Message of love on Twitter: From Ibinabo Fiberesima to hubby

SNA Lagos State Chapter holds exhibition ‘October Rain 2014’ *Historic artworks on display

By ADA DIKE

In line with the celebration of 100 years of Nigeria’s amalgamation and its annual exhibition, a professional body for all practicing visual artists, the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), Lagos State Chapter holds its 16^th Annual Juried Art Exhibition.

Titled “October Rain”, “The Centenary: Nigeria @ 100” is the theme of the of the exhibition which will take place at the Nike Art Centre, #2 Elegushi Road, Ikate Roundabout, Lekki-Epe Express Way, Lagos, from Saturday October 25 to 29, 2014.

Under the Chairmanship of the Dr. Abiola Akinosho, Chairman, Solidra Circle; The Special Guests of Honour are Mr. Hasib Moukarim, Managing Director, Nigeria Gas and Steel Limited and Engr. P. O. Bamgbose-Martins, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Lagos State.

The Guests of Honour are Mr. Wale Olagundoye, Managing Director, Exp. Marketing Nigeria Limited and Mrs. Ekene Okoroma, Curator, the National Gallery of Arts. The host is Mr. Dotun Alabi, the Chairman, SNA Lagos State Chapter.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Dotun Alabi revealed what guests should expect at the exhibition by saying that this year’s exhibition is unique as colourful artworks which express different issues and events that have happened in Nigeria since its amalgamation will be on display.

Chairman, Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Dotun Alabi (middle); the Treasurer, Mr. Idowu Sonaya (Right) and the General Secretary, Mr. W. 

Okonyeh-Dixon

“We all know that this country is facing different challenges as a nation, we survived a civil war, we are still battling the scourge of terrorism by Boko Haram, and there is also economic hardship. So the centenary exhibition gives us an opportunity to reflect on some of the things that have happened within the last 100 years and also project the step we need to take to achieve a much better and civil country,” said Alabi.

In addition to what the Chairman of SNA, Lagos State Chapter said, the treasurer of the association, Mr. Idowu Sonaya, stressed that the exhibition will showcase a lot of talents. “We are trying to have a prospective view of what is affecting the country at 100 years and I believe that people will find a lot of historical information in the artworks that will be on display.  I also want to use this opportunity to invite a lot of Art lovers, prospective buyers, Art connoisseur, Art collectors and the general public to come and celebrate with us, visit the exhibition and make some patronage,” he added.

In his speech, the General Secretary, Mr. W. Okonyeh-Dixon, said: “Why this year’s exhibition is different is that, apart from 100 years’ celebration, we also

have first of its kind special features including workshop for primary and secondary schools which will take place from 10 am to 11 am on Monday, October  27, 2014, 11 am to 12 noon on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 and 12 noon to 1 pm on Wednesday, October 29, 2014,” Okonyeh-Dixon emphasized.

According to him, there will be students’ interactive session and voting for outstanding works by guests. They implored schools and parents to bring their students and children to the workshop. “There will be artists’ awards at the event.”

Some of the exhibiting artists are: Prof. Bruce Onabrakpeya and Kolade Oshinowo, among many others including recently graduated students who have joined the society. “It is a platform for both old and young as their works would be put side by side at the exhibition,” Alabi revealed.

Some of the works for exhibition

In the Happy Woman, the artist inscribed so many things on it including: Dance, Happy, Homeland, Nigeria, African Style, Glad to be African and so. Dotun explained that it talks basically about joy and was done by one of their aspiring artists called Chigogbo (2014). It is indeed a very lovely piece.

The Headless Man, according to Dotun is an expression that has many meanings. “It has a political echo. For example, when you give away your conscience for a piece of meal or small amount of money, it means that you have cut off your head.”

The one made with carton materials was produced by Odun Orimolade. “It is a form of evolution.  Orimolade actually used old portraits in that work to achieve a beautiful work. Based on the materials, you can see that the work is a contemporary one and it can fit into exhibitions in any part of the world. She is a lecturer in Yaba College of Technology, Lagos,” Alabi explained.

