Celebrate Friendship, Resilience In Refreshing Dialogue
ROOMMATES, classmates and with a friendship spanning over four decades, Gab Awusa and Zinno Orara plan to hold an art show, which would run for two weeks, to celebrate their friendship and resilience.
Titled, Refreshing Dialogue, the show intends to showcase the extreme and unique individuality of the two friends who are pathfinders in the Nigerian art industry. Set to hold at the National Museum, Lagos, from March 30 to April 13, a minimum of 30 works will be displayed. Each of them is expected to show between 15 and 20 art works.
At a briefing, which held recently, both Awusa and Orara reminisced on their friendship: An unexpected friendship, which began from their polytechnic days in Auchi. These prolific painters passed through thick and thin to conquer all odds.
From designing congratulatory cards to make ends meet, these artists were part of the celebrated Auchi School of Art, which took the country by storm in the 90s and 2000s.
According to Orara, “there were times we didn’t have food to eat and our accommodation from school was more than two kilometers - we trekked it, everyday. Those days were tough but that prepared us for today. He is my brother and we’ve grown to understand each other. I can identify Awusa’s work, anywhere; I don’t need to see his signature. I’m a very detailed and careful artist but Awusa is very carefree because every artist paints his personality. So, the art exhibition is going to be a conversation of two extremes from two friends that time made inseparable.”
Orara said the exhibition is an opportunity to tell the world that no matter what is before you, if you stand firm, ever y mountain will go down.
“We are going to be talking about the society, environment from different perspectives of two friends,” he added.
Also speaking on their friendship, Awusa said that they had planned to go on a solo exhibition but the theatre scholar, Professor Ebun Clark, sold the idea of a duo art exhibition to them. “We gained admission to study arts out of passion and it wasn’t profitable those days especially after school. We painted and worked on empty stomach. Apart from the fact that those days were tough moments that built our friendship, young artists should remember that there were pioneers who made the path smooth for them.
“It’s refreshing because we are no longer in class competition for grades, we want to say something new - two artists just want to enjoy themselves. Most of the works are experimental, some are mundane and realistic. The works will cut across spheres of life in a refreshing way.”
Bruce Onobrakpeya had commented on Awusa’s and Orara’s artistry, describing Awusa as an “artist that loves challenge and also loves to conquer. He is at liberty. As he draws, he allows the pencil or charcoal to draw. To him, painting is a journey from the known to the unknown and from unknown to the known. Most of his works are experimental, that’s why he achieves more than he bargained for. Orara is very versatile in his expression - perfect justification for the end justifies the means. He is at home with the ease and precision of a skilled carpenter. His works assume perfection and a realistic nature.”