Hekima University College African Art Exhibition 2019

By Allan Induswe, CIHA Editorial Assistant, Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations (HIPSIR), Kenya

Introduction

The ethnic diversity of Africa is one among the many quintessential sources of the continents’ strength. On the positive side, it continues to be a potent channel through which the African vital force is expressed and this somehow bringing to life a certain mystical connection with the divine. One such aspect is African art. Fully fledged with painting, sculptures, historical installations among other indigenous cultural visuals, African art imbues a unique atmosphere that blends power, mystery, life and beauty. In a bid to recognize and share an aspect of this exceptional gift with Africans, inhabitants of Africa and the world, the Hekima University College through the Jesuit Historical Institute of Africa, held an African Art Exhibition in November 2019.

The exhibition was curated by Bose Fagbemi. During the organizing phase of the exhibition, Bose, a seasoned and renowned African curator, put a lot of skill and innovation in the ethnic diversity of sixteen different artists’ artworks and the resultant experience is a beautiful visual of chaos in harmony.

A Conversation with the Curator

While having a conversation with Bose, she tells me that the exhibition boasts of internationally recognized artworks, most of which are from private museums and auctioneers. These are artworks that are normally sold off in big houses or directly from the studios. Having undertaken a program in Art History and French (in France), Bose told me that she developed a passion for promoting art exhibitions and doing private works, and that since 2015, she has been freelancing and investing more in African art at the Institutional level. For her, African art was documented and various artworks are stored in international museums made of restricted material that colonizers extracted from Africa. She maintains that, documenting artworks with internationally recognized institutions gives a certain boost to the art pieces and this to the artist is a step forward.

As to why the organizers chose to promote African artworks, Bose explains that after coming to know that several new artists and masters of art have existed in Africa for some time, most are barely mentioned as upcoming or even masters’ artists. Some have been in the field of art for more than 50 years and they need to claim their place in the international scale of artists. For her therefore, books of art need to be updated and through this process, African artists will be given their rightful recognition. Clearly, the works of art breathe an aura of life into the artistic world, human imagination and creativity would get a nudge towards new levels if these artists’ works got the recognition they deserve.

The Idea of the Exhibition

Asking her about the uniqueness of the exhibition, Bose shares an interesting experience she had. While teaching catechism in France, she saw how important and useful the works of art were in catechesis. She also adopted the use of art in catechism and thus put to use artistic works for the purposes of evangelization and education. She saw how works of art are magnificently used in churches, in schools, museums and other institutions. Focusing on her experience in the Vatican and in France, the curator states that parish churches organize occasional exhibitions of artworks and the response and attention she saw people give to works of art was an eye opener to her and the matrix of her desire to do the same within the African context.

She considered having exhibitions in different African countries, given the variety of art in different contexts, displaying diverse themes, and sometimes conveying hidden political/social or religious messages. During the planning of period, Bose decided that she would carry out exhibitions bearing different African themes rather than limit it to the hosting country’s cultural representation. In the same line of thought, Bose got in touch with Hekima University College which expressed interest in hosting the art exhibition. She intimated that it should be our role to promote artworks by African authors since if they got documented institutionally, the price of each artwork be highly valuable. For example, she pointed out that the artworks by Emmanuel Ekefrey’s are highly marketable given he is the last of his generation holding a unique work of art.

The Exhibition and Some Notable artworks and Art Themes

Walking into the art exhibition, the curator gave a warm welcome and brief overview of the artworks in the gallery. She also fashioned me with a catalogue which had the names of the artists, their background, and the artworks on display and the years that they were done. Most of the artworks seemed arranged thematically.

The works on display were from authors who could be categorized in three groups. The first group includes works of Master artists and these are:

Sam EBOHON,
Emmanuel EKEFREY
Prof Moyo OKEDIJI
Zinno ORARA
Abraham UYOVBISERE
Tola WEWE

The second group was that of notable contemporary Men (male) artists, and these are:

Anayo ACHIKE
Victor BINGE
Emmanuel DUDU
Moses OGHAGBON
Ofobuike OKUDOH

The third group contained artworks from contemporary Women artists and these are:

Taiye EREWELE
Augustina OBI
Omon IGBINOVIA
Adebimpe OWOYEMI

Looking at some of the artworks in detail, one could feel a sense of life flowing into one’s inner soul. The artwork by Ekefrey for example depicts virgins getting prepared for puberty and the dominant theme of fertility keeps lingering in my head. The sitting posture of the ladies and the kind of rituals taking place in the room allude to the keen nature the African mother took to ensure her daughter did not become a social misfit. Interestingly, this artist, comes from a generation of artists, and his father was a renowned carver. Ekefrey is a self-taught author who invented his own painting style that blends lines, forms and bright colors. His paintings illustrate the Nigerian Ibibio culture and myths.

Another noteworthy artwork was Victor Binges’ beautiful display of nature, the blend of color and the stylistic move on pallet display such unmistakable passion for art. In some other artworks, Victor sends a strong political theme on how in the past governments controlled access to information but this has changed due to technological advancements, availability of alternative sources of information and in some cases, the major strides towards justice, civil rights and upholding the rule of law. Other artworks pointed at the value of health, for example Ofobuikes’ drawings which displays the rapid multiplication of cancerous cells.

Generally, the arrangement of the works of art was beautiful and appealing to the eye. The exhibition was very informative with interesting details that made the whole session worth attending. The dynamism of art is also visible since different art works display the creative capabilities and limitless nature of art. From this exhibition I viewed the informative and therapeutic aspects of art from a different perspective. Indeed, Art plays a great role in communicating to people of all walks of life and it should be promoted by all means possible.

The Artworks on Display Included:

Some Artworks by Victor BINGE