Your trash, their art

This year’s event which took place last Monday, was declared open by the cultural director, Mr. Uche Nwuche and featured artists like Ayo Aina, Esther Gomina, Lebechi Okochaeze, Promise Friday Airunmwude,  Okechukwu Eze, Ekene Ireagwu, Ghana’s Akwele Suma Glory and Togolese’s Enyo Dackey. The exhibition was centered on art works made from the use of […]

This year’s event which took place last Monday, was declared open by the cultural director, Mr. Uche Nwuche and featured artists like Ayo Aina, Esther Gomina, Lebechi Okochaeze, Promise Friday Airunmwude,  Okechukwu Eze, Ekene Ireagwu, Ghana’s Akwele Suma Glory and Togolese’s Enyo Dackey.

The exhibition was centered on art works made from the use of waste materials collected from dustbins and other waste sites, as well as discarded wood, recycled paper, metal, saw dust, and pips from food items. All these trash materials were recycled and made into attractive master pieces with no visible link to their origins.

Most Nigerians still do not know or understand the benefits of recycling their waste for other useful purposes. The education of public on the issue of recycling was a major target of the exhibition. The public was enlightened on ways they could use their waste in various artistic ways. The exhibition also aimed at refocusing the minds and attention of young artists to be more aware of their environment and see what artistic opportunities lay therein.

Commending the artists for their works and creativity as well s the determination of the group, Mr. Toochukwu Amano, Ex-President of the Pan African Circle of Artists (PACA), who is also a lecturer with the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, said the team is achieving its set goals. He remarked “that artists around have undoubtedly been influenced by the activities of ‘Art is Everywhere’ project.”

The exhibition was sponsored by the Alliance Française and Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and the IMT, Enugu’s event is the 9th edition since its inception in 2005. It has featured no less than 170 artists who participated in the “Art is Everywhere” recycling workshops.

In another event, Giles Peppiatt, Head of African Art for Bonhams Auction House in London, has remarked that sculpture by Nnenna Okore is “proof that today Africa is in the forefront of the most exciting and innovative developments in contemporary art.’’ Artists and art lovers who were at the opening of Okore’s ‘Recovered Energies’, Bekris gallery exhibition last Thursday got a taste of the artist’s works which has earned her great notoriety.

In her peculiar style of mixed media pieces which are crafted from everyday waste and natural objects, Okore ‘re-imagines newspaper, rope, wax, plastic and clay, converting society’s detritus into works of beauty and sophistication. The conversion process is far from easy. Okore’s work is time and labor intensive. She works her alchemy using age-old techniques of weaving, waxing, sewing and dying learned watching villagers in her native Nigeria.’

Described as “one of the most exciting and innovative artists working with the genre of urban recyclia”, she began to work with found objects while she was completing her undergraduate studies in painting at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka under the supervision of the renowned El Anatsui. This birthed deeper, her focus on reuse and re-imagining detritus developed in reaction to urban waste.

Currently head of the Art Department at North Park University in Chicago where she is an Assistant Professor teaching sculpture, spatial art, advanced studio, and a host of other courses, students at the San Francisco Art Institute had the opportunity of dialoguing with her last Friday while she was there as a guest lecturer.

Nnenna Okore was in Nigeria last year when she had a solo exhibition at the Goethe Institute, Lagos. She has also participated at the Dakar, Dubai and Johannesburg biennials.