‘Festival to go on despite insecurity’
Director of Events, Art Alliance 51 Group, organisers of Art Arising Art Festival, Juliet Ezenwa Maja Pearce, has said despite initial fears and uncertainty caused by fuel prices and Middle
Director of Events, Art Alliance 51 Group, organisers of Art Arising Art Festival, Juliet Ezenwa Maja Pearce, has said despite initial fears and uncertainty caused by fuel prices and Middle East crises, members are set for this year’s festival opening at National Museum, Onikan, Lagos tomorrow. She said as a nation, Nigeria may have failed in other areas, but ‘Nigerian artists are holding it down, and no one and nothing can take that away from us.’
In a statement, Pearce recalled that at the planning stage, insecurity was the major limiting factor preventing participants living outside Lagos to be actively involved.
“Some participants expressed fear of the uncertainty caused by fuel prices and anxiety of a global war. As tensions escalated at the Straits of Hormuz, they talked about pulling out of the festival. Global conflicts had impacted us at last. But we will be at National Museum, from April 18, exhibiting, performing and thanking God! We may have failed in other areas but the creatives in Nigeria are holding it down, and no one and nothing can take that from us,” she said.
She disclosed that the group was motivated by World Bank’s projected economic growth of 4.2% for Nigeria between 2026 and 2028, which the group determined to experience and benefit from. As a result, many prospective participants appealed for more time to prepare which necessitated a new date for the festival.
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“So we resolved to present the Art Arising Art Festival not because we have the funds to do it but because we consider it our responsibility to maintain Nigeria’s one redeeming reputation- that of producing world class art and artists. True to expectation, the artists began to emerge slowly but steadily. We want to thank Mr Adewale Maja Pearce, Prof Ebun Clark and Madam Juliana Edewor for sponsoring some participants to the festival,” she added.
At inception, it was the mission of the group to hold the festival once in two years. But with the growing challenges the refused to be overwhelmed by the barrage of negative news, and sought solace in the creative arts.
On why the shift in date, she said: “We had previously had one in 2018 and 2021 respectively, we were not about to give up now. Consequent of these socio-economic and political turbulence only three participants responded to the call for the 2025 Art Arising Art Festival, yet we pressed on. Hopeful the artists would register in time…
“At the risk of looking unreliable and inefficient, we resolved to postpone. It was a difficult decision. We settled for the superior argument that what we present is larger than a group exhibition, it is a festival. Therefore, we must give the performers time to be prepared. Thus, we waited for the artists to come on board.”
