THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com
28 Friday, March 28, 2014 ARTS
Enter, Serendipity artists, target global lift for African art By Tajudeen Sowole NDIVIDUALLY, Gerald Chukwuma, Jefferson Jonah, DoIEdozie, minique Zinkpe, Tolu Aliki, Nyemike Onwuka and George has encrypted an identity on the Nigerian art landscape. But as a collective, the artists have prospectus strength, which they hope to implore in lifting African art into the global art space. For the maiden edition of the group’s art exhibition titled Serendipity, which opens from Saturday, March 29, 2014 at Alexis Galleries, Victoria Island. Lagos, the new platform could be one of the initiatives to watch out for in the visual arts calendar of the year. And quite a mix of artists in the new group: Chukwuma, a relief sculptor works mostly in woods; painters Edozie and Aliki are well known for stylised figural portraitures; the only nonNigerian in the group, Zinkpe has a skill for painstaking designs in wood sculpture; pastel specialist, Jefferson works mostly in black and white; and Onwuka, continues aging the canvas with ladies-dominated themes. As the activities of the group unfolds in the months ahead, details of their itinerary, Edozie assured, will emerge. He disclosed that the main focus of the group is to strengthen African art on the international scene. “We hope to do more shows abroad than at home to promoted African, particularly Nigerian art in the west.” In the past few years, the presence of Nigerian artists on the international art scene has been on the increase.. From African art auctions, to art fair and individual as well as group art exhibitions, it appears that more artists have been expanding their horizon, beyond the Lagos art market. For the Serendipity group, launching from Nigeria is crucial to get a representative gallery abroad. “We already have one or two galleries tentatively to represent us in Europe,” Chukwuma said, but short of disclosing the names. New groups emerging, particularly on the Lagos art scene, are gradually reaching the point of proliferation. But for the Serendipity, “it’s about coming together for a common goal,” Jefferson added. “We are not in this to add to the
growing list.” Despite the obvious fact that art appreciation has been on the ascendancy in Nigeria, specifically in Lagos, the market appears not to be keeping pace with the creative aggression at which artists are moving. This makes the need for wider market space, perhaps pushing artists overseas, urgent. However, the home factor, which project artists’ work and prepares them for international’ recognition cannot be discounted. Aliki, who is among few young Nigerian artists, who have recently had exhibitions in Europe, argued that each member of Serendipity needs overseas exposure more. “As individuals, we have been around for a while and exhibited well in Nigeria, but we need to up our game.” He noted that the Lagos art scene is “becoming saturated.” The Nigerian art scene, he stressed, “is too concentrated in Lagos, but overseas, the African art market is wider.” He argued on how volume of “Nigerians in the Diaspora can boost collection.” Edozie warned that no matter how widely collected an artist is at home, it is still not safe to exclude the international market. “We want to concentrate more on showing abroad as we cannot continue playing local champions.” He also faulted Nigerian galleries for what he noted as lack of their focus on the international scene. Clearly, a Nigerian gallery is ruled out in the search for a representative abroad. “Galleries in Nigeria are not strong abroad,” Edozie insisted. Jointly cu-
. Rolu Aliki’s When There is Not. rated by George Edozie and Patty Chidiac Serendipity is sponsored by Veuve Clicquot, The homestores, Chocolate Royal , Arra Vineyards, Avenue suits, Cool FM, Wajobiar FM, Nigera Info, Internets solution Nigeria Ltd, Lostinlagos, Litho - Chrome Ltd, Tolaram Group (Indomie). Aliki is a self-thought artist , but well-collected by “galleries and notable art collectors in Nigeria, while a number of international galleries have shown interest in his paintings.” Edozie studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and has four solo and over 70 group exhibitions within and outside Nigeria. His bio says among his international shows was Africa Now organized by the World Bank for emerging African artist at the World Bank main complex Washington DC USA in 2008 and African Way of Art, La Galerie Vendome Paris France in 2011. Jonahan had his training at Auchi polytechnic in Edo State. With two solo exhibitions in 2002 and 2011, he has stressed his identity of a major pastelist. “Anything beautiful is beautiful and cannot be redefined. Make it a habit of creating good works,” his Artist Statement says. Nyemike’s works have featured at the auctions of Bonhams since the inception in 2010 till date. Stwo of his many local and international exhibitions such as Elegant Urban Decay, at Arc Gallery, London and Moods at Alexis Gallery, Lagos. Zinkpe was born in 1969 in Cotonou in the Republic of Benin. He has participated in numerous exhibitions, workshops and residences in Africa, Europe and South America. Zinkpe gained early recognition through the prix jeune Talent African awarded to him at the Grapholie in Abidjan in 1993. In 2002 he won the Prix Umeoa at the 2002 Dakar Biennale. Chukwuma studied Fine Art and Applied at the University of Nigeria Nsukka where he where he majored in painting. He has four solo exhibitions and several group exhibitions in Nigeria and Abroad. He was part of the exhibition Heden Daagse Afrikaanse Kunst’ Galerie 23 Amsterdam; Music Lesson, an exhibition of wood panels at Alexis Galleries Lagos.
