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2010 was
undoubtedly a very good year for professional photography in Nigeria.
In fact, it was a vintage year; the best so far. But paradoxically, it
was also a year during which relevant questions about the proper place
of photography in the hierarchy of the Nigerian Art scene, its
independence as a valid and separate medium, and its financial value as
collectors’ items, all came to the fore, craving for urgent and
permanent answers.

Most of the
prominent visibility photography enjoyed in 2010 was in the form of
exhibitions; a spate of them. Well, over 20 across the country in
Lagos, Benin City, Port Harcourt, Abuja and ‘unlikely’ venues like
Bonny, Yenagoa, Ekiti, Asaba, and other cities. This huge number of
exhibitions, their logistics as solo and group exhibitions, the
collapse of firm contractual agreements (if there were any) between the
photographer-exhibitors and the myriad of curators, galleries and
institutions, cumulatively highlighted the non-existent or weak
platforms that should guarantee photographers a fair deal financially
and artistically.

Mixed grill

Predictably, the
fact that 2010 was Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary provided
both the perfect excuse and theme for all manner of ‘commemorative’
photography exhibitions. These exhibitions organised by curators,
galleries and institutions eager to cash-in on the anniversary and
operating on various levels of competence and expertise, inevitably
ensured that these ‘novel’ photography exhibitions were a worrying mix
of excellence, growing mediocrity, and sheer uncreative.

Many
photographers, it seemed, were more eager to make creative statements
in all these ‘prestigious’ exhibitions than appreciate and exploit the
excellent business opportunities they provided. In the end,
collectively, photographers made much less money compared to the
windfall of the curators, galleries and institutions sponsored by
blue-chip companies, state and federal governments.

Photographers also
faced the big challenge of how to endure the new burden of an emerging
number of specialist local and foreign curators and gallery owners
trying to hoist their theories and expectations on which direction
photography in Nigeria should take and how quickly too.

Dilemma of definition

And so, whilst
photography is desperately trying to find its long-overdue and right
place in Nigerian Art, it is simultaneously facing the dilemma of
definition. What is and where should photography in Nigeria, in its
longevity and diversity, head for in terms of sustainability, better
creativity, and financial reward for professionals? It has become
obvious that photography in Nigeria needs to grow independently of
whatever sympathetic ‘Eurocentric’ curators, academics, galleries and
institutions profess in the ongoing extensive world debate on what
constitutes modern photography.

The widely-used
buzzwords are ‘engagement’ and ‘narratives.’ Whose, remains the
question. Prophetically yet unplanned as such, the Centre for
Contemporary Art (CCA), Yaba, Lagos, with its one-month-long Fine Art
photography workshop, with the theme ‘On Independence and the
Ambivalence of Promise’, held between February 8 and March 6, set the
tone and flavour for most of the prominent photography exhibitions in
2010.

The aim of the
workshop was “to focus not so much on technique but on methodology,
critical thinking, conceptual ideas and their implementation.” The
contents of the programme included, “history of photography and its
conceptual dimensions, methodology and strategies for the development
of artistic practice, development of critical thinking skills, and a
final exhibition.”

With a core of 13
facilitators from Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Cameroun, Nigeria,
Brazil, Ghana, Sweden, and the U.S.A. and observers from Kenya and
Germany, the CCA workshop provided a global platform for exchange of
ideas, skills acquisition, and intellectual discourse on photography. I
presented a paper situating photography in Nigeria and the work of
Jonathan Adagogo Green of Bonny, within the global photography scene of
the late 20th century.

The subtle message
was to guard against a bias towards thinking that Eurocentric concepts,
ideas and even creative perceptions and techniques are ultramodern or
‘superior’ to the experience of indigenous Nigerian photographers in
one whole century of practice.

It remains
important to always emphasise that the tradition of indigenous
photography professionalism is well over a century old and started by
carving a niche of respect for creative and technical excellence by
global standards then.

Contested concept

It is instructive
that the historical place of photography in Nigerian contemporary Art
had to be revisited many times in 2010. Most significantly, perhaps,
was at the stakeholders’ public hearing on the proposed National
Gallery of Art Bill at the National Assembly on Thursday, November 4,
2010. It was a ‘star-studded’ affair that attracted the minister of
culture and tourism and his aides, the acting director general of the
National Gallery of Art (NGA), representatives of the Society of
Nigerian Artists (SNA), representatives of the Photographers
Association of Nigeria (PAN), Art galleries’ owners, Art critics, Art
collectors and lovers, and the general public were also there. It was
also an exhaustive exercise which required a meticulous review of the
suggestions that had been incorporated into the proposed Bill under
review.

When it was time
to define some of the functions of the NGA, it was unanimously agreed
that it should collect ‘modern Nigerian Art,’ and given the nature of
the stakeholders involved and the need to be specific, the next item
became an examination of the term itself.

