NIGERIAN ARTISTS SHED LIGHT ON DESIGNS,IDENTITY

NIGERIAN ARTISTS SHED LIGHT ON DESIGNS,IDENTITY

BYABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

Nigerian artists have been speaking on how the view the culture of designing and the issue of cultural identity.

While discussing at a meeting organized by the African Artists Foundation at the British Council Library  to a selected gathering invited by the Foundation, Miss Chiemeka  Ejiochi used the event to pay tributes to the works of the African artist based on the kind of experience they go through on a daily basis.

She revealed that she took things personal when the issue of identity was been discussed anywhere.

Mrs Ojoma Ochai,Director of Arts at the British Council Library said that art as a concept in Nigeria was a rigorous exercise  and since her organization work in at least 110 nations around the world they know that it was very vital to make sure that  they refer to the Nigerian content always.

She revealed that in her job, she looks at where came from and how that has molded her as a professional always.

She added sarcastically that it was so easy for blacks to call themselves Africans outside the continent but when we get back home we refer to ourselves as simply as Nigerians

Mrs Ochai explained that’s he loves using Nigeria’s theatric potentials as an example as she added that when they discovered at the British Council of Nigeria’s poor infrastructural basis as regard this area they decided to be using open spaces to pass the message across.

Mr Yegwa Ukpo said that in his five years of stay in the United Kingdom as a professional  he had the opportunity of going through a of  experience  but when he returned back into Nigeria he discovered that Nigerians were materialistic .

He pointed out that when people look at African designs or any one for that matter they should be able to ask themselves of very critical questions.

He revealed that he was influenced a lot by Japanese culture but quickly added that the joy of the whole scenario is that Tokyo has been able to integrate despite the technologies of the 21^st century.

Ukpo speaks:”when I was working on certain things on a stranger I wanted to do stuffs with objects,the object at the centre that you see on your screen showed that we sue barriers as legs of the table”

“A Lot of people did not even know what we use until they came closer, you know people take a lot of things for granted”

“it was a western idea that we borrowed to create a Nigerian object, we also used interlocking blocks and used them as platforms “

According to him from a design perspective, this situation allowed him to experiment with other possibilities.

In his opinion, Africa has been defined a lot in different ways by people who are not even Africans hence it was high time the issue is properly handled by us so that people outside the continent will know that we are a cultural people.

Miss Clari Green ,a visual communication specialists and brand analyst  said that she was selfish professionally as she appraises all issues from a Nigerian perspective at all time.

Miss Green noted that while trying to do her job she can use things as strange as a pair of scissors just to drive her point home to her audience and the available market.

Mr Pwavidon Matthias  said that as an African he likes to deal with contents from Nigerian background while integrating it with anything that catches his fancy abroad.

He told the gathering that he did not know much about Nigeria despite been a Nigerian   and lamented that because of the nation’s diversity he was considered a minority.

He added that he has been influenced by classical and revolutionary movies like 300 and this has helped some of his job which he has handled so well.

Miss Ada Umeoha said that she was always in the habit of  trying to bridge up gaps between designs and incorporating them in a away  that will suit her  immediate market realities.

She assured that she uses a lot of local carpenters a lot in the course of doing her job to perfection She affirmed that due to the experience she has gathered she does a lot of her work based on inspiration and the Nigerian environment has made it easier for her to work to taste unlike when she was in South Africa.

Mrs Aisha Augie-Auta  took the gathering down the memory lane as she recalled that even as a child she had no opinion of her home for cultural reasons in the North.

Augie who also does a lot of photography aside from art jobs explained that she equally handles a lot of documentary which she loves a lot.

Mrs Augie-Auta lamented that when the issue of cultural identity is discussed she was always at a loss as to what to do as she was always struggling.

She noted that despite having relatives around the world it took her 32 years before she could come to terms with the fact  that she was actually from Kebbi state.

A CROSS SECTION OF THE PANELIST AT THE RECENT AFRICAN ARTIST FOUNDATION EVENT HELD AT BRITISH COUNCIL LIBRARY,IKOYI-LAGOS,NIGERIA ON THE 26TH SEPTEMBER,2014