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‘Roforofo Fight – Painting to Fela’s Music’, an exhibition of drawing and sketches by Victor Ehikhamenor, opened on Tuesday, October 12, at the Life House, Victoria Island, Lagos. Art enthusiasts and Fela aficionados were on hand to see and enjoy this relatively new concept of painting. The exhibition was organised to coincide with activities marking Felabration, an annual celebration of the life and times of the late Afrobeat legend.

With Fela’s songs playing softly in the background, guests were taken on a tour of some of his ideologies as were portrayed in the works. All the paintings bore title names of Fela’s songs, with the artist also on hand to shed light on some of his works.

The Concept

“Roforofo Fight is one of Fela’s songs, and it basically describes people having a mud fight, not minding what they are wearing. In painting this work, I just took a go at it, so it was more like a Roforofo fight. Most of the paintings were done in semi darkness, so if you look at them, you will see that [they] were done in muted colours, although I use vibrant colours a lot in my works,” Ehikhamenor explained.

He added that although he is a huge Fela fan, this was actually the first time he would be consciously painting whilst listening to his music.

“His songs helped me capture the theme and ride on the wave of what he was thinking when he was composing the lyrics. It is kind of my own interpretation of Fela’s songs, with a little bent; and that has also helped to awaken my socio-political consciousness. My artworks are not just painting for art sake, but to make a statement.”

The works

A total of 18 paintings were on display. They include ‘Fire Dance’, ‘Unknown Soldier,’ ‘Movement of the People’, ‘Army Arrangement,’ and ‘International Thief Thief’..

Employing a heavily mixed medium as a basis for the works, Ehikhamenor made it easy for guests to have a better understanding of the story behind each work. In ‘Expensive Shit’ for instance, he mixed a lot of materials together to create an impression of dried excrement. He also placed a 50 kobo note on it, reflected the era of the song, when it was ‘big money’.

On the piece, ‘Lady’, Ehikhamenor, had this to say: “This was, for me, looking at two types of African ladies: the ones that are always doing ‘Iyanga’ saying, ‘don’t talk to me, I can’t oh’ – even when she’s married she tells you, ‘I can’t cook’. So, [Fela] was comparing the bourgeois woman and the typical African woman, and that was what I tried to achieve with this piece.”

The viewers

Having been exposed to Fela’s music in his teens, the artist showered eulogies on the late Abami Eda.

“I began listening to Fela since secondary school between ages 15-20 years of age. Initially, I did not like him because he will just keep playing the instrumentals. Not until I got into the university, when we celebrated his birthday, did I understand what he was saying. After I got involved in activism at school, I realised that the socio-political situation of the country was not normal. Then I became aware.”

For guests like Oluchi Ogwuegbu, who was thrilled by the concept behind the works, the declining level of art appreciation in the country still poses a huge challenge. “You tend to find the same set of people at exhibitions, book readings, and much more. Then you begin to wonder about other percentage of youth who would rather go watch a Dbanj perform on stage than come to see works of art,” she said.

Yvonne Ekwere, a TV personality, also shared her views of the exhibition. “I am amazed to see that [Ehikhamenor] has placed Obasanjo’s picture side by side Abiola; it goes to show that he is brave and innovative. I particularly like the ‘International Thief Thief’ painting because it tells the story of our present dispensation,” she said.

With the demands of a regular job as NEXT’s creative director, a smiling Ehikhamenor, assured that, “In spite of my job, it is fun for me to go back to the studio and do what I like. We have a new generation of collectors, so there is a new audience who I want to showcase my work to.”

‘Roforofo Fight – Painting to Fela’s Music’ is at Life House, Victoria Island, Lagos, until October 24.