Rasheed Gbadamosi,
an avid art collector and patron, proffered that ‘modern Nigerian Art’,
as substantiated by Art academics, started in the 1920s with the
emergence of Aina Onabolu as Nigeria’s first trained contemporary
artist. This has been the long held view, but it had to be demystified.
I countered by offering the information that since photography is now
globally accepted as an Art form, the correct beginning of what can be
identified as ‘modern Nigerian Art’ is the work of Bonny-based Jonathan
Adagogo Green, whose photographs taken in the late 1890s were a big hit
in Europe. Of course, there is now a body of academic evidence to prove
this important point.

In many ways, the
fact that photography as modern Art in Nigeria preceded contemporary
visual arts in the country by more than three decades is an
uncomfortable fact for art activists, particularly within the SNA. They
seem to be driven by the grandiose ideas of being the ‘parent’ body of
artists who should determine the fate and direction of Art in Nigeria.

The stakeholders’
sessions should by now have made clear that artists, photographers, and
architects, the three bodies the NGA is mandated to nourish and
protect, are equal partners in the national creativity progress.

The fact that most
artists in Nigeria paint photographs does not help the case of the Art
lobbyists trying to enshrine the concept of superiority within the
spectrum of contemporary Art in Nigeria. Numbers have never translated
into absolute quality.

That Art
collectors and galleries in Nigeria are yet to fully appreciate the
aesthetics and financial value of photography is more of their loss
than that of photographers who continue to be appreciated globally.

Finding the right
place for photography was the challenge and problem curators,
galleries, academics, collectors and institutions grappled with in
2010, with varying degrees of success.

Why Art?

I could have been a
lawyer. That is what my parents wanted me to be. It took the
intervention of my brother to let them allow me read Fine and Applied
Arts. I chose to be an artist because I realised that I had the traits
while growing up. I loved drawing, carving, and re-creating my toys as
a child.

In secondary
school, I was attracted to the art studio and spent time there.
Basically, being an artist is a passion. Art is like priesthood. It is
a calling; you just find yourself driven towards it.

Training

I studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Benin. I specialised in painting and graduated in 1996.

Medium

I do more of mix
media and oil painting. My mix media are basically fabric collages on
acrylic and paper collages with pastel on oil. I use thick impasto in
my oil works, which incline towards fauvism and cubism.

Influences

My art is
influenced by my wife. I have painted her over a thousand times because
she serves as my model. When you see a painting titled ‘Cynthia’ that
is one of the many paintings influenced by my lovely wife.

I am also
influenced by fauvist and cubist painters like Paul Cezanne, Henri
Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. Things that happen around me also influence
my works. I enjoy painting figures, so the dresses and hairdo of men
and women influence what I do.

Inspirations

There are many
things that inspire an artist; politics, society and happenings on the
international scene are some of them. An artist is a mirror of society.
I can’t leave painting the crazy Lagos traffic to paint quiet streets
with flowers. I can’t paint happy people when people complain about
electricity. What I pour on the canvas are my emotions, unless I am not
being sincere with myself.

Best work so far I don’t have a best work

Art is like a man
in a relationship. You can’t say I love my wife then leave her for
another woman. The creative ability and energy I put into each work
might be different, but I love all my works.

Least satisfying work

Each work has a
soul and a buyer, so I cannot say I have a least satisfying work. When
I paint I have to satisfy myself first, I have to feel alright with the
work. If a painting stays with me a year or two, I normally add
something else to it, though I still have some paintings that I have
kept for at least 10 years and I have not changed anything. They are
like my wives, so I have refused to sell them.

Career high point

First, I have not
arrived. Art is an endless search. I will create it till I die. I want
to take art to a level where every artist in Nigeria can benefit. I
desire for Nigeria to be out there. Though we have been able to create
a book on contemporary African artists and I have curated shows in
Lagos, Accra, and Duala, much still needs to be done.

When there is the
“I” syndrome amongst artists instead of “We”, how I can say I have
reached a high point? We need to help ourselves; we need to export our
talents.

Favourite artist, living or dead

Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Armando Modigliani, Chris Ofili, and Duke Asidere.

Ambitions

Now, I am combining
art with publishing. I hope to expose Nigerian art to the international
market by coming up with more books on contemporary arts and having
exchange programmes. I hope to have a book tour in the United States
with some of the artists that are featured in the book.

Emeka Ogboh was
honoured during the 2010 World Listening Day because his art shows how
much he listens. The artist who lives and works in Lagos adapts the
bustle of everyday city life into his sound and video installations.
The World Listening Project used his work last year in recognition of
his untiring efforts.

