12092019

C
M
Y
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26—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
japhdave@yahoo.com
08066625505
Onuzulike’s double unlocks the mystery of seed
yams
By Japhet Davidson
*Some of the works exhibited during the three day show
AS the Igbo and other eth
nic groups that value
yam, celebrate the new yam
festivals, ceramics artist, poet
and art historian, Ozioma
Onuzulike is set to metaphorically
explore the vicissitudes
surrounding the edible
food in what can be described
as a monumental exhibition
tagged Seed Yams of
Our Land .
Coming from the heels of
one of the celebrated artist
and lecturer, the exhibition
which will open with a formal
presentation of the artist’s
published collection of
poems of the same title, Seed
Yams of Our Land is scheduled
to start by 4.00pm on
14th September, 2019 at the
Centre for Contemporary Art,
Lagos and will run till 25th
October 2019.
According to the curator,
Iheanyi Onwuegbuchulam,
“the artist will metaphorically
explore yam (Dioscorea spp.)
and the yam barn – emblems
of economic and political
power among the Igbos of
southern Nigeria – in ways
that examine the unequal
relations within individuals
and groups in Africa, as well
as Africa’s precarious relations
with first world countries
and their imperial powers.
“In doing this, the artist reflects
on the nature of his basic
material (clay) as a mineral
that is symbolic of life and
explores the violent ceramics
studio processes (pounding,
cutting, crushing, firing …) as
fitting metaphors for the human
conditions in Africa today.
These include the horrific
implications of “reckless politics”,
hunger, unemployment,
banditry and armed conflicts
on Africa and her people, especially
the youth - representative
of Africa’s future
and values, which the artist
symbolically uses as “seed
yams” to draw attention to
Nollywood star set for
London recognition, award
ON Saturday, 9th
November, 2019,
the Crik Banqueting
Hall in London,
United Kingdom,
where this year’s edition
of the prestigious
Edo Festival and
Awards organised by
JJ Barry Entertainment
Limited will be held
would be set agog as
personalities, artistes
and showbiz entrepreneurs
would congregate
to witness the epoch
event.
Aisosa Okoro, a
Benin based historian
cum movie costumer, is
elated as she gets set for the
showstopper event where she
has been slated as one of the
recipients of the prestigious
award of recognition for her
untiring effort to promote the
rich culture of the Benin
Kingdom spiced with her dexterity
in folklore recitations.
In her acceptance of the invitation
for the award, the
elated Aisosa stated: “I am
elated at the recognition that
JJ Barry Entertainment Limited
has given me by nomi-
*One of the works to be exhibited
*Aisosa
Okoro
nating me for the award of
recognition as an active artiste
and a historian of note
in the Nollywood Movie
world.
“While doing my bit contributing
to the promotion of
the rich culture of my people,
the Benins I never thought
that a day like this will come
when I will be given recognition
for what I am doing.
“I really appreciate this
honour and I am certain that
it can only be the starting
point and not the limit of the
their desecration by vicious
forces from within and outside
Africa.”
The exhibition will open
with a formal presentation of
the artist’s published collection
of poems of the same title,
Seed Yams of Our Land
published by the Centre for
Contemporary Art, Lagos.
In his artists statement, the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
trained scholar who has remained
committed to his studio,
producing a large body
of work in utilitarian ceramics
and in mixed media sculptures
and installations said,
good tidings
that would
come my
way in no
distant time.
“ T h i s
award is going
to be a
stepping
stone as I am
certain that
more would
soon follow
suit.”
And she
has a word of
encouragement
to JJ
Barry Entertainment
Limited:
“Keep it up.
The world is
watching all
you have
been doing to
promote
achievers
and highlight
their achievements.
The
reward will
come in torrents
in time
to come.”
“My current project attempts
to extend my previous work
around issues of man’s inhumanity
to man and the horrific
implications of conflicts
and wars on human beings
and on the natural environment.
The yam with its physical
and conceptual attributes
offers me fitting metaphors
with which to engage the human
condition of my own people,
a condition (a “barn”)
that has largely been shaped
by our unequal relations with
countries of the “first world”
and their imperial powers.
“Although increasingly
eroded by the influx of alternative
food items, the yam remains
a prestigious crop and
an important natural resource
within my Igbo native soil in
Nigeria. The yam barn used
to be a site of political and
economic power, a space in
which a man asserted his supremacy
over his wives and
children, and the “capital” or
“currency” with which he negotiated
his political status in
society.
In my Yam Bodies project, I
think of seed yams as our children,
our youth, our future;
and the family, school and
society at large as the farm in
which they are planted and
nurtured. We harvest what we
grow. Our harvests remain a
function of the quality of our
inputs and the conditions under
which we grow them.
Given the digital age in which
we currently live and work,
our farms’ borders have grown
increasingly porous and vulnerable”.
His works have been shown
in numerous group exhibitions
and in nine solo shows
between 1995 and 2018 in
Nigeria, Italy and the USA.
Onuzulike who is a notable
scholar of African ceramics art
history presently lectures as
professor of art and art history
in University of Nigeria,
Nsukka . He has exhibited
in numerous group exhibitions
and in nine solo shows
between 1995 and 2018 in
Nigeria, Italy and the USA
and his work has received
endorsement through awards
and prizes from many institutions/bodies.
Issele Uku’s Inne festival kicks off
in grand style
T
H E
third edition
of the
Annual
Inne Festival
of Issele
Uku has
b e e n
scheduled
to hold
from 14 to
19 September
2019.
This is the
third outing
of the
King of
I s s e l e
O l i g b o
kingdom,
HRM Obi
Agbogidi
N d u k a
(Mnse).
The Inne
festival is
an occasion
where all
the titled
chiefs of
the town
dress in the
best of
their regalia
and
*HRM, Obi Agbogidi Nduka during one of his recent outings
dance to the king’s palace
to pay their annual
homage.
This year’s festival will
be an improvement of the
previous years’ because it
will hold for 5 days and
feature activities like inter-village
traditional
dance competitions among
the 9 villages of Issele
Uku. A cash reward of
N300, 000, N200, 000 and
N100, 000 also await winners
of the 1st, 2nd and
3rd positions respectively.
Other activities lined up
for the festival include
traditional fashion show
and raffle draws in which
the winners will go home
with a motorcycle and a
sewing machine respectively.
According to HRM Obi
Agbogidi Nduka, culture
is the people’s way of life
and a people without culture
are like a tree without
roots. This year’s action-filled
festival promises
to be a turning point
where elegance, culture
and tradition will combine
with opulence and royalty
to produce a festival all
stakeholders will be
proud of.