As +234 Art Fair stirs Lagos

She went on: “This platform is a way for people to see their works, to see how engaging the works are, the beauty they portray.  The theme of this year is inclusivity.  What is to be inclusive? We actually hit the roads.  We went to 17 states of the federation to see works, to fish out artists to be able to form this show.  We also did documentaries.  The documentaries is handled by Osahon Foundation.  The works are in different categories, sculptures, paintings, photographies and so on.  The photos are strong, taken mainly while we were on the roads.”

Akerele is an epitome of the art.  She vibrates with it.  She never let go when she is bent to let the world see the inherent realities of the creative economy.  She said again, “We had over 1,000 entries.  But we could not have accommodated all.  So here now, we have about 400 artists on display.  We curated to select the best among them all.  Some of the artists also have their body of works placed in one place.  Yet some are spread within different places. It all adds the necessary beauty to the over all aesthetic nature of the curating.  This year, we have more female artists than before”.

In it all, she accepted that the digital artists have their moments now.  Even they too, have a space to display their talents.  That is why the exhibition and the fair is all inclusive.  All visual artists are bound to have a place for this is their show.  There is also room for artists therapy.  A lot of artists that deal with kids have avenue as well to come to participate. 

For her therefore, art is powerful.  Art is therapeutic.  It is a healer.  “To me, art is like connecting”, she said. “And when you have beautiful arts in your house, then what it does to your psyche, to your soul is to heal and make you happy”, she submitted.

In her own statement, Eyimofe Ideh, the curator of the Art Fair said: “Yes the major reason we termed it inclusivity is that we realized that whenever we did the fair only a few artists within and around here applied.  That, in a way limited the number of artists we otherwise would have wanted to have.  But this year, we made it more open, we travelled to states to sensitise more artists, to give more artists the opportunity to apply to be a part of the inclusivity”.

She continued, “so it became an open thing with more artists showing interest.  In going to 17 states in the east, in the west, in the north, we made sure that we had the necessary awareness.  This actually shored up the number of entries we got this year.  In the end, we have about 400 artists who were selected for the fair”.

In having artists from far and near to participate, Ideh decided that, “It gives the fair, a major sense of even representation.  It was a very good decision we made by spreading out to other parts of the country for this.  It has been amazing so fair.  We travelled so as to encourage some of the emerging artists.  It was good to make them have a sense of belonging, a sense of inclusivity”.

Ideh is a committed curator, versed in large scale collection of works and putting them in proper order on the wall.  It only takes a thorough-bred artist, curator and someone with keen eyes for the best to be a good curator.  And curating over 400 works in a large hall of such magnitude was not a joke at all.

She said further: “While we travelled and encountered different artists, they told us some of their problems.  Some cannot easily transport their works from far distant places.  Some do not have the connection or the reach out to do so.  If you are living in Kaduna, for example, and there is an art event in Lagos, it will be hard for you to transport your works to Lagos”. 

But as a curator she has to do her work by ensuring that these works come together to form one single fold that is an exhibition or a fair. “It took lots of courage to go to those places.  But by going to them, they felt good.  Then, they were able to send in their works.  Some even got some level of sponsorship to be able to do so.  The works are all here.  Even some artists themselves travelled from their places to be here physically. 

“Curating comes with experience.  As an art curator you have to have the necessary experience to be able to do it and do it well.  It was tasking.  But here we are, seeing the works come out beautifully well”, she said with a huge sense of responsibility.

Ideh has an open mind in this matter, combined with a general understanding of what art stands for.  This is why she goes beyond the ordinary to produce amazing curated works that stun the world.  “Yes I think the major thing that qualifies an art is presentation.  If it is well put together, it is better.  Often the style does not matter.  Most people do not go for style, they go for the texture, the beauty.  However, art is very subjective in most instances”, she presented.  All these matter in the business of curating, in terms of selecting works for an exhibition or fair.  As an artist therefore, Ideh's main purpose is to ensure that in the end all the artists are satisfied.

Joanna Oyefeso is the project manager of this big programme.  A well-tested entrepreneur, she said: “It is pretty complex.  It is my first time of managing a project of this size and magnitude.  The scale is large, pretty big.  But working with all the different teams, all the different departments it has been pretty exciting and rewarding.  From the curator, to the designs, it has been good working with them all.  This year we are very intentional about how we have to shape ourselves and the work itself.  We did many branding and rebranding in the way we presented the programme, the teams and so on.  How we intended the inclusivity to reflect in the programme, all this mattered to me”.

Omoboye Odun, head of SME, partnership and collaboration of Ecobank Nigeria Ltd. had this to say. “Indeed we are particularly excited about this year's edition of +234 Art Fair.  The theme is to promote inclusivity and it is good for all of us.  What does this mean to Eco Bank? I have to take us back in history to understand the context there. 

“Eco Bank group was founded over many years ago.  And the reason for that is that people came together to find Pan-African solution to our financial inclusion in Africa.  We used to have European banks in those days.  But we realized that we needed African banks to understand and tackle African problems.  We therefore had the courage  to establish Eco Bank.  We grow stronger and we are now in many African countries and still counting.

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“Therefore we realized the economic importance of SMEs.  They contribute a lot to the economy.  They help GDP.  So you do yourself a disservice if you do not project the sector.  In the SME sector, there are different sub sectors that drive the economy.  Today in Eco bank, because of our cultural birthright, we are projecting Nigerian creative industry.  Creatives in the fashion industry.  Creatives in the music space and in the art generally. 

“And how do you ensure that Nigerian creatives get access to the viabilities that they deserve.  Therefore through +234 Art Fair, we come in to prove that viability, visibility and inclusivity for total economic viability.  It is for the artists, emerging and the largely unknown.  For us then, it is for the impact we help create.  It is changing the narrative from local to global.  It is to ensure that the global stage sees what Nigerian artists are doing.  So this is very close to our hearts, something that we are proud of year in, year out.

For Ahmed  Sodangi, DG of the National Gallery of Art, the show proved that Nigerian art is rich and valuable.  He assured however that the NGA would be more fully involved next year by presenting works from the national collections.