|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Nigeria is set to make her debut at the 57th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia scheduled to take place in Venice, Italy from 13th May to 26th November 2017.
It may come as a surprise to some that Nigeria, rich in artistic, cultural talent and productivity is just enjoying her debut on art’s biggest global stage. The world has long known, enjoyed and benefitted from our country’s artistic riches. Why else do old Benin empire artifacts sit in museums in Europe and in the Americas today?
Why else do works by Nigerian artists sell in international auctions at record-breaking prices? Yet, there’s arguably no fitting reflection of our nation’s cultural progeny. According to Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State, commissioner of the Nigerian Pavilion, “We are pleased to announce that Nigeria will – for the first time in her history – join other nations of the world in participating at the Biennale Arte 2017. The platform offers us a great opportunity to reestablish our national pride and develop a more positive narrative for the country by showcasing our unique art and rich cultural heritage to the
world.”
The curator, Adenrele Sonariwo disclosed that participating artists would include painter Victor Ehikhamenor, sculptor Peju Alatise and performance artist, Qudus Onikeku, with unique works centered on the theme How About NOW? “The declared aim of the Nigerian Pavilion is to reflect on the question of NOW, and of narratives firmly rooted in the present. The presentation by the artists expands an understanding of Nigerian contemporary life
through installations, painting, and performance,” says Sonariwo.
Exhibiting artists Peju Alatise and Victor Ehikhamenor are among Nigeria’s foremost global art citizens. They are both fearless artists who explore local narratives, asking urgent questions of the social and the political status quo with a proficiency and skill that connects
not only to their immediate community but to a global audience. Alatise and Ehikhamenor also do this with a staggering amount of deference to history. They know where we are coming from. They seem to know where we are going.
Alatise is known for her large-scale, sculptural works tackling contemporary themes most recurring of which is gender and its associated politics. She was a 2016 fellow at the Smithsonian Institute of African Art, which allowed her to explore the history and performance of an ancestral Yoruba masquerade – a festival originating from southwest Nigeria. At 2014 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, hers was generally adjudged to be the standout piece created in response to the kidnapping of 234 Chibok girls. It featured a series of panels of anonymous Nigerian girls using the Ankara fabric. It was titled,
‘Missing’.
Ehikhamenor recently completed three residencies in 2016 alone, creating a new cache of work in Capetown, Johannesburg and Bellagio, Italy. He exhibited at the 2016 Dakar Biennale in Senegal and solo, with the Gallery of African Art, London, at the 1:54 Contemporary Art Fair. A mixed-media artist, his works are influenced by the duality of African beliefs and Western/Catholic political intervention. His motifs are symbols reminiscent of his childhood village shrines in the Benin Kingdom. In 2015, he was one of the 11 Nigerian artists invited to the Biennale Jogja in Indonesia where he created an
installation of drawing, drums, and water titled ‘The Wealth of Nations’. The installation was a commentary on how the discovery of oil has fuelled corruption in Nigeria.
Recognizing that this is an opportune time to tell a multi-layered story, Nigeria’s presentation at the Biennale Arte 2017 will also be accompanied by performance. This will be presented by Qudus Onikeku, in dance. Onikeku, a graduate of Ecole Nationale Superieur des arts du cirque, is a pioneer in Acrodance,
a self-styled fusion of acrobatics and dance that takes inspiration from traditional Yoruba movements and philosophy. Onikeku has performed, been a visiting professor, fellow, an artist in residence at various creative institutions all over the world, from Burkina Faso to Brazil.
Nigeria’s pavilion ties in with the Biennale Arte 2017 theme, Viva Arte Viva, (Long Live the Artist) by creating an immersive experience delivered not only in painting, and sculpture and installation but in performance by a group of artists who are unarguably frontrunners in their own fields. As a group, these artists are driven forward not only by the notion of history that came before them but also by the opportunity to create our shared
future.
‘How About NOW’, Nigeria’s inaugural outing at the Biennale Arte 2017 will open on the 10th of May, 2PM at Scoletta dei Tiraoro e Battiori, Campo San Stae, Santa Croce.
