Exhibition: Artists highlight culture as tool for national unity

Some Nigerian visual artists have called for greater investment in culture as a means of fostering economic growth and national unity.

The artists made the call during separate interviews with newsmen at an ongoing exhibition on Tuesday in Lagos.

The event, a group art exhibition of four visual artists: Klaranze Okhide, Moses Oghagbon, Kunle Ogunfuyi and Abdulrazaq Ahmed, is organised by Gallery Happ Circle.

The exhibition which will end on April 30, is with the theme ‘Deconstructing Unity’, with a major focus on the Argungu Fishing Festival.

Kunle Ogunfuyi, whose works examined the cultural aspects of the Argungu Fishing Festival, said the exhibition sought to correct misconceptions about the event, which he described as more than a fishing festival.

Ogunfuyi, a photojournalist who has been covering the festival for about 20 years, said there was a cultural aspect of the festival and the way of life of the community being showcased in his works.

Highlighting some of the daily activities of the community, he said the role of the Mai Ruwas, the vital source of water for crops and households, the role of women, particularly the Lando Drummers, could not be ignored.

“Now, women can be part of society, not the voice waiting to be heard anymore.

“Now, you have the women drumming, you have the women in the market space selling, which used to be men running the business and women at the back,” he said.

According to him, the festival, and others across the nation, are examples of tourism, which he said is a potential tool for bringing people together.

Ogunfuyi urged the government to leverage the strength and potential in the activities that bring people together to foster unity.

“When the festival is going on; transaction in terms of businesses in the emirate goes up, even as low as the Mama Put are selling because tourists come.

“Other people from other parts of the region and across Nigeria come, they come to experience the festival.

“When the festival is going on, there is no Boko Haram,” he said.

Ogunfuyi further said that many Nigerians were ignorant about other communities or cultures, apart from theirs.

“The south don’t know much about the north, the north don’t know much about the south.

“For us to push away division, bring people together with the mechanism that brings them together,” Ogunfuyi advised.

Another exhibitor, Klaranze Okhide, said her works reflected the achievements of indigenous society that have been overlooked.

Okhide, who is the sole female artist among the quartet, evokes the significance of calabash gourds, an element she has adorned with her artistry, imbuing them with fresh interpretations.

Her artworks invite contemplation of all cultural heritage and provoke introspection regarding engagement with it.

The Benin born artist, who has lived in Abuja for over two decades, said living in a multicultural environment has taught her to appreciate, tolerate and learn to promote the nation.

She told newsmen that Nigerians were spoiled for choice because they had the privilege to choose from the cultural heritage of any tribe.

“I love our culture. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Nupe culture, or it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s Gbagi, Yoruba or Hausa. I just like it.

“That’s why I’m in Nigeria. I can choose to be Nupe in my dressing. If I want to be Jukun tomorrow, yes it’s within my rights,” she said.

Speaking of her work titled ‘Heritage’, Okhide said it was a symbolic piece that reflects things that we do not see but are vital.

“We hear a lot of negativity coming out from amongst us but we don’t look at the good.

“We don’t see the art, the culture, that has strived for centuries, long before technology came,” she said.

One of the attendees at the exhibition, Ben Nwosa, said he found the exhibition interesting because it showed the trajectory of the Argungu Fishing Festival – the journey from preparation to the event.

“All of them are telling stories, either traditional stories or stories that they want you to know,” he said.

Nwosa, who is also an artist residing in Dublin, noted that the works could compete anywhere in the world.