Ogboh’s first
contact with new media art – his favoured sound and video installation
– was in February 2007 in Alexandria, Egypt, when a friend invited him
to attend a workshop in the famous city . “It was at this workshop on
media and light that I first saw video art, photography and other
aspects of design apart from painting,” he recalls.

Unique medium

What started as
love at first sight has progressed into a serious affair for the artist
who underwent training under Harald Scherz at the Winter Academy in
Fayoum, a village close to Cairo. “I took a course called Audio
Spectrum and my teacher took me through the process,” he said.

With Lagos
providing the material for his sound blasts, Ogboh has created acoustic
dialogue between the Centre of Excellence and other cities of the
world. “The immersive nature of sound is what makes it unique. It is
not static and creates an experience for the listener. For example, one
can take a trip through Lagos without actually being in Lagos,” he says
while explaining his preference for the medium.

Popularising Lagos

Having spent about
five years practicing new media art and having projects lined up till
2013, Ogboh’s desire to familiarise the rest of the world with Lagos
has not waned. “To me, there is no where as loud as Lagos and it is
easy for me to experiment with its different sounds. After I record the
sounds and take them to the studio, they sound different. It becomes a
composition and every element is important to create a soundscape.”

Ogboh’s first sound
installation ever was in a bathroom in Fayoum. The work titled ‘Lake
Quarun’ birthed another, ‘Obalende Downtown Cairo’. The Egyptian
capital reminded the artist of Lagos and he wanted to highlight the
similarities between the two cities through his art. Interestingly,
promoting the sounds of Lagos has taken Ogboh to Madrid, New York and
Cologne, Germany.

He had a
particularly memorable outdoor sound installation titled ‘Reception of
Strangeness and Consumption of Difference’ in Cologne. The artist held
the show to see reactions of residents to the noise of bus conductors
on the ever busy Oshodi Oke bus route calling out to passengers. The
noise blared from speakers located outside the city’s library. “Art is
not always about beauty. It is about people’s reaction to your work. I
was able to get people’s reactions. At a point the speakers were even
broken,” he says.

“In installing
Lagos soundscapes in Cologne, I was interested in how the German public
engages with what is subversive strangeness. Given the recent debate on
multiculturalism and citizenship in Germany, I was interested in the
phenomenology of reception.”

Reception and translation

Receptiveness and
translation of reception is the thrust of ‘Lagos State of Mind Vol 1’,
an ongoing collaboration with sound artists and music producers. He
sends the Lagos soundscape to collaborators who in turn use it to give
listeners a body of sound art and music.

Apart from sound
art, Ogboh has also delved into video art. He is a pioneering member of
Video Artists of Nigeria, Lagos (VAN). He participated in the ‘One
Minute Project’, a video workshop organised by the Centre for
Contemporary Art (CCA) last year. His video titled ‘Jos 2010’
summarising the story of the recurring Jos crises was one of the main
screenings last July at Video Art Festival Miden, Greece.

He is currently
working on another series, a combination of video and art titled ‘50’
to commemorate Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee. “The 50 project explores the
making of modern Nigeria in the context of the promises at
independence. Nigerians are asked their one word opinion of Nigeria
after 50 years.” He adds that 50 words will be selected and projected
on a screen while historical statements made by Nigerian leaders at
independence will accompany the visuals.

Inspired by Lagos

“I am inspired by
my environment. I love the bus parks; I love busy areas like Oshodi and
Ojuelegba because they bring out the multicultural aspects of the city.
Lagos soundscape is art; it is multilayered with different sounds from
the ice-cream seller attracting customers by playing the sound track of
‘Titanic’ to people at the bus park. You have to listen to find your
bus, it is not like in other parts of the world where there are bus
signs that give directions,” he says of the sounds of Lagos.

He reiterates that
the call of the bus conductors on the streets gives sounds from the
city its uniqueness. This, he adds, is why he never shies away from
using the sound to tell people more about the city. Above all, he is
looking forward to giving a digital sound map to the Centre of
Excellence using bus conductors as guide.

Though he is
renowned abroad where he has delivered lectures and participated in
international conferences, Ogboh remains relatively unknown at home.
But he is not bothered. “When I started, I used to spend my own money
but now I get paid. When you work with new media tools, you will know
that they are not cheap so for me it’s all about passion. What I do is
not about me, it is about putting Nigeria on the map.”

New media art might
still have a long way to go but in Ogboh, the art form has a crusader.
“I would like to give workshops, while promoting our video art
collective. Also, I would like to give classes on new media art to
students in Art departments of higher institutions. Even if it is not
included in their curricula, it will stimulate their minds.”

Nonetheless,
appearing in the Italian edition of international magazine, ‘Marie
Claire’ in June 2010 as one of the next big things out of Africa in art
alongside compatriot, Andrew Esiebo, shows that Ogboh might actually be
doing something right.

