SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART SHOWCASES ALONGE’S WORK
The work of a Nigerian photographer, Late Chief S.O Alonge, who was the photographer of the royal court of Benin, is currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA. Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art is US’s premier museum dedicated exclusively to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of Africa’s traditional and contemporary arts.
The exhibition, themed Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria, opened at the museum last September and will remain on display until September 13.
“The retrospective exhibition showcases the work of noted Nigerian photographer Chief S.O. Alonge, the first indigenous photographer of the Royal Court of Benin, in conjunction with royal arts from the Benin kingdom,” said a release by the Museum, noting, “The exhibition preserves the important historical record of Benin arts and culture.”
The exhibition which coincides with Nigeria’s centenary as a united nation, celebrates the role Nigerian photographers played in documenting their own history and addressing issues of identity, nationhood and memory.
The museum said Alonge’s photographs revealed a unique insider’s view of the of the Benin royal family and court ceremonies, including historic visits by Queen Elizabeth (1956), foreign dignitaries, traditional rulers, political leaders and celebrities.
“The collection preserves an important historical record of Benin arts and culture during the periods of British colonial rule and the transition to Nigerian independence during the 1950s and 1960s.”
It noted that the collection of historic photographs in the Alonge exhibition was captured on Kodak glass-plate negatives and documents more than 50 years of the ritual, pageantry and regalia of the obas, their wives and retainers.
Alonge, who learned the craft of photography as a youth in Lagos during the 1920s, established the Ideal Photography Studio in Benin City in 1942 and documented colonial society, the establishment of churches and businesses, and the formation of new civic organizations, athletic clubs and social groups like the Benin Social Club. Also as a commercial photographer, Alonge photographed individual and group portraits, preserving a visual record of the everyday lives and peoples of Benin City.
“Alonge’s studio portraits illustrate how local Bini residents presented themselves to the camera and engaged with the practice of photography during the early-to-mid-20th century.”
At the opening reception last September, first cousin of the current Oba (King) of Benin and oldest living member of the royal family living in the US, Prince Ademola Iyi-Eweka; Nigerian ambassador to the US Prof. Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye; the Director-General of the National Commission of Museum’s and Monuments in Nigeria, Yusuf Abdallah Usman; prominent members of the Benin community and Alonge family members, including Alonge’s son Regie Alonge, joined 300 invited guests to celebrate the work of the late photographer.
Former Esere of Benin, Chief Stanley Obamwonyi, presided over the kola nut ceremony and libations at the reception hosted by Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough and Johnnetta Betsch Cole, director of the National Museum of African Art.
Also, on the following evening, guests were treated to the Washington DC premiere film screening of Invasion 1897 the latest film by Nollywood filmmaker Lancelot Imasuen, an historical epic about the British invasion of the Benin kingdom in 1897. The film screening was followed by a discussion between Imasuen and Nbye Cham of Howard University.
Amy Staples, the museum’s senior archivist, who curated “Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria”, noted that its represents a unique collection of archival photographs documenting the traditional arts and culture of the Benin kingdom.
Staples said, “Through his portrait photography in the Ideal Photo Studio, Alonge provided local residents—many for the first time—with the opportunity to represent themselves to themselves as dignified African subjects,” adding that, “His portraits of an emerging elite society in Benin City not only illustrate the cosmopolitan and modernising influences of the 20th-century in Nigeria, they preserve the social history of Benin and its traditional leaders for future research and educational programs at the National Museum of African Art.”
Co-curators Staples and Bryna Freyer also led a tour to explore Alonge’s work in the museum’s mezzanine-level gallery.
Major sponsorship for Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria was provided by THISDAY/Arise TV and Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, Ocean Marine Security Ltd, with additional support received from Godwin Obaseki, Gregory Ibe and Paul Sack.