present, their works caused quite a stir.

The Nigerian ten: Kolade Oshinowo, Uche Edochie, Oliver Enwonwu, Rom Isichei, Uche James-Iroha, Chidi Kwubiri, Alex Nwokolo-, Abiodun Olaku, Mudi Yahaya and Peju Alatise, were not left out.

Peju Alatise

For Peju Alatise, the only female in the group, her works, done in mixed media, were arresting as they came out in bold colours of yellow, red and orange. Some of the artworks featured raised images of the female anatomy.

‘Lest I Forget’, one of the female anatomy works, was done in acrylic while the most interesting piece, ‘One Side of the Story’ – also in the same mould – was rendered with newspaper, resin and acrylic on canvas.

On the reason behind the motif of the female human body, the artist likened the three Artworks to the misrepresentation of women in general. “It’s the story of the woman from the way the press sees it,” she explained.

“It’s about how the media perceives you, how people perceive you. Sometimes it’s a distortion, that’s why the figure in the work is distorted,” Alatise added.

She said, “I’ve always done works about women”. The artist, who revealed that her works reflect political and philosophical issues, also declared that if the definition of feminism is equal rights for women then she is glad to be called one.

The artist initially trained as an architect and her works easily reflect that. “I am excited that I’m a part of this exhibition and I’m glad that I am representing female artists and Nigerian artists,” she said.

Alex Nwokolo

Another participating artist, Alex Nwokolo, concerning his works on display, revealed that he uses newspapers in his media. “I use it as texture for my work. It gives it a feeling you don’t see regularly”, Nwokolo disclosed.

One of his pieces ‘Special One III’ with media newsprint, acrylic and stencil on canvas, revealed this style. ‘Special One III’ with its newsprint background depicts a crowd of people with one distinct individual.

According to Nwokolo, the work reinforces the saying that ‘many are called but few are chosen’. Nwokolo’s ‘Moment of Reflection’ gives off political undertones especially the upcoming elections.

Nwokolo was not the only artist addressing political and nation-building issues. Oliver Enwonwu’s massive oil painting, ‘Broken Flight’ with its shadowy colours and the haunting image of a winged female figure with a wing chipped off, also raises questions about the future of Nigeria.

“Broken Flight is symbolic of our struggle as a people in finding an identity”, Enwonwu revealed. “The figure is regal showing that we possess talent and potential but the broken wing reflects our struggle to find an identity,” he added.The artist also had other works on display.

The Italians

The works by the Italian artists came with their own interesting features. Filippo Centenari’s ‘Dubai 03′ an iridescent image of a skyscraper, done with Lambda print on dibond and plexiglass, reflects his style which usually embodies metropolis themes with a special light technique.

Omar Galliani’s ‘Grande Disegno Siamese’ and ‘Nuovi Santi’, both black pencil on wood, illustrate the face of a woman. In the artist’s works, ‘the human world and the sphere of the transcendent inch closer to each other until they touch in a connection that is deep and obscure’.

Artist Mufu Onifade of ‘Araism’ fame expressed his views about the exhibition, saying, “I think it’s a very good show with good space. This is the first time we are exposed to this kind of venue,” he said.

He added that it was sad that the exhibition would be on for only two days, as it was something worth having on for as long as 6 months. However he said that, “the joy is that a space has been discovered now,”

“The quality of work on display shows the level of the creativity of the artists involved”, Onifade stated. “If you go to Europe contemporary art has so many faces now. These Italian artists are serious minded. They are contemporary artists who have taken aesthetics to a different level,” he said.

He added that, “in spite of the militating influences of world contemporary art which gives room for visual art to dissipate, these Italian artists still maintain the vitality of creativity.”