One wonders whether the work may spoil if water touches it, but Alabi said that the finishing is done to protect the work from spoiling when it is wet.

Kidnappers den made with newspaper cuttings shows the evil occurrence in our society.

The Aso-ebi is made with spray cans but covered with same kind of fabrics. “The Aso-ebi is stylishly tied in different styles, which gives one the idea of Africanness, especially the Yoruba people. If you look at the head-tie, you see some styles called ‘The Satellite, the Owambe’ and others.”

But a closer look at the Aso-ebi shows that the head-ties were beautifully tied in different styles, though the fabric were of the same style (just wrapped around the can) which is contrary to what is obtainable in reality as women don’t like sewing or wearing the same style to an occasion but may they wear the same material. The society’s chairman said it was due to the shape of the cans, adding that it would be difficult for the artist to design different style on the cans.

The Girl-Child painting is titled: "Greatness will emerge". Its a painting done by Ufuoma Peter Isiavwe.
 It also means that the right of a girl-child and maintains that the girl-child’s right should be protected and the girl-child should be allowed to express herself. “When you look at the abduction of the Chibok girls, you know that it is affecting the nation, although we have got news that they will soon be rescued. It basically talks about the ability of the girl-child to be allowed to express herself,” Alabi explained.

One of the attracted pieces on display is the Ceramic Pot which was used in the past for fetching and storing water and other things. But artists supposed to explore the aesthetic beauty of using ceramics to work so as to maximize its potentials. One may not be wrong to say that ceramic works are few due to its fragile nature. “Last year, we had about three ceramic entries, but only have one this year. In fact, people now use more conventional ceramics materials to work that the ancient one.”

He explained further that a lot of artists are doing more of painting works than others because it is a little easier to use paints on canvas than sculpturing and carving. “Anyway, the October Rain is an open exhibition and people are allowed to chose any medium they wanted to exhibit and it is what they submitted that we accepted.”

Other works include: Banana seller, Royalty, sculptural works and so on.

Below, are some of the works that will be displayed at October Rain exhibition that is kicking off tomorrow:

 

(Headless Man) A man selling his conscience to a politician

Portriat

Aso-ebi (Uniform)

Banana seller

Ceramic pot

Happy woman

Kidnappers' den

Royalty

Sculptures

Girl-child

Popular names make AFRIMA 2014 Nominees’ List

Information reaching Daily Newswatcg stated that the five regions of Africa gave an impressive account of their respective music industry as the 2014 Nominees’ List of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), was unveiled on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 during a world press conference held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Although popular names in the continental music industry showed up on the highly-anticipated Nominees’ List of the awards project that is rewarding excellence by budding and established music professionals as well as journalists, the nominations of a generous number of emerging African artistes in many award categories threw more excitement into the unveiling event witnessed by local and international press as well as critical stakeholders in the music industry.

Among the well-known African music names on the nominees list are: Mafikizolo (South Africa) six nominations, Davido (Nigeria) six nominations, Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania) two nominations, Amr Diab (Egypt) two nominations, Zahara (South Africa) three nominations, Sakordie (Ghana) one nomination, Tiwa Savage (Nigeria) two nominations and Uhuru (South Africa) five nominations. Leading the budding music acts on AFRIMA Nominees’ List is: TemiDollFace (Nigeria) four nominations, others are Wiyaala (Ghana) four nominations; Patoranking (Nigeria) two nominations and Noura Mint Seymale (Mauritania) two nominations, among others.

Giving details into the criteria by which the nominees list emerged, Matlou Tsotetsi explained that the jury panel adhered strictly to the entry submission requirements while being guided by AFRIMA’s core values of FACE IT –Fairness, Authenticity, Creativity, Excellence, Integrity and Transparency.

