To be a young and budding artist in Nigeria is hard. This is more so, when one isn’t a prodigy, or lacks an art education background. Add the challenge of finding a gallery in Abuja to exhibit one’s work without the aid of a large benefactor, or finance, and it is quite discouraging.
However, a trio of young artists, Bamaiyi Emmanuel, Favour Musa and Angel C. Maife, aged 20, 18 and 17 years, surmounted the above challenges to host an exhibition that speaks of their experience in the art space.
The exhibition, A Part, A Story, Our Experience, is not so much about the art pieces, as artistes are still finding their style, rather what they are saying, how they are saying it, and more importantly sustaining their art practice.
What they are saying
Comprising of eighteen works, the exhibition through the exploration of emotions, faith and vision, documents their experience of the art world, and its impact on them.
For Emmanuel and Favor, their experience of the art space has been difficult, particularly in the area of finance. Of humble backgrounds, both struggle financially support their art practice and to continuously develop themselves.
Musa often lacked the finance to foot his transport fares, while Bamaiyi wrestled with the rising cost of art materials impacted by an inflation driven economy. They pull through by picking up odd jobs as Musa did, or acquiring various skills – like Emmanuel does, doing graphics work, mural designs etc, and investing 5% of his earning in his art practice. The artworks – Gifted Hands, Confidence, Forgotten Dreams, Rise Above Adversities reflect their resilience.
In the course of surmounting everyday challenges in their art practice, they are Finding Their Style. Musa whose first artistic workshop was in July, discovered a colour experimentation style that channels his beliefs.
“Anytime I paint, I want to express joy using colours. I want to convey through colours that art is soulful. I like to listen to my soul which is why I make art. If I don’t tell myself I am listening to my soul, I am not making art,” Musa said.
Emmanuel is exploring a style that infuses drawings of red and blue line note paper in his artwork, that I call ‘paper style’. The wrinkly, squeezed paper, often in black and white, or coloured, are either standalones with scribbled words or frame features of his main subjects.
Thus far, Emmanuel is 50 percent close to replicating the style he’s envisioned in his dream. His paper style piece Resilience bought by a local artist was a subject of discuss at the Nigerian UN House recently.
“I am still trying to figure out where it is going. Perhaps it’ll be my signature style. I am sure with daily practice and drawing. I will get there.”
Finding Support
The idea to curate the exhibition came to Emmanuel post his participation in the Art For Peace Exhibition and workshop organized by Urunwa Arts in collaboration with Photocarrefour and funded by Spanish cultural agency ACERCA. The idea was to showcase his journey, his story, and that of other young artists, after participating in five group exhibitions.
When he intimated Photocarrefour Gallery founder, Tersoo Gundu, of his plans, the latter was excited as the project fell within the objective of his relatively young gallery, promote artistic self-expression by both artists and ordinary people. He offered them the gallery’s space for free use.
Emmanuel stressed teamwork as key to achieving the exhibition. Hence, art pieces as Teamwork, Humble Words I & II, and Faith on display. “I did not do all this by myself, I had to talk to friends to see whatever each one can do to help. It is that experience that I decided to put on canvas so people can understand how it began.”
And with the exhibition, Musa is encouraged to “keep chasing his dreams” as reflected in the exhibition in Forgotten Dreams I & II. “I have learnt a lot from Emmanuel. I have always thought, “when will I exhibit my work?” Now I am here exhibiting at Photocarrefour, and that’s an achievement, one that has encouraged me to keep chasing my dreams,” said Musa.
Gundu further offered them words of advice to see them through this exhibition and future projects.
“He advised us not to mind whether people turned out or not, but just do what we do best, create awareness, and document it. What matters is that we are doing something, and that we are consistent,” said Emmanuel.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Books & Arts, Gundu said, “I have never been into classicism. Art is life and anyone who wants to give themselves to life by creating something, then the simpler it is the better.
“I believe people who are giving of themselves, people willing to share their thoughts and experiences, are more creative and productive than takers and oppressors. The opportunity for people to be productive that is found in providing the space for people who are willing to try new things, experiment, share their thoughts etc, is what my space is all about. The fact that Emmanuel has moved from participating in group exhibitions to organizing one, is a shift in gear that has unlocked a new level in his craft.”
