Professional artists should lecture in schools -Professor Frank Ugiomoh

 

Professor Frank Ugiomoh

A seasoned University lecturer, Professor Frank Ugiomoh, in this interview with ADA DIKE, explains why it is necessary for visual artists to lecture Fine Art subjects in higher institutions of learning in Nigeria.

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In recent times, the number of students that register to study Fine Art in tertiary institutions in Nigeria has reduced drastically due to the importance many people attach to acquisition of certificates.

So, a lecturer from the Department of Art and Applied Design, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Port Harcourt, Professor Frank Ugiomoh, has called on the stakeholders to pay less interest to certificates and allow professional fine artists to lecture in the departments of Fine Art.

Presenting the lead paper at the recently concluded Society of Nigeria Artists’ (SNA) 50^th anniversary celebration, in his topic, “Reconceptualising the Value of Art in a Developing Economy,”  said through the ages, the work of art has remained an indicator of the progress of civilization, yet the work of art remains one of the least valued engagements of human industry.

In his words: “Certificates are necessary but the way they are being portrayed in Nigeria is wrong. It had to be corrected and then follow one stage after the other. In the United Kingdom, art degree began in 1992. There were no professors in Fine Art and people who had Fine Art degrees at the Master’s level were promoted to the level of professors.  In Nigeria, it is not like that and they are not helping the discipline to grow because any discipline is known by its methodology. If we follow the proper personnel, you now begin to develop the profession to grow and when it is matured then, you tell yourself that you have arrived,” Ugiomoh explained.

He further emphasized that, as it stands now, because of their advocacy, the way they are being  done now, people with professional Master’s degree that are supposed to be leading others cannot be promoted because they don’t have Doctorate degrees. “We don’t have more than two doctors of philosophies in Fine Arts in Nigeria. That is the problem.

“The UK, after 52 years would tell you that hundreds of doctors of philosophies in Fine Art they have churned out have not matured but are still in experimental stage. And for that very reason, Fine Art normally, will read MFA/PH. This is because they have not arrived at the point we think we are comfortable. In Nigeria, they are making it mandatory for people to go and get doctor of philosophy anywhere and come back to lecture in Fine Art.. If you have PhD in Sociology and other fields to come back to lecture in Fine Art and teach people what?” he queried.

He added that in spite of the perceptions in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, it is important to note that they make provision for professional artists to teach in their institutions. “The initiative allows for the students to gain experience from professionals and anticipate being professionals also. It is important that the artists train artists in Nigeria. Considering the value of art to culture and the developmental aspiration of Nigeria, should be given the right professional training.”

He however, stressed that: “You cannot give what you don’t have. Somebody with PhD in Sociology is promoted to professor and may use the methodology of Sociology to teach Fine Art. Not that it is not necessary; all I am asking is for us to be methodic and systematic to climb the ladder.”

On what can be done to encourage more students to register to study Fine Art in schools, he said people should stop thinking that art is a difficult course. “If you can write ABCD, you can convert it to a human form. I am an artist but many people don’t know that. When we started certificate course, we got so many people who thought they cannot be good artists discovered that they are very good. After that certificate programme in Fine Art, they transit automatically to degree programme and move up from there.”

Highlighting the importance of art to humanity, Ugiomoh said “The work of art defines who we are. It also points us to where we look forwards to. This complex nature of art, considering the fortunes and misfortunes of the object of art has been subjected to and among various cultures, will always require that artists do more than they have always done to find a comfortable place for art in human consciousness. It is not as if the above need for art has ever been abandoned by artists, critics, historians, philosophers, sociologists and so on.”

He noted that art has remained a subject of great despise as much as the artist has been in many climes. Many, according to him, conceive of the artist as one who is extraordinary in his or her personality and endowments. “The artist is not one with his or her fellow humans; the artist is simply seen as one who lives in his own world and not in sync with anyone. But do we have cause to blame the rest of humanity? The Marxist critic tells us that early works of art stood out distinctly as magical objects in human societies. This exalted position of the artist and art was borne out of the fact that the usefulness of the work of art in the community made the work of art and its maker an enigma. What nature could not offer a mere object of human hands accomplishes for the human. Thus the work of art and its maker become awesome.

In order for art to take its proper place, he said Lansing stresses the need to reposition art in the consciousness of the general populace and added that his advocacy is hinged on the need to demonstrate, as the need arises always, the value of art for the individual and society. As he puts it “Since the time of Plato, scholars have attempted to explain its merit in philosophical terms, but their explanation have been difficult for most persons outside philosophy to understand. As a result, many people do not accept art as an important element in their lives or in the general education of their children. If they permit it to be taught in public schools, they allow it to play no more than a minor and relatively unimportant educational role.”

“The above observation, though defined for the United States of America over almost half a century now is akin to what the general education of the Nigerian child is confronting today. Equally we ought to notice that the tribe of art appreciators and connoisseurs is less than one percent in Nigeria. This realization goes in recognition of the fact that the teaching of art in the curriculum almost debuted with the introduction of formal education in the 19^th centuries in Nigeria.

How to turn the table around evidently is the reason for this initiative of the Society of Nigerian Artists.

“The work of art is the human’s perception of the world, as it is also the remnant of humanity as often as cultures and civilizations continue to undergo renewal. “Art transforms time in its fleeting and relentless flow symbols that come to outlive the time they were enacted. Art remains, as a matter of fact, an inestimable record of human history and of human perception of self, its nature and the inter-subjective relationship. It elicits are such that it binds humanity together. Art is one human engagement that engenders knowledge of self and of others. As a universal language it is a facilitator of knowledge in the general sense of the word.

“Where this is the case, the context and polemic that trail the education of artists in Nigeria remains a source of worry. This is not only for me, but to well meaning artists and educationists. More importantly, the Society of Nigerian Artists should be saddled with this worry. Institution train men and women with potentials to become artists in Nigeria who eventually practice their trade under the umbrella of the Society of Nigeria Artists. The Society of Nigerian Artists therefore, should be at the forefront in making sure that its potential members are properly trained. The Society of Nigerian Artists should be part of the definition of the standards for the education of the artists. In its more than fifty years of existence, its influence in directing the education of its members remains non-existent. The Society of Nigerian Artists probably, lives with the assumption that its members are also the teachers in educational institutions.

“Considering the value of art, the education of the artist requires guided intervention from the Society of Nigerian Artists. Art education is expected to hike the awareness and practice of the creative arts. This has not been the case in recent times. Rather, accomplished creative output in recent history has been waning.”