If you love
reading this is a great time to be alive. Thanks to technology, pretty
much anything these days is a book. There is always something to read.
The democratisation of reading is happening at a time when it appears
that people have lost interest in reading anything that doesn’t chant
“Amen!” at them.

Today, there are
homes that house no books. Unfortunately, there are children in those
homes. That is child abuse. A child should be immersed in all sorts of
books. I know, I know, I have said that the book is dying a long slow
death. A house should be slaphappy with books and ideas. Look at it
another way: This is a great time to buy books because no one wants
them anyway. Buy them and leave them lying around the house. A child
may just read them.

I have enjoyed
reading many African writers. The younger ones tend to be enthusiastic
and eager to be published. Many are good at what they do, but if I had
to give advice, I would suggest that many of our writers would improve
their craft if they spent more time reading than writing.

Read, read, and
read. You will be surprised at how much it improves on your muse’s
judgment. What do I read? People regularly send me books from Nigeria.
I stalk used bookshops thrift stores, and yard sales. You would be
surprised what Americans will give away for pennies. I trek the
Internet buying the books of my childhood. If you really want to see
how the Internet is fueling the renaissance that is African literature
today, google “African writing”, kick back with a good glass of
something red, luscious and bold, and enjoy yourself.

There are blogs,
websites, and Facebook pages out there devoted to some pretty good
writing. Google Nnorom Azuonye and his ‘Sentinel Poetry Movement’ and
you will be love-struck. Jeremy Weate, (who with Bibi Bakare-Weate
publishes Cassava Republic) owns ‘Naijablog’, a brilliant blog that I
am fairly addicted to. Read Molara Wood’s ‘Wordsbody’, Chuma Nwokolo’s
‘African-Writing’, and Sola Osofisan’s ‘Africanwriter.com’ and
‘Nigeriansinamerica.com’. And of course, for home grown investigative
reporting, late breaking news, literature and some pretty strong
opinions, you should visit Sowore Omoyele’s inimitable
‘Saharareporters’ and Philip Adekunle’s bustling ‘Nigeria Village
Square’.

The irrepressible
writer and poet, Ob Iwuanyanwu (Obiwu), manages a small group of top
notch Nigerian writers on the list-serve ‘Ederi’. The poet,
Amatoritsero Ede, edits ‘Maple Tree Literary Supplement’ and manages
the list-serve ‘Krazitivity’. Indeed, many of today’s Nigerian literary
stars cut their teeth on ‘Krazitivity’ under the watchful eyes of
griots like Obiwu Iwuanyanwu, Tade Ipadeola, Pius Adesanmi, Molara
Wood, Chika Unigwe, Olu Oguibe, Afam Akeh, Lola Shoneyin, Chuma
Nwokolo, EC Osondu, Jude Dibia, Tolu Ogunlesi, and Victor Ehikhamenor.
Shola Adenekan runs ‘The New Black Magazine’. Kola Tubosun blogs his
escapades in America and elsewhere in ‘ktravula’. Chielozona Eze
connects the lush dots of African Literature in his blog ‘African
Literature News and Review’.

Google the
Zimbabwean writer, Ivor Hartmann of ‘Storytime’, and be enthralled. Do
not die until you have read Ainehi Edoro’s blog, ‘Brittle Paper’. Edoro
is enigmatic, witty, brainy and just plain fun. Binyavanaga Wainana is
the brainy godfather of them all, spewing his brilliant rage on our
e-conscience. The uber-smart Petina Gappah blogs (too occasionally
lately, alas) on ‘The World According to Gappah’.

Oh, if you are on
Facebook, please visit my favourite, Auntie PJ’s page, ‘Let’s Talk
About It’. The sum total of our sexuality is on full luscious display
right there in all its glory. It is not literature as we know it, but I
highly recommend it. There are also many groups and pages on Facebook
devoted to literature and writers. I am friends with several African
writers on Facebook and they are an invaluable source of manuscripts,
stories, leads, books, etc. They tend to accept you as a friend once
you request, don’t be shy.

When I read books,
I take copious notes along the margins of the books. The notes are
usually my observations about many aspects of the book I am reading. At
the end of the reading, I always go back and compile all the notes and
it never fails, strong opinions always result from the compilation. I
invariably always publish the opinions for what they are worth.

If I like a book,
I say so. If I don’t, I say so. It is really nothing personal. And
please do not take me too seriously; I am just an opinionated consumer
that has been fooled by America into thinking he is always right. I am
a consumer, I paid for the damn book, and I am right. Deal with it.

So tell me, I
really would love to hear from you. Where do you go to for the
literature of our people? I am thinking of compiling a digital reading
list that I would share with the world. Send me your favourite digital
site and I will put it out there for the world to see and enjoy.