African Passage Six Nigerian Artists at the Air Gallery, London September 16-27, 2003
Following a visit to my Lagos residence by William Oullin, Chairman of Barclays Private Banking International, and Richard Howarth, an Executive of Barclays Private Bank, and a brief viewing of some of my collection of contemporary African art, the idea of someday hosting an exhibition to showcase the multiple talents of these artists was conceived.
When I was finally approached by Barclays to assemble a group of artists for a London exhibition, I was elatedI immediately saw this as an ample opportunity for the world to experience the richness of culture coming out of Africa, a continent that has been plagued by dilapidating military dictatorship, tyranny, political turmoil and economic degradation. And in particular, Nigeria, a country that in spite of the emergence of democratic structures is besieged by a spectre of civil strife and various problems that have become antithesis of proper economic development, thus threatening both national and foreign investment.
Hopefully, this exhibition will provide a vehicle for the world to see through art, the enormous potential that the Nigerian economy holds, and will show that despite some negative images emanating from this country, it still holds the key to the yet untapped future of Africa, and indeed the world.
The major issues that have confronted me as a collector over a period are the anxiety of influence, the dilemma of synthesis, the search for unique identity, and the constant emergence of various voices, styles, and approaches on the African art scene. The sheer number and quality of influences, some of which seem contradictory and sometimes difficult to reconcile have spurred my interest in African art.
Africa has been a territory with a strong art history- a domain where many significant works have already left their mark. The inspired tradition of contemporary African art has become deeply rooted in Nigeria, where our six exhibitors come from.
This group of artists while carrying their individual ideas, have collectively become living intersections of academic modernism, African vernacular, with wider artistic discourse. They have been able to assimilate these influences and forged them into visions that have salient questions and understandings. In my humble opinion, they represent a major part of the future of African art, and potentially of the world.
Perhaps it is not surprising that the trend that is emerging from the matrix of influences coursing in these artist’s works, is tending to multiplicity. That is to say, that there are different forms, materials, geometrics, and idioms, all coexisting in juxtapositions that celebrate their differences. This exhibition while not trying to merge the differences into one single, blended images, will attempt to showcase them in a state of artistic individuality.
The nature of the works stretching from complexity to simplicity provides a fragile territory that bridges the two contradictory terrains. The various works presented by these talented artists, in their complexity and simplicity keep each other in a tense, teasing, and contradictory balance, thus providing the viewers with composite delightful details without being overbearing or obsessive.
The African Passage is an inspirational exhibition that will without any doubt, distinctively contribute to the enrichment of the belief that the prominence that European art has achieved over the centuries took its root or bearing from the inspiration of African art.
The sponsorship of this exhibition by Barclays Private Bank will promote a shift of the discourse of the African art from the myopic continental interaction, to a global world scene, thus fighting those unseen forces and practices that mitigate against the acceptance of contemporary African art.
My sincere gratitude goes out to Barclays Private Bank and the individuals who conceived and executed this idea. The efforts of William Outline, Richard Howarth, Catherine Ashenuga, and others at Barclays must be commended. Together with the artists, they can only imagine their positive contribution to the world with this exhibition.
To my wife Hadiza, I say thank you for allowing me, sometimes, to spend our “last dime” in the support of our local artists and their works.
Dr Okey Anueyiagu