A Whiff of Expectations
For the Nigerian arts world in 2018, it’s a mixed air of exciting expectations and uncertainties, writes Yinka Olatunbosun
The past year offered a few clues as to what to expect in 2018. A number of annual art traditions were broken while some laudable comebacks were recorded. A few art events are struggling to keep the fire burning. Let’s skip the pages to the part where celebrations are inevitable. For the art community, it will be a great sin against the memory of highlife legend, Rex Lawson to forget the man behind his signature conga beats- Chief Tony Odili. Arguably the oldest music artist in Nigeria, Odili turns 90 this January. The sad news is that he lives in penury since the death of his former band leader, Lawson, especially when he sustained a major injury after a fatal boat mishap on his hands. But the good news is that is he alive and active with the drums and there are plans to celebrate the man this year.
The British Council Nigeria usually sets the pace in making theatre come alive every March with the Lagos Theatre Festival. In the meantime, the cultural institution beckons at two West African artists for an international residency program that will last for several months.
Also, the biggest visual art event of the year, Art X holds a certainty spot on the art calendar. The audience will be larger. To accommodate a bigger audience for the talk sessions, Art X may be looking at expanding the venue with satellite venues in view.
Keeping up with the April global tradition in music, the Lagos International Jazz Festival is expected to return with an iconic musician at the centre of celebration and unexpected headliners. Last year, the fuji music King, Abass Akande Obesere was a pleasant surprise. The headliners are usually confirmed about two months to the show.
With Felabration, the 2017 edition is yet to get a competition. This year, Fela’s 80th posthumous birthday will be celebrated in filmography, lectures, contests, performances and studio albums by new generation of artists.
Inside the literary art, the Lagos Book and Art Festival will honour another distinguished Nigerian, who is either an artist or an author who has contributed to the development of arts in Nigeria. In Abeokuta, the literati will gather for the annual literary feast, Ake Book and Art Festival. While some meal tickets from the previous editions still occupy the corners of our bags, it is expected that the stakeholders in the media who have effectively contributed to the knowledge economy over the years will be part of this edition.
Music will offer more exciting collaborations and rivalries. Although the previous year ended with the surprise reunion of Wizkid and Davido on stage, breaking the jinx of two rivers that never mix, it is expected that there will be some lingering “beef’’ such as Paul and Peter of P-square if the fundamentals principles of private and public image in music artistry are not applied. The Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON) is expected to bring more to the table this year with the annual concert and talk sessions. While still holding true to the culture of promoting pure classical music, MUSON will show a more contemporary tilt with very promising headliners, depending on the availability of sponsors. One of the concerns of MUSON Concert organisers is that classical music does not readily get sponsorship as popular music. Meanwhile, the show is an eye-opener on the undocumented number of Nigerians who relish classical music.
In photography, there will be more contests, photo festivals and workshops. With Lagos-Photo serving as the touch-bearer, other photography events will sustain the burning flame in emerging and established photographers. From selfies to showbiz, this industry is to be taken seriously just as the documentary film in Nigeria has been. Typically, the IREP Documentary Film Festival holds a monthly film screening in Lagos in collaboration with the Goethe Institute Nigeria. The frequency of screenings had reduced in the previous year but with the week-long film festival, movie buffs will discover new truths in films that are presented at the festival with a usual venue- Freedom Park.
Also, the Vision of the Child is a visual art event that unearths hidden artistic talent in children. In the previous edition, it included a writing contest with a theme selected by the convener and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka. This unfailing tradition continues this year.
For the theatre, uncertainty trails the existence of the National Theatre as calls are rising for its sale following the years of misuse and neglect by its management. While the number of artists in Nigeria is on the rise, the lack of proper venues built for performing arts is worrisome. Instead of revitalizing the once cultural hub with all year performances, the National Theatre has effectively served as a local pub, with large vacant auditorium at each entrance surrounded by thorn-filled grasses waiting to be pruned.
In recent years, the National Gallery of Arts, domiciled in the National Theatre Complex offered no show. It is very disappointing for any tourist who expects to be guided by a poster announcing the shows for the season but meets only an obituary of an artist whose funeral has long been forgotten. Worse still, the heavy presence of trucks inward Eko Bridge and Ijora axis is making the National Theatre inaccessible and obviously, the sale of the edifice is not the solution to this and other lingering infrastructural and logistical challenges that may have contributed to the fall of the National Theatre from the place of glory.
The greatest optimism in Nigerian theatre tradition comes from the private sector. In the past year, Nigeria theatre became a major cultural export with Kakadu the musical, WAKAA and Saro the musical in international shows. This year, more international shows are expected to hold in London and other major cities in the world while Fela and his queens new theatre venues are expected to be launched in Lagos. The return of Terra Kulture as Terra Arena is still a talk-ofthe-town as many theatre performances had been produced on the stage.
While the anticipation of a new contemporary museum of arts is high, it can be said that the construction of the Omooba Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Contemporary Arts at the Pan-Atlantic University, Ibeju- Lekki is close to completion and may be open to the public this year. Shyllon, a very famed Nigerian art collector in Nigeria is donating some of the works in his private collection to this unique museum.
Next year, the Living Legend Project will celebrate the Obi of Onitsha at its 10th year anniversary edition. The founder of the project, Olu Ajayi also promised to take art to his hometown, Ososo, Edo State for youth empowerment.