Buraimoh: From making mats to becoming one of Nigeria’s foremost visual artists

As a young boy growing up, when you saw traditional craftsmen what went through your mind? Well, I am from a traditional family; it didn’t take time for me to understand. My lineage is the founder the town I’m from – the Olutimehin family. The then head was the major co-founder from Osogbo who looked […]

As a young boy growing up, when you saw traditional craftsmen what went through your mind?

Well, I am from a traditional family; it didn’t take time for me to understand. My lineage is the founder the town I’m from – the Olutimehin family. The then head was the major co-founder from Osogbo who looked for water for the community and went to bring other people from other towns into Osogbo.

Did you find yourself being tempted to do craft with them or did you just watch them?

Happily enough, my mother happened to be a mat-weaver and I began helping her since I was very young. She weaved mats, which was what they did in their own area. My mother is from Egbado, in the southern part of Ogun State and my father from Osogbo.. The women in Egbado are known for mat-weaving. Hers were different because she used coloured materials.

Did that rub off on you somehow?

When I was young I used to help her sort out mats and because she made coloured mats, I got to know colours very early in my years and knew how to sort them. 

Is this what you replicate in your work?

Yes. That’s why I call my gallery and hotel, ‘Heritage’ because my style is something I inherited from my mother.

As an artist what is your take on women in art in Nigeria – regardless whether they are our rural or urban-based practitioners. 

They are growing, even in contemporary art and they are really good. They have grown to a level that makes them comfortable enough to compete with women all over the world. They have a vocation that is quite beautiful and wonderful. They put the feminine gender – as they care for their children, so they care for art. 

At the time you started working with beads, I don’t imagine it was something that was trendy. Did you consider it a risk to deviate from the known form of art and what was the motivation to do it?

 Well, as I worked, I continued to find myself in the lineage of tradition and the royal family. When I joined Duro Ladipo National Theatre in 1963, there was a workshop of art owned by Georgina Beier, whose husband was Ulli Beier. Over 70 of us registered for theatre but only four were chosen and we all worked in her husband’s studio. Ulli was a writer and Geiorgina an artist. He had a gallery at the palace of the King of Osogbo, who occupied the ground floor while the upper floor was free which he gave to Ulli. I worked at the theatre in the morning then practiced art with Ulli in the evening. I became familiar with the king and I thought to myself that the king could be very useful to me. This was around 1965 when all of us at the theatre were painting the same way and everyone was trying to find their identity. Seven Seven was the first to gain his identity, followed by Muraina Oyelami. Then I was painting but later on, I got into beads. I saw the king and I said I would do something. 

One day I went to a plate market in Osogbo from where I collected broken plates and tried to do something with them. I made a small plaque, about 6inches by 6inches into a box. I put wet cement in it and showed Ulli. He said it was beautiful and then asked a carpenter to make a table top of one foot by one foot for it. I was 22 years at that time.

So I did table tops and embellished them with tiles. But it was hard to carry, especially during exhibitions. When others are going with several of their works, I wouldn’t be able to carry more than two or three. I used to supply Leventis Stores and Kingsway in those days. Later on, I decided to look for smaller beads for my art work which I did. Then I wanted something that would fascinate people. So I went to Lagos in ’66 or ’67 after Ulli left in ’66. I met Kennedy, Ulli’s friend. He suggested araldite which I bought, tried out and liked. So I went back to Oshogbo, continued working and was able to exhibit in 1967 in Lagos state at Goethe Institute.  It was the crowd I saw at this my first exhibition that inspired me. 

At what point did you decide to start working with coloured beads?

It was the crown that inspired me because a king usually wears his crown in the mornings or at ceremonies. I got inspired by watching him. I also found out wearing a crown is a taboo for someone who is not a king. This knowledge made me shelve the idea of working on crowns. I believe the crown is something for crafts, while painting is contemporary.

Why do you say so?

Well to me this is contemporary life, while creating the crown is just a craft.

Did you think people will like it or was it just you trying your hands on something different?

 Well, I did it because I wanted an identity for myself. I paint as well. I have some paintings without beads because some people prefer my work without beads while others prefer my paintings with beads and sometimes I just do a mixture of beads and paintings. I prefer to have colours on the background to give good contrast. 

Do you think that people who admire your work sometimes confuse your identity between the bead-master, painter and one who does etching?

