OjuOponIfa

Who Is A Culture Minister? By Segun Ojewuyi TRUST me, the premise is simple. Artists are fueled by a burning passion to create art — expressive and qualitative art that conveys the ennobling power of deep thought and penetrating insight, balanced with beauty. Artists — Nigerian artists not excempted — also want to make a dignified living, the kind that respects and provides the sanctity necessary for creativity to flourish. Where there is talent, good training and tenacity of purpose, such a combination of critical artistic and commercial success, should not be hard to find. Often the artist just wants to be able to keep the creative work unhindered, maintain a responsible family life and foster good citizenship. Opulence is not a requirement, but also not anathema. The artistic life is a cause not a curse, it is one of service not servitude, nobility not futility. It is a life that is just as worthy of every breath, every second and minutia of creativity and labour that ...

‘They Came With Brushes In One Hand And A Bag Of Knowledge In The Other’ ‘They Came With Brushes In One Hand And A Bag Of Knowledge In The Other’ ‘They Came With Brushes In One Hand And A Bag Of Knowledge In The Other’ SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2011 00:00 GABI DUIGU SUNDAY MAGAZINE - ARTS Chief Taiwo Olaniyi (aka Twins 77), the world renowned artist and UNESCO Ambassador for the Arts, who passed on at age 67 on Thursday after weeks of illness at the UCH Ibadan was one of the pioneers of the famous Osogbo Art Movement, having participated in the 1960s workshop that led to the emergence of the movement. In this narration excerpted from the book, Thirty Years of Osogbo Art (Iwalewa Haus, 1991), edited by the man who (with his wife, Georgina) inspired and coordinated the workshop, the German scholar and culture worker, Uli Beier (also late), Olaniyi explains how he came into the world of the art. The interview was based on an interview with Gabi Duigu in Sydney, 1984. THE first tim...

The Committee For Relevant Art, CORA, in collaboration with the iREP Documentary Film Forum invites you to the ART STAMPEDE on the theme NEW TRENDS IN NOLLYWOOD. Scheduled for 3pm on Sunday May 22, 2011 at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos, the Stampede is to interrogate the new Nollywood through an interactive public forum involving the producers and directors of what is certainly the new narrative in Nollywood. The forum will assemble producers/directors of such new narratives as Figurine, Through the Glass, Reloaded, Tango With Me, Ije, Inale, Tenant, Bent Arrows, Champion of our Times, Bursting Loose, Holding Hope, Private Storm, Jungle Ride, In America, Anchor Baby, Mirror Boy, Alero's Symphony,Lilies of the Ghetto, The Child, and others. Many of these producers have affirmed the readiness to participate in this all-important discussion designed to examine the current challenges and prospects of the Nollywood industry, and pointing the way to a brighter and even more pr...

The Committee for Relevant Art, CORA, and Friends of the Arts (FOA) presents the ARTHOUSE FORUM in celebration of YENI ANIKULAPO-KUTI @ 50. Ms Yeni Kuti,choreographer of the Positive Band and Manager of the New African Shrine will be 50 on May 24. The Arthouse is only a prelude to the birthday celebration. Theme: FROM BODY GYRATION TO CHOREOGRAPHIC ART: EVOLUTION OF AFROBEAT & MUSIC BAND DANCE. The objective is to examine how the intervention of Yeni Kuti in Afrobeat Dance changed the dynamics and culture of Music Band dance in the last two decades. Date: Sunday May 22, 2011 Time: 12 noon Venue: Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos. Speakers are: * Dr Sola Olorunyomi (Author: Fela and the Imagined Continent); Lecturer at University of Ibadan, Lead Speaker * Mr Benson Idonije, Broadcaster, Music writer and first manager of Fela's Koola Lobitos band * Dr Eesuola, Lecturer on Polical Behaviour, University of Lagos, and scholar on Fela's politics * Latoya Julius-Ekemode ( Cu...

By Shaibu Husseini Born Paul Bassey Alpha Anansa Xhala Effiong Effiom but simply called Bassey Effiong, the theatre director was born in February 1955. Effiong would have 56 in February but he died a few weeks after his birthday. A native of Ikot Edem Ndarake in Akabuyo Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State, Bassey Effiong attended both primary and secondary schools in Lagos and crowned it with a second class upper division in Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar. He graduated in 1981 and through out his pre and post NYSC years, Effiong served either as director in several national stage production. Effiong's directorial skill at the interpretation of Wole Soyinka's The Road is still adjudged the best at the University of Calabar. His own play which he wrote and directed was also adjudged a master piece during his undergraduate years. He later served under the late Professor Ola Rotimi with whom his directorial and writing skills blossomed more. Effiong joined th...

By Jessica Hundley Femi Kuti makes something more than music. His dozen or so album releases and hugely popular concerts (“one of the more powerful live shows on Earth,” according to the Onion) are imbued with the weight of family legacy and Kuti’s own individual intents. It is "music as message" in a way few acts take on these days –- protest and admonishment and hope all embedded in Afrobeat exuberance. In his own words, Kuti’s songs are his primary “weapon” in a lifelong struggle to bring awareness and resolution to the strife in his home country of Nigeria. The eldest son of the great musician and activist Fela Kuti, Femi began his musical career at age 16 as a member of his father’s band. After Fela’s death in 1997, Kuti continued in his father’s footsteps, embracing outspoken activism, maverick musicianship and a relentless tour schedule. His newest effort, Africa for Africa (released April 12 on Knitting Factory Records), was recorded in the same studio where he firs...

Culled from The Cultural Weapon Should artists accept “dirty money”? Mike van Graan A number of things strike one on entering Bamako, the capital of Mali. The first is the majestic Niger River responsible for much of the green in an otherwise dusty, gravelly, semi-desert city. Another is the industriousness of the people in an obviously poor country, as everyone is trying to generate even a meagre income selling mangoes, chickens and home-made furniture, or Chinese-manufactured T-shirts, electricity adapters and slip slops. Then there are some incongruously tall buildings and hotels, a number of the latter bearing the name “Libya Hotels”. One garish building is named after the Libyan dictator, Gaddafi, who has funded this – still empty - structure to house the Malian cabinet. There are two bridges across the Niger with a third being built by the Chinese. As one walks through the market, there are hand-made posters in defence of Gaddafi, and in conversation with some of the locals, it i...

Repositioning The Nigeria Prize For Literature: The Stakeholders’ Resolve Repositioning The Nigeria Prize For Literature: The Stakeholders’ Resolve THE GUARDIAN, SUNDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2011 ABOUT 30 workers in the various disciplines of the Literature discipline gathered in a function room of Eko Hotel & Suites, last Monday to review the state and status of the $50,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature with a mission to setting it on a more progressive and widely beneficial path for the creative writng community. the gathering was at the instance of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company, NLNG, which initiated the prize (as well as its $50,000 Science counterpart) and has been its facilitator over the years. According to Siene Allwell-Brown, General Manager, External Relations, of the gas company, the forum was conve of making it the “best and the biggest for rewarding excellence” as well as one of the best administered prizes in the world. Said the ex-newscaster, “We believe it is...