By: Mercy Peter
No fewer than 25 artists participated in the 3rd International Art Fair in Abuja.
The fair themed “Intersection of Treasures” was hosted by the National Gallery of Art.
The various artworks were at display at the NGA Art Pavilion for guest and the general public. Ranging from craft works to painting on canvass.
In his remarks, the Director General of the National Gallery of Art, Ahmed Bashir Sodangi revealed that plans are ongoing to save regional artwares as part of the efforts to enhance virtual art sector in the country.
This, Sondagi said will help improve the grassroot economy.
He said: “You may wish to know that plans are on here by the National Gallery of Arts to save regional artwares, which I believe will enhance the giant strides of the visual arts sub-sector in complementing our grassroots economy.”
He pointed out that the 3rd edition of the International art fair is a response to the need to beam light on art as an agent of economic growth and diversification.
He said the exhibition is a convergence of creative minds from different geographical backgrounds showcasing an exquisite collection of artworks that unveil an array of cultures and perspectives through diverse mediums, processes and techniques.
He said: “This edition of the International Art Fair promises to be unique. Its theme, Intersection of Fenders, is an apt reference of the unfolding wave of prosperity that art brings to the table.
“Apart from partnering with a whopping number of 25 indigenous and foreign artists, thus facilitating international collaboration, this fair will contribute significantly in impacting our nation’s Gross Domestic Product and provide platforms and synergy for both the creator and the buyer.
“All over the world, art is taking a different direction. Beyond creativity, creative beauty and industrial aesthetics, it is becoming part of diplomatic protocol for global cohesion. “Therefore, today’s event offers more and more than an immediate economic benefit.It presents a tremendous opportunity to put our artists on a global scale.
“The exposition reflects a fusion of creative talents, a well shared bond of artistic excellence, which the National Gallery of Art is strategically poised to illuminate,” he added.
The president of Society of Nigerian Artists, Mohameed Suleiman said assured NGA of the society’s support in ensuring that it achieve its goal, especially towards contributing towards the economy.
Suleiman said, “And to restate also that it is my own commitment as the president of the Society of Nigerian Artists to ensure that these plans come to fruition. That is in order for NGA to take its pride of place amongst the leading revenue-generating parastatals in the visual arts subsection.”
He added, “ And we must also notice that this is what is earning so much money for the United States and most of these countries out there. That is another frontier to generating funds for the nation. So we are very proud to associate with that.”
Speaking of her work, Mohammed who is an Assistant Programme Manager with Nigerian Television Authority said her art work is to draw attention to the great architectural works of the palaces of traditional rulers.
She stressed that most arts work in the North focuses on the argungu festival and Durba festival forgetting the palaces, which according to her are
The Kano State born Journalist said: “the inspiration behind my work is every time we talk about Northern Nigeria, the first thing that comes to your mind when you want to portray Northern Nigeria, there are four things, either you paint Argungu Fishing Festival, or you paint Durba, or you paint a Fulani maiden or a herdsman. But they have forgotten the fact that we have an amazing and powerful architectural design which intricates works on them that people don’t even know. And these things are not just done in the royal houses or even in normal rooms.
“People that are not even flamboyant, people that are not even rich, they have their houses designed because naturally, Northerners like beauty, they like colours, they like intricacy. And that’s why we don’t play with hand-knit arts. Anything that has to do with design, we try to go with it from whoever’s culture.”
Mohammed who was fourth runner-up at the 2006 the Spanish painting competition said her drawing at the fair is a manual documentation of Emir’s palaces in the north.
She said: “We have a lot of electronic documentation, like in pictures, videos. But people can only document them manually when it comes to painting. So, I decided to delve into that area because I find it very amusing, very beautiful, and there are things that you can never get bored of painting.
“So, that was why I decided to paint Emir’s palace. But I injected some of my creativity into it, like I added these glitters. The glitters are not there, but I added it myself.
“Same thing happened with Emir’s palace in Zaria. Emir’s palace in Zaria is very, very beautiful. There is no way you can pass by eithout looking at it two to three times.
“So, the only way I felt I could do justice to the palace was by painting it. I painted with so much enthusiasm, so much happiness, so much calm. And this painting, I painted it for like two months, and every single day I was on the canvas because I wanted it to come out. I wanted it to be a surrealistic painting, and I’m so happy it came out. So, it’s a combination of surrealism, abstraction, and more of reality. I love reality, actually.”
NGA Curator, Mufu Onifade who spoke on the essence of the fair said: “A part of the value addition strategy is to see how we can simplify artists and artworks so that an artist can see value in terms of how he presents his work. So, what that does, it gives you increased value of how you sell your work and how you can actually earn and create and add to the creative economy.
“Open Common Artists are actually our target. We’re looking at how Open Common Artists can see and leverage from all the different initiatives of the National Gallery of Art. First and foremost, as a creative, one of the things in today’s world that you have to identify is who your market is. Because it’s not just creative, but you have to look at it as a business.
“Because this is now the general sense of it. It’s all about the creative economy, adding to it, and giving economic value. So, one of the things the National Gallery is doing to capture Open Common Artists is to see how we can add value to all the different levels of the value chain in the art sector.
“So, this is one of the things that we believe and some incentive that National Gallery is going to roll out very soon, where artists can come and leverage their money from.”
He said there were lots of entries for the fair but could only accommodate the 25 participants after a strigent sele time processes.
He said: “These are not all the works selected, I mean, submitted. But, these are the works, you know, selected. We have many works.
“We have to jury. Jury means removing some works and then dropping some, you know, and taking the final, you know, large chunk. So, that’s what we have been able to do.
After going through the jury, we selected the best that I’m able to make to the show. So, we have 48 artworks submitted by 25 artists. And that’s what we have on display today.”
