Abuja’s struggle to become an ‘arts city’

“I’m going to an art exhibition.” The response to these words is almost always predictable. “Oh where, Thought Pyramid; or is it an embassy?” For art lovers in Abuja, these are the primary sources for any entertainment they can rely on, visual arts-wise. Many times when there is an art exhibition holding in Abuja, the […]

“I’m going to an art exhibition.” The response to these words is almost always predictable. “Oh where, Thought Pyramid; or is it an embassy?”
For art lovers in Abuja, these are the primary sources for any entertainment they can rely on, visual arts-wise. Many times when there is an art exhibition holding in Abuja, the most likely venue is the Thought Pyramid Art Centre or the foyer of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. On other occasions it is either organised by the German, Spanish embassies or the Institut Français. On a few occasions individuals organise their own exhibitions which they show in various locations across the city like the Unity Fountain and club houses among others.
For stage performances, Abuja-based drama group, Arojah Theatre and the Jos Repertory Theatre are filling in the gaps in areas where residents expect an organisation like the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) or the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture should be providing such leisure services for residents and guests to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on a regular basis.
Sunday Magazine sought the views of Abuja residents on how they satisfy their appetite for visual arts. 
Mima Akpa said: “Beyond the occasional arts and crafts expo which the NCAC and Centre for Arts and Culture hold, I don’t know of any other programmes that they organise that one can look forward to. At the Centre for Arts and Culture, other organisations hold entertainment events there which I attend when I am able to.”
Akpa who is a big fan of paintings and other visual arts platforms added that: “I am a regular at Thought Pyramid and never miss an event happening there if I am in town. I like the fact that they have works of old artists like Bruce Onobrakeya, Twins Seven Seven all set up with works of contemporary artists like Donald Onuoha and others.”
Chidubem Okoh described Abuja as not being like Lagos which he said has, ‘a super bubbly visual art environment.’
“Also, people who are interested in the arts here, in Abuja, seem to be of a certain clique and one may not get to know of an event if you don’t belong in the clique. However, I think they are taking care of this by circulating information about coming events on Facebook and other social media platforms. So I make an effort to look through to know what is happening next and where,” Okoh said.

Expatriates coming from environments with vibrant arts and entertainment setups grapple with this and find themselves keeping abreast with art events when they relocate to the FCT by making friends with journalists who report the beat or by social media. Some, having regularly visited exhibitions now get sms alerts for upcoming shows or get some succour from visiting and patronising the arts and crafts villages.
For a country often bragging about repositioning the tourism industry and making it a major income earner, and selling Nigeria’s arts and artists to the world, it was quite a letdown for many Nigerians a few weeks ago when the German president, Joachim Gauck, visited Nigeria and his first contact with Nigeria’s visual arts were via a privately owned commercial gallery and not from the country’s national collection or museum.
“I was very embarrassed when I saw photographs on Facebook of the President Gauck being informed about Nigerian art by the owner of Thought Pyramid,” Bako Salihu, told Sunday Magazine.
He added that: “It should have been the place of the Director General of the National Gallery of Art or the boss of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments to do so.
“Germany houses masterpieces from Nigeria like the Nok terracotta heads and this would have been a great opportunity to campaign for the return of artefacts that were illegally taken away from our land, over there, if this were the case. In my view we lost a good opportunity to do justice to our local craftsmanship,” he said.
Many have anticipated the creation of a museum or an exhibition space in the FCT.
It has been previously reported that there are plans in the pipeline to expand Abuja Millennium Park with the project to include the Millennium Tower, Cultural Centre and a Museum that will house a broad collection of African Art. The new scheme was expected to have opened in 2010.
Mrs. Ngozi Akande, president of the Female Artists Association, said: “There are exhibition spaces built by the FCT. There is space, the FCT Pavilion opposite Radio House in Garki and also, the foyer of the International Conference Centre is also used for exhibitions.
“However, when we talk about having a proper gallery to exhibit works, Thought Pyramid is the only place we have in the FCT. The NCAC and the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture have small exhibition spaces which mainly exhibit the kind of arts and crafts that pertains to them,” she said.
Mr. Tochukwu Okide president of the Society for Nigerian Artists, Abuja chapter on artists’ works not being seen asides when exhibitions are held or people visit Thought Pyramid or Dinaka Art Gallery and Dinaka Museum of Contemporary Arts, said the lack of such a facility in the FCT was a huge loss of revenue for the government.
Citing examples with the banking industry he said: “Like banks that shrank due to mergers, there are a good number of empty spaces across the FCT which are not in use. Government could partner with such banks to turn these spaces to ad-hoc museums and galleries pending when the cultural centre is built. Not everyone gets to visit Thought Pyramid or is buoyant enough to organise events at the foyer of the Hilton or the International Institute for Creative Development. If as in other countries where there are galleries on almost every street corner, Nigeria can do the same, it will take care of a lot of these issues and boost the industry.”
He cited the lack of proper implementation of art policies as another problem challenging the industry. “Even if it is for government to give grants to communities for rejuvenation projects it will go a long way to reorient the minds of Nigerians and also help government in achieving its goal with repositioning the arts sector.”
Okide said art is not like music that can be listened to and enjoyed without knowing the singer. “With art you have to engage with the work. Also, in other climes, art is pushed by the private sector that uses it to drive their brand. That is not the case in Nigeria. Art and culture is being used to market brands and countries. That is what is lacking with us here. 
“Why can’t a Dangote sponsor an Abuja biennale? Art has a way of turning the minds of people in the right direction,” Okide added. He emphasised that: “We too as SNA, have to work harder to make ourselves more visible. The other branches of art, I mean performance and literary arts all come together. We all know what they collect for their work and there is no question about their being fake or any such thing.”
Visual artists, Okide said, need to structure themselves and look at art as a form of social exercise. “To make better the Abuja visual arts sector, we are organising projects around the area councils which will include drawing, performances among other activities and will involve each community where the event is to take place,” he said.