*** Art in Disguise ***

Friday, November 12, 2010

THE EFFECTS OF WAR ON CULTURE: A Proposed Back-up Plan for UNESCO to Revive Cultures of War affected Zones in Africa.

In every continent of the world cultural genocide by forced dispersal (which the modern world has coined the clinically neutral term "ethnic cleansing") is one among the evils that have reap humanity of its rich benevolent nature in the society. Although civilization has helped in refining/bleaching many diabolical/evil practices of man, but the evil culture of war as an option in conflict has not change. What differentiates today's tribal and ethnic conflicts from those previously of nation states, is the extent to which erasing not only ethnic identity but also ethnic memory has been raised to the status of a legitimate goal. This is quite different from the 1000 years of systematic looting which was part and parcel of the military system. Museums, historic sites, libraries, archives, places of worship and community gathering have become prime targets.
Thomislav (1995) noted that the damage to Croatian cultural property spread throughout some 200,000 habitations and counted as follows: Churches and Monasteries: 262 damaged, 65 destroyed; 90 archives and libraries destroyed; 37 museum damaged, 4 destroyed; 500 monuments damaged, 107 destroyed; 223 historic sites damaged, 60 destroyed. Imagine that such fairly detail survey is carried out on African continent, one can picture the kind of damage done to her rich cultures, given the rate of wars/conflicts has experienced (and still experiencing).
War stories usually divulge man’s inhumanity against his fellow man. The damage sometimes caused by war is mostly irreversible and the society that experienced it is never the same. Rich cultures of so many nations have been affected by war with certain aspects of it grossly altered or good cultural values abandoned. By definition, war can be described as one of the man-made disasters caused by human rivalry between two groups