Top 15 Peju Layiwola Quotes

My lectures and engagement in the last two months have helped foster better understanding of art from a non-European background. It has also expanded my understanding of knowledge practices in the arts. Next year promises better opportunities. As a recipient of the Raw Residency at Rhodes University in South Africa, I will be involved with creating a new body of art works. I am excited about this residency because of its unique structure. I will be working with a writer who would engage my artistic production in a literary form, while I do my own work.

In terms of my career, I will focus more on my studio practice and consolidate on helping to build a stronger community of creative thinkers amongst the youth. To mark our 13th anniversary of community service a lot of free art workshops in tie-dye, silk-painting and ceramics were held at the Women and Youth Art Centre. I have a couple of international engagement. I have just concluded a prestigious artist residency in the Kunstsammlung Northrein Westfalen, the Museum of the State of North Rhine Westfalia, in Dusseldorf.

I am grateful to the Almighty God for all he has made possible in the last 50 years. That I am alive today is the sheer miracle of God. Being 50 is a milestone in an individual’s life, particularly for those living in Nigeria with all its challenges. I am grateful for the kind of support I have received from my family, particularly my husband. It is also a time of stocktaking.

This project, which included my mother’s participation, was a great collaboration between academically-trained artists and the guild of bronze casters. It was a multi-genre project comprising performance art, sculpture, site-specific paintings, photography, installation art and video art which was funded in part from the University of Lagos Central Research grant.

So we took a second look at the date and saw that 1914 was the year, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ovonramwen, king of Benin, who stood against British imperialism joined his ancestors. So, I came up with a public art concept to celebrate the culture, costumes, dances and art of the Benin people. The venue was Igun Street, in Benin City- the home and ateliers of the Benin traditional bronze casters. Many of the artists on this project have really become well known internationally. Jelili Atiku and Victor Ehikhamenor had shown at the 57th Biennale in Venice. Jude Anogwih, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Andrew Eseibo, Ine Valle, Burns Effiom, Jumoke Verissimo and Taiye Idahor have continued to expand on their artistic practice.

The second project is the “Whose Centenary?” project. A collaboration of eleven other renowned artists on a public art project held at Igun Street, Benin City. The Nigerian government celebrated the amalgamation of both the southern and northern protectorates of Nigeria in a grand style. As artists we questioned the celebration of the centenary particularly as the amalgamation was carried out for the convenience of British administration rather than for the good of the people, in what later became known as Nigeria.

My focus on Benin history as it pertains the looting of its priced sacred objects began after two major international events I attended- first was the Benin travelling exhibition, “Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria” which was shown in Vienna, Paris, Berlin and Chicago between 2007 and 2009. I attended the opening and close of the exhibition in Vienna and Chicago. When I returned, I began to think of ways of engaging theme of looting patrimony and what it means for Nigeria in this global discourse on art. My exhibition titled, “Benin 1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question” (2010) emerged. I will consider this one of my most successful projects and a major contribution to documenting local art traditions and projecting the views of a colonised people deprived of their art on various platforms.

History has always held a fascination for me and has greatly defined the trajectory of my art. I have conducted two major exhibition projects that draw on the archives. One directly refers to the sack of Benin by British invaders in 1897 titled, “Benin 1897.com” (2010) and the other, a public art project, “Whose Centenary?” (2014) was inspired by the history of the amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorates of Nigeria. In both historical situations, Benin seems to be the location of the activation.

Art draws material largely from the archives and historical episodes in Africa.

The renowned artist Demas Nwoko has proven the unique link between art and architect in his impressive oeuvre of works. There is a huge potential for tourism using the arts. Universities can benefit immensely from increased revenue with the expertise that the visual art portends. Art students are trained not to be seekers of employment but employers of labour, and by the time they graduate, they have a good understanding of what art and entrepreneurship means. The Department of Creative Arts has helped transform the cultural life of the university by organizing amazing music and theatre performances and also changing the landscape with sculptures. There is more that can be achieved.

There is a lot one can do with science students as this aspect of the arts lies very much in the domain of sciences. The arts and sciences interface in ways that we are yet to fully enjoy the benefits of such synergy. While my considerations may be aesthetically inclined, a student of science could tap into this expertise of an artist working in a familiar terrain. Students of engineering and chemistry can interact with the ceramics unit of the Department of Creative Arts in mould making, working with refractory bodies and compounding glazes from local resources. The same applies to the arts and architecture; both are two sides of a coin.

This is the era of interdisciplinary research. There must be a collapse of boundaries between disciplines. As an artist trained in metalworking, I am conversant with metal casting processes- working with non-ferrous metals like copper and its alloys, gold and silver. I also use centrifugal casting systems, lost wax, sand casting methods in my work.

The University of Lagos administration has been very receptive to suggestions. My proposal for the establishment of an arts and crafts Centre funded by TETFund was given priority by the university management. This concept when accomplished will invariably bring together students of different departments to learn skills that interface with the arts and help with job creation after school.

Over a three year period, I fostered links between a private NGO- Omooba Yemisi Shyllon Foundation and the University of Lagos in training over 1000 students from about 22 universities in art-based workshops under the headship of Professor Duro Oni. This is in addition to the U.S. sponsored workshops by Brett Cook from which the collaborative mural evolved. We once enjoyed the establishment of an arts’ gallery located close to the lagoon front by the botanical gardens. This was a great place for the university community and visitors to come enjoy the creative expressions of students of Creative arts- theatre, music and visual arts.

If education should be salvaged in this country we cannot leave it to the government alone. There has to be an inclusion of the private sector. The central and important role the University of Lagos plays in the art-charged city of Lagos makes it possible to attract private/public partnership in art training.