‘Why Nigerian schools need to take arts seriously’

Weekend Magazine: What inspired your love for art?   Modestus Ukeoma: Inspiration comes from God. Basically, I am inspired by my environment and nature. I have also found female faces as a source of inspiration. They are a reoccurring subject matter in my works. At times I wake up from sleep and quickly sketch them out. […]

Weekend Magazine: What inspired your love for art?  
Modestus Ukeoma: Inspiration comes from God. Basically, I am inspired by my environment and nature. I have also found female faces as a source of inspiration. They are a reoccurring subject matter in my works. At times I wake up from sleep and quickly sketch them out. However, for contests, concepts are influenced by required themes. 

WM: At what age did you start expressing yourself through art?
Ukeoma: I can’t state the exact year I started, but I think I was born with art. What I can remember is that I used to draw on the sand with chalk. My father had to re-paint our wall frequently due to the scribbles I made on them. One incident I will never forget is when I used nails to draw on his car and got ‘fire strokes’ of my life.  It’s funny now but that was how crazy art got to me. I have been painting all my life, from childhood through school. As a pupil I remember making drawings for Women Training College. They used my drawings as a teaching aid. After my secondary school I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to study. So I hit it straight and nurtured my art in the tertiary institution.

WM: What challenges do you face and how do you transcend them?
Ukeoma: If you give up at the first start of struggle, then you‘re not ready to be successful. The world is not a rosy place and just like every other challenge one encounters to succeed, I keep trying all I can to succeed in my field. Even before I came to Daily Trust, in 2010, I was in Enugu when I contested in a Daily Trust Cartoon Contest, where I became second runner-up. In my world of visual art I do a lot of drawings and apply for competitions too. So many failed but I see failure as the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.  But a clear challenge is the fact that Nigerian art has low patronage. Very few Nigerians can pay big for art and appreciate it. However, the art bodies and foundations in Nigeria are encouraging, good examples being the National Gallery of Arts under the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism and African Art Foundation, Lagos. Sponsorship is another thing lacking in our field. Investors in Nigeria should come out to fund and sponsor our art. Art in Nigeria has not gotten the kind of awareness needed. The kind of accolades Nollywood and the Nigerian music industry have is what art has not gotten and this is a challenge for emerging visual artists. We need to encourage emerging young artists by organising art shows, seminars and exhibitions for them to come and showcase their talents.
Also, Nigerian schools at all levels need to lay a strong foundation in art appreciation. Most schools today don’t even offer Fine Art at all, either they lack the teachers or don’t see it as a course that should be of priority. My parents supported my choice of studying art. But some people saw me then as one who was wasting his time.

WM: How did you learn about the National Visual Art Competition?
Ukeoma: National Visual Art Competition has been a household competition for me. I have a ‘to do list’ of every art competition that takes place annually. So National Gallery Art contest is one of them and this is something I do every year.
This is the fourth time I’m applying for the contest, twice in student category and twice in professional category. Then my work was either not selected or didn’t make it to the final stage. I didn’t see it as a failure – it was only an event towards a success story that failed. 

WM: How did you feel when you finally won?
Ukeoma: Honestly, it’s a feeling I cannot express. I was informed earlier before the presentation of the award, but I couldn’t believe it until the award day. I was the last to be announced in the hall because there were other categories. It was an electrifying moment for me because I have not gotten first position before, and it was a jinx I broke. It’s so exciting when you work hard and get recognition and accolades.