A painting by George Edozie titled Eko sikwalu ike
World Photo Multimedia Contest picks winners By Tajudeen Sowole
of photojournalist Emin Özmen who witnessed the protests against the urban develThe international jury of the 2014 World opment plan for Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park. Press has awarded prizes in three categories of Short Feature, Long Feature and Interactive Subsequently, the protests sparked supporting strikes across Turkey turning into a reDocumentary. Each category holds first, secsistance movement of great importance for ond and third prizes. the country. ‘Witnessing Gezi’ shows the A statement from the organizers listed the winner of the First prize Short Feature as Staff human aspect of this civil resistance, a cruRiding, shot by Marco Casino is local slang for cial event of the last 30 years in Turkey. Also on the list of winners is First prize Intrain surfing, and it is a widespread phenomteractive Documentary: ‘A Short History of enon in South Africa. The vast majority of the Highrise’National Film Board of Canada / surfers are under 25, and due to the highly The New York Times dangerous nature of the activity, amputaThe jury chair Jassim Ahmad, global head of tions of limbs and even deaths are not uncommon. In a context where violence, alcohol multimedia innovation Reuters, reflected: “It is remarkable that the number of entries and drug abuse, rampant poverty, and AIDS to the contest has increased by one third reign supreme, train surfing symbolizes the since last year. The overall quality of submissearch for social redemption that will never sions indicates that many more have a grasp come for the characters of this story. of visual media - a promising indicator of Another winner is First prize Long Feature: things to come. The winners reflect many asWitnessing Gezi, created with the recordings pects of the human condition, such as fam-
ily, culture, sport, conflict and politics.” He added: “There is clearly no one model for success in the practice. You can work in teams large and small; with the support of a major organisation or local community. The smallest stories can speak to wider truths. The possibilities of multimedia are immense.” Jury member Marianne Lévy-Leblond commented: “The notion of multimedia is changing all the time. We constantly find new trends in the field and we try to approach them differently every time. This is an evolving field and we should approach it as such. What fascinates me the most is the level of engagement. The entries had high levels of interaction, from the user experience to distribution, and the use of social media.” Jury chair Jassim Ahmad summed up the categories:
“Across the feature prize winners, the common thread is revealing stories with strong characters at their heart. They are well told and vivid. When content is created for the web, it must grab your attention and hold it. We put ourselves in the shoes of the reader. Interactive teams are employing a variety of visual tools and techniques. We looked for examples that are designed for the medium to explain more and bring you closer. All the winners in this category are evidence of exceptional teamwork. Interactive entries also included some highly original concepts. We agreed innovation could not be at the expense of clarity. Communication is the essence of journalism.” The judging was conducted at the World Press Photo office in Amsterdam, where the jury viewed all the entries and discussed their merits over a period of six days. A total of 373 multimedia productions were entered in the contest: Short Feature 254, Long Fea-