Ulli introduced us to so many things and in my opinion anyone who wants to be successful should be able to pick one or two specialties and then use one as an identity. Like Bruce (Onobrakpeya), he came to Osogbo to join us in the workshop. We had Sen who came from Netherlands to teach us etching and all the plastograph that Bruce is doing now. I wasn’t etching at the beginning but after some time I started etching, wood cut, cinematography and choreography before I decided what I would specialize in. We were open to all artistic and theatric programs. I was the manager of the Duro Ladipo National theatre. So I had to be involved in a lot of things. That’s how I settled for bead work.

As I look at your works, I’m wondering which one of them was most emotionally draining for you. Not necessarily in a way, negative but which one tasked your emotions the most?

(Laughs)It’s very difficult for me to pick. In fact sometimes I don’t want to part with my works because I consider them all, my best works. That’s why I leave very close to my works. My room is very close to my studio. I find myself working even at night sometimes. Sometimes I may not work during the day because I am a man of many people and have people coming to me. But I could work really late in the night. In my area I am the Asoju Oba (representative of the king). Whatever I do is what the king does. So I receive a lot of people in the mornings and afternoons while I work at night.

What’s the feeling you have when somebody comes to your gallery or comes to you to buy a painting. Do you feel like you are losing a baby?

(Laughter) Yes, it feels so. It takes me time to negotiate because I love seeing them (the works). But nevertheless I usually must have a replacement in the gallery.

At 73 what keeps you going? You are still working.

Ah, yes! Without working, I cannot be happy. No matter where I am, I always feel like doing something artistic. Like I travelled the U.S., I have some drawing which I brought back with me. I have many commissions which I must do pertaining to mosaic painting, murals. I do paintings as moasaic now. I’ve forgotten about etchings now. I sold my old etchings to Bruce. I was in Bruce’s studio to work sometime ago, but left it all for him to continue.

Your works are significant. One thing that stares back at me is the eyes of your works. Although it seems you make them a deliberate feature, I would like you to speak about them and tell us what’s on your mind when you are working on them.

 Every artist has a signature. Like the Zaria art school, it’s more photographic but the technique of Osogbo art is from the abstract. This is my signature. It’s the technique in general of Osogbo art. When we started, it was condemned because they couldn’t understand what we were doing. If you look at Chief Oyelami’s style, you’ll see the eyes and other similarities with mine that are symbolic. Ife has its own techniques as you would see in the works of Tola Wewe.

When you visit a place like the Thought Pyramid Art Centre or the Smithsonian where your works are displayed, is it a feeling of victory, satisfaction or a ‘well, it’s one of those things’?

I usually feel happy to see my works at very important places. And for me it’s a feeling of pride. I have donated some of my works to some collectors too who now contact me to come and say something about them. I also have many museums that have bought my works like Baltimore Museum of Art, New York, Maryland, Atlanta and so on. I always feel happy to have my works in important places.

What would you consider the most injustice done to you in regards to your works?

The man is late now; he bought my work but took me for granted. He was a newspaper editor but I just left him and let him go. It was a very painful experience. I was cheated, the man was very dubious. I prefer to not talk about it.

At 73, what do you do stay this youthful?

(Laughs)It’s because I work. You know working keeps people fit. That’s why in the U.S. I am assigned to teach old people in the old people’s home. When I go there, it’s a kind of art therapy to keep them active. I also teach young ones from the age of 8 -18. I usually start in summer for three months from June to September.

When you take a look at your life, how much you’ve impacted people and how a lot of people have chosen to be artists because of you, what feeling does that give you?

I am very happy, even though most of them are in the military. Not all actually become artists. But they have the idea of what we have taught them to be and even when they become the heads of departments, they are able to appreciate art. Art appreciation is number one. Two is how to do art by themselves if they want to. Three is to be able to explain it to people. We tell them the history of beads which were ornaments brought to Africa through slavery. For Yorubas, beads are more royal. These were gifted to the kings and crown-makers made crowns for the kings from them. We tell the story of Africa so that they see the contrast between their continent and Africa. The history of art and materials they are working with. 

What do beads symbolize for you?

Beads speak to me. If I want to paint, I must see all the colours. It’s fascinating and it’s inviting me to work. Because I like seeing them, the work becomes like my baby. I can’t part with beads. I get most of my beads from Japan, Czech, America and even Ghana.

What’s the shortest time you have spent doing one piece of work?

One week, one and a half sometimes. The much bigger ones take up to a month sometimes. 

You work very fast?

Yes, I do. I have discovered techniques to aid me. But when I teach the kids, I start with the longest technique.