AFRIMA voting online platform was opened Tuesday, September 30 for the five-week voting process; 30 of the 33 award categories is opened for voting by the public and AFRIMA Academy of Voters,

Kindly log in to www.afrima.org to view the nominees in 30 categories and vote for your favourite artiste(s).

Writer, artistes, others join CATE and Waka-about to clean beach

By ADA DIKE

It was an exciting experience for hundreds of beach Samaritans that attended cleanup exercise at Okun Alfa Beach in the Lekki area of Lagos, on Saturday, October 18, 2014.

Ada Dike (Me) as one one the beach Samaritans that cleaned Alfa Beach, Lagos on Saturday, October 18, 2014

Tagged: “Stage a Rebellion against Trash - Raise Your Voice, Not The Sea Level!” it was put together by Children And The Environment (CATE), foremost Nigerian non-governmental oragnisation (NGO), which focuses on creating environmental health awareness and promoting eco-tourism amongst young people, in partnership with Waka-about Media, publishers and promoters of culture and tourism in Nigeria.

Even the resident in the beach community attested that the exercise was the biggest and most innovative event they have witnessed so far this year as the participants who were divided into five groups used cleaning tools such as rakes, brooms, cellophane bags and so on, to clean the surroundings of the beach.

Among the beach Samaritans included Nigeria’s celebrated young authors, Iquo DianaAbasi Eke; General Manager of Radio One 103. 5FM, Funke-Treasure Durodola and many artistes including dance crew, Team Pyramid X, led by Umar Salihu that entertained everyone.

Daily Newswatch learnt that the “Let’s Cleanup and Greenup Okun Alfa Beach” is part of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of both partnering outfits.

Speaking with members of the media at the beach, the founder of Children And The Environment (CATE), Miss Sola Alamutu, said the exercise aims to educate participants on the need to help communities keep the beach clean and beautiful, and to guard against the negative effects arising from climate change, as well as ensure that these environments are sustainable and continue to serve as places both people and wildlife can use safely.

“For the past 15 years, I have been actively involved in projects that have to do with children and the environment. Incidentally, the idea came to me on October 18, 2008. Exactly six years later, that is today, October 18, 2014, we came to clean Alfa Beach.

“We have cleaned many streets of Lagos including areas such as Yaba, Mafoluku, Ogudu and other places.”

Explaining why she embarked on the project, Alamutu said, “I am an environmentalist. I grew up in Ikoyi, where we were always visiting beaches. When I visited a beach, I found out that the beach has washed off so I decided to do something about it by cleaning beaches,” she explained.

She advised Nigerians to keep their environments clean. “Stop throwing rubbish outside your vehicles. If you clean your home or your vehicles and leave your surrounding dirty, it means you are dirty.”

 

Some of the participants

Also in his comment, Publisher, WakaAbout Media, Pelu Awofeso, said

“I have wanted to clean the beach for four years now after I took an excursion to Badagry beach and I was shocked to see how dirty it was. A few weeks’ before that day, I took tourists to Ibereko beach and it was dirtier. I asked myself that if the community did not care about it, who will? Since that day, I began to nurture an idea about it.

“In 2012, we made an attempt to clean it, wrote a letter to Badagry Local Government Area but that project was frustrated. So I spoke to Miss Sola Alamutu. who is naturally into environmental protection and we decided not to look for support from any local government. We are doing it for the benefit of the community living around the beaches.”

Explaining why she participated in cleaning the beach, poet Iquo DianaAbasi Eke said “If you go around Lagos where I stay, you will see that people have non-chalant attitude towards cleaning their environment. Commuters throw dirt out of their vehicles on regular basis. If you caution them, they will tell you that they are not the only people throwing dirt from their vehicles. But you find out that the dirt is washed into the beaches, which make the beaches to look horrible. People come to the beach, they eat, drink and throw it into the water so I took part in this beach clean up so that people can learn from it,” Eke said.