Feature

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022 26 FEATURE

Nigeria’s Looty seeks to reclaim African art in digital form

In our series of letters from African writers, Nigerian novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes about a new initiative to reclaim artwork looted from Africa by colonial powers.

What if Africans somehow managed to access museums across the Western world, gather all the artwork looted from their territories during the colonial era, and take them back home?

A young Nigerian man is attempting to do just that. But rather than physically breaking into museums and carting away the works of art, he wants to repatriate them digitally.

“This is the first digital repatriation of stolen artwork,” said 34-year-old Chidi, a Nigerian creative designer and founder of Looty, who declined to give his surname because, he said, he wants people to focus on his project and not his person.

“I had this idea that: Why don’t we take back the physical works of art into the digital world?”

The idea of Looty first came to him following the growing conversations around nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which claim to provide public proof of the ownership of digital files.

While the legal rights conveyed by NFTs can be uncertain, they are becoming increasingly popular.

The NFT of the first tweet by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sold for $3m (£2.4m), and another of the arrest warrant for South Africa’s late anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela raised $130,000 at an auction.

The NFT conversations are happening at the same time that there is increased agitation for the return of artwork stolen from Africa by European colonisers.

“We were talking about provenance and ownership of the pieces. What if I was able to take them back and turn them into NFTs?” Chidi said.

The process of repatriating the artwork starts with researching potential pieces for Looty, then going to museums to scan them using special apps on mobile phones.

Afterwards, the images are downloaded on to laptops and the complicated process of converting them to 3D begins, using special apps and technology.

“To be honest, it is almost like we are re-sculpting the artwork again,” Chidi said. “One piece can take like a whole week to finish, maybe more.”

Benin Bronzes digitally created

The Looty website will be formally launched on 13 May, but the work began in November 2021.

While Chidi is the founder, he works with two other Nigerians and a Somali.

Each member of the team specialises in 3D design, NFT technology or editing, but they have all visited museums in the UK and France to capture images of the artwork with their mobile phones.

So far, they have managed to create about 25 different pieces, including some of the famous Benin Bronzes that once decorated the royal palace of the kingdom of Benin in what is today Nigeria, and have their sights set on many more.

Chidi says he is aware that the word “Looty” is linked to “looting”, which is an act of violence, but points out that there is a deeper meaning to his choice of name for the project.

In 1860, a British serviceman, Captain John Hart Dunne, returned to England from Peking (now Beijing) with an unusual dog which he presented to Queen Victoria as a gift for her “royal collection of dogs”.

Named Looty in reference to its origins, the famous dog that sometimes sat for paintings and sketches by acclaimed artists, was reportedly taken after the British sacked a royal palace in Peking.

Looty was one of the first in the UK of what became known as Pekinese dogs, and lived in Windsor Castle until its death in 1872.

In 2018, rumours were rife in the media of the Chinese government’s involvement in a wave of art heists that targeted Chinese art and antiquities in the West.

The Chinese government denied these claims, even after one of the stolen artwork reappeared on display at an airport in Shanghai.

“Before the British were looting artefacts in Africa, they had already made a fortune from the things they stole from China. In choosing the name ‘Looty’, I am referencing that, but also referencing the dog that was given to Queen Victoria,” Chidi said.

“Even though we are called Looty, we are doing it in a nonviolent way and also a legal way.” Chidi’s vision for Looty is twofold. First is repatriation, which reclaims the stolen artwork and links them with local museums in Africa, arts organisations, and Africans in general whom he describes as “the original owners of these pieces”.

Second is reparation, aimed at helping artists across Africa, whom he believes also had opportunities for inspiration stolen from them by the British looters.

“If you live in maybe Benin and you want to be inspired by the artwork that comes from your ethnic group, first you need to apply for a visa, then buy the ticket for a plane, get to England and book hotels. You then go and view the artwork. There are not many people who are going to be able to do that,” Chidi said.

‘Building a metaverse’

Chidi hopes that viewing the artwork on Looty will not only inspire African artists at home, but also that the sale of the artwork will make funds available for local artists to advance their craft.

NFTs of artwork on the website can be purchased only with cryptocurrency.

“The token is basically a digital contract. On purchase of any pieces of artwork on Looty, 20% of that will go to the Looty Fund. From that fund, we are going to start giving grants to artists from the continent. We will donate money and equipment for artists to use,” he said.

While Chidi hopes that all the activism will eventually lead to the return of every single piece of artwork looted from Africa by the colonialists, he continues to dream of an alternative.

“I want to build our own metaverse where these pieces will live and can live,” he said.

Source: BBC

Looty members visit museums in the West to capture images of looted artefacts

Looty has taken physical works of art into the digital world - like this one

PEOPLES DAILY

Sports PAGE 29

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

NFF confirms Salisu Yusuf as new Super Eagles Coach

Stories By Amaechi Agbo

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF have confirmed that former Enugu Rangers and current Kano Pillars coach, Salisu Yusuf will take charge of the Super Eagles upcoming matches.

The Super Eagles are due to play four matches in May and early June and with the unexpected delay in appointment of a substantive Technical Adviser for the Super Eagles, Mr Yusuf who was banned three years ago for accepting bribe while in Charge of the home-based CHAN (Africa Nations Championship) Eagles have been handed the responsibility to take charge of the team in the friendly matches against Mexico and Ecuador.

With two 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON qualifiers also to hold within the period.

Yusuf will be the 3rd coach to charge of the Super Eagles since December last year after Gernot Rohr and Augustine Eguavoen were sacked for poor performances.

Consequently, Salisu Yusuf on Tuesday released a list of 30 players, including Captain Ahmed Musa and forward Moses Simon, ahead of the international friendly matches against the ‘A’ Men National Teams of Mexico and Ecuador in the United States of America.

The three –time African champions will clash with CONCACAF powerhouse Mexico at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas, State of Texas on Saturday, 28th May, before flying to New Jersey to tackle Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison on Thursday, 2nd June.

Yusuf, who is also Head Coach of the CHAN and the U23 teams, has included eight home–based professional players, including goalkeepers Adewale Adeyinka and Ojo Olorunleke, defender Ibrahim Buhari, and forwards Victor Mbaoma and Ishaq Rafiu.

Only 25 players will make the final list for the tour, which is preparatory to next month’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Sierra Leone in Abuja (9th June) and São Tomé & Príncipe in Marrakech, Morocco (13th June).

Goalkeepers: Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands); Adewale Adeyinka (Akwa United); Ojo Olorunleke (Enyimba FC)

Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina (Torino FC, Italy); Abdullahi Shehu (AC Omonia, Cyprus); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Leon Balogun (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Isa Ali (Remo Stars); Chidozie Awaziem (Alanyaspor FC, Turkey); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Calvin Bassey (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Ibrahim Buhari (Plateau United)

Midfielders: Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (Watford FC, England); Chiamaka Madu (Rivers United); Babatunde Afeez Nosiru (Kwara United); Azubuike Okechukwu (Yeni Malatyaspor, Turkey); Samson Tijani (Red Bull Salzburg, Austria); Alhassan Yusuf (Royal Antwerp FC, Belgium)

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Fatih Karagumruk, Turkey); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Ademola Lookman (Leicester City, England); Sadiq Umar (UD Almeria, Spain); Emmanuel Dennis (Watford FC, England); Cyriel Dessers (Feyenoord FC, The Netherlands); Victor Mbaoma (Enyimba FC); Ishaq Rafiu (Rivers United)

CAF Confirms Godswill Akpabio Int’l Stadium Uyo will wost 2022 Confederation Cup Final

The Confederation of Africa Football, CAF have confirmed that the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo will host the 2022 Confederation’s Cup final.

While announcing the host on Wednesday, the Africa’s football umpire said “CAF has today announced that Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Nigeria will host the 2021/22 Confederation Cup final on Friday, 20 May 2022.

“CAF will confirm the kick-off time in due course,” it said.

This is the first intercontinental major cup final to be hosted in Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo. Uyo is the capital of Akwa Ibom State – the home of Nigeria’s Premier League side Akwa United.

Last year (2021), the Confederation Cup was hosted in Cotonou, Benin where Morocco’s Raja Club Athletic beat Algerian side, JS Kabylie 2-1.

Four teams remain in the race to win the 2021/22 CAF Confederation Cup. In the first match of the first leg of the semi-finals, DR Congo’s