...AS THINGS FALL APART COMMEMORATIVE EXHIBITION BERTHS IN LAGOS

An art exhibition in diverse media, which celebrates Chi nu a Achebe’ s trail-blazing novel Things Fall Apart at 60, open son Saturday, August 24 at Thought Pyramid Art Centre along Norman Williams Street in Ikoyi, Lagos. Titled And the Centre Refuses to Hold: Ho mage to Things Fall Apart @60, the exhibition, the group exhibition comprises works by 14 artists, namely To ben na Ok wu os a, Chu uK ry dz Ikwue me si, A to Arinze, George Od oh, Tony N so for, Anthony Polo, Emma Mb anefo, Ake em Mu raina, Iyke Okenyi, Benja min Aka chuk wu, O bi Nwaegbe, Abigail Nnaji, Jerry Buhari, Chinyere Odinuk we, Blaise Gu nd u-G baden, Rita Doris U bah, Chris E ch eta and Doo fan Kw an gool.

Reflected in the exhibition are the artists’ diverse background sand experiences. It is also an eclectic collection works in various artistic media, including drawing, paintings, sculptures, installation sand mixed media .“The eclecticism is also vivid ly embodied in the thematic thrust of the works, as they address issues directly from iconic moments in the novel or from the African experience in the colonial and post colonial periods ,” explains a press release from the organisers.

Hence, most of the works in the exhibition appropriated social issues relating to religion, politics, in tolerance, war, culture and( under) development as part of their creative resource. This is why the exhibition is seen as a celebration of post-co loni ali ty in Africa, with Things Fall Apart as the cent ra li sing spin-off.

Based on the cultural conflict between the colonial masters and the colon is ed subjects, the relevance of the novel’ s content and essence resonates in the present. This is especially so for a continent that is still plagued with violence, corruption, war, hunger religious in tolerance and warped democracies .“The situation continues to evoke that uncertain note on which Achebe ends the novel, that frozen moment when the authentic Africa yields to the glory and triumph of Empire, giving birth to a fleeting, but tot ali sing and conflicting hybrid ityt hat has no end ,” the organ is er sad din the press release .“While the situation calls for concern as it relates to the harsh realities of the human condition in these parts, it has also provided creative resource for artists at various times and from different stand points. To this extent, as Things Fall Apart attains 60, it is pertinent to pay homage to its continued relevance and the saga city of its legendary author through this exhibition whose thematic visions draw from the novel and some of the social realities in post colonial Africa .”

The exhibition, featuring a maximum of five works from each artist, has been on since October 2018. Organised as a travelling exhibition, it has already held last year in A wk a and recently in Abuja this year.