When Nigerian, Italian culture met in Lagos

The exhibition tagged “Cross Currents” held at the Civic Centre, Lagos and ran from 16th to 18th March, 2011. It featured exhibitions from incredible Nigerian and Italian artists. Organised by Temple Productions of Nigeria and Mcontemporary Art of Italy with sponsorship support from Oando PLC, Nigerian AGIP Oil Company and GlobalEnergy Group displayed the finest […]

The exhibition tagged “Cross Currents” held at the Civic Centre, Lagos and ran from 16th to 18th March, 2011. It featured exhibitions from incredible Nigerian and Italian artists.

Organised by Temple Productions of Nigeria and Mcontemporary Art of Italy with sponsorship support from Oando PLC, Nigerian AGIP Oil Company and GlobalEnergy Group displayed the finest collection of Nigerian and Italian artists to art connoisseurs and critics.

So far, Nigeria is the second country in Africa, after Egypt, to enjoy this collaboration with Italian Artistes.

The Exhibited works addressed the relationship between personal identity, self- discovery and history from different perspectives while charting the evolution of contemporary arts in both the Nigerian and Italian cultures through thought provoking works, some of which included social, political and pop culture references.

The exhibition had the power to pull together the cultural threads that lie in a distant past to the fast-paced transformations of the present, said Marinu Paduano, Director of Mcontemporary Art.

“We are proud to be part of this collaboration in Nigeria, which will provide an opportunity to spotlight the rich collection of African and Italian art and allow us to celebrate our distinctiveness,” he said.

Commenting on the event, Mrs. Ego Boyo, CEO of Temple Productions said it signified “the beginning of future collaborations and development of arts between Nigerian and Italian artists.”

“We have carefully selected artists of the finest extraction across the geo-political zones for adequate representation of the uniqueness and variety of our culture,” she said.

Chidi Kubiri, one of Nigeria’s finest artists based in Germany, whose exhibition was cynosure said though he is not based in Nigeria, each time he comes home, the environment makes an impression on him and he depicts it in his art works when he paints.