CONVERSATIONS WITH IKE UDE
Yinka Olatunbosun reports on the artist lecture organised by African Artists’ Foundation at Banana Island, Lagos which featured, amongst others, the Nigerian-American performance artist and fashion symbol, Ike Ude
It is usually heartwarming to see Nigerians excel in the diaspora. When they return to their motherland, they are usually celebrated. Recently, the African Artists’ Foundation honoured Ike Ude, a Nigerian-American fashion idol and artist at a lecture held at Ford Foundation, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos. Born and raised in Lagos in 1964, Ude was exposed to photography at an early age. Udé attended the Government Secondary School, a British boarding school in Afikpo. He paid frequent visits to London before he moved to New York in 1981 to study Media Communications at Hunter College, City University of New York. He began his career as an artist in the late 1980s with abstract painting and drawing. Since the 1990s, photography has been Udé’s prominent work.
Ude’s works had been placed in the permanent collections of various institutions such as The Guggenheim Museum; the Smithsonian National Museum, Washington D. C., the Rhode Island Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln Nebraska; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, New Britain Museum of American Art, amongst others.
To this end, he was the guest artist at the lecture titled, “The Performative Essence of Fashion and the fashioned- self’’. The idea was to demystify the markers of fashion as both the signifier and the signified and how they denote the cultural essence of cultural identity. Some of Ude’s works had been linked to Uli motifs of his Ibo heritage. Udé’s conceptual use of historical and contemporary clothing in “Sartorial Anarchy” is a catalogue on culture rather than being a mere reflecting of fashion trends. Udé arranges the costumes, props and his own pose as a still life.
At the lecture, Ude pointed out repeatedly that fashion is the index of culture, a mark of religion, hygiene, gender and class. While showing his listeners the slides of his collections, he referred to the Macaroni’s, a prominent gentlemen club that set the fashion codes for the 18th century England. He said the Macaroni fashion is a cultural indicator of the elitist aspirations of the members of the club. From the images, these setters of fashion trends of the period wore their trousers tight and their waistcoats short while sporting wigs of exaggerated pomp with curls dangling at their ears. They were also known to adorn their jacket lapels with flowers such as nosegay while wearing the extremely narrow shoes that could almost impair their manner of gait. The Macaronis would carry canes embellished with tassels and have as accessories pocket watches and spy glasses. They wore wigs of extreme proportions to distinguish themselves. Ude must have learnt from these gentlemen owing to his appearance at the lecture. His jacket was red while his pair of trousers was a colourful collage of designs with hints of red. Love him or hate him, he has made the coveted Vanity Fair magazine’s International Best Dress List, in 2009, 2012; Vanity Fair: A Blast of the Best 2013; Vanity Fair: The Top Ten Best Dressed Artists, 2013.
It came as a surprise that during the question and answer session, Ude bluntly told someone in the audience that he was not a photographer. In retrospect, perhaps, he meant he would not want to be seen as a photographer because his body of works speaks louder than mere photography. Through his self- portraitures, he documents history, raising issues of representation and sexual, gender, cultural, and stylistic identity. Udé is also the author of Style File: The World’s Most Elegantly Dressed, published by Harper Collins in 2008, which profiles 55 of the most influential arbiters of style. Style File features writings and noted contributions by Valerie Steel, director and chief curator at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology, F. I. T., and Harold Koda, curator- incharge of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The style icons in the publication include John Galliano, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, Dita Von Teese, and Christian Louboutin.
Still on fashion, the famous cinematographer, Kunle Afolayan joined in the conversation much later. He didn’t need a microphone. He only needed to pause in- between the applause from the audience which was growing by the minute. His contribution began with his reference to the use of costumes in his award- winning flick, “October 1’’. In the movie, costumes of the period of Nigeria’s independence in 1960 were appropriated. The movie also featured an haute couture fashion designer, Deola Sagoe, amongst others, who had a cameo appearance playing the role of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Afolayan observed that it is quite unfortunate that in Nigerian movie industry, the producer also performs the function of a publicist, marketer and director. Otherwise, he could have made some money from the public auction of the costumes used in the play. He noted that capacity building is necessary in developing the creative sector of Nigeria’s economy.
When “October 1’’ premiered at the EXPO Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites on September 28, 2014; the theme of the event was “’ 60s”, and most celebrities adorned themselves in primordial native attires and hair styles. The costumes used in the movie were also displayed at the venue. The film is said to be the second highest grossing film in Nigerian cinemas following and tying with another period flick, “Half of A Yellow Sun’’. October 1 premiered in the UK on November 3, 2014 at the Film Africa Festival in London. October 1 also opened the 4th Africa Film Week in Greece.
Amaka Osakwe otherwise known
by the brand name, “Maki Oh” was also part of the conversation. Osakwe, whose designs have been worn by fashion trend setters such as Solange Knowles, Rihanna, Beyonce, Kerry Washington and US First lady, Michelle Obama, said that inspite of the mileage covered by Nigerian fashion designers, mediocrity is still being celebrated in some quarters. She charged designers to be more creative in their output, not resting on their laurels. She also said the giants in the fashion industry should work out collaborations with local designers such as the “Aba boys.’’
The director, African Artists Foundation, Azu Nwagbogu, in his closing remarks remarked that the foundation will continue to hold workshops, exhibitions, summer schools and residencies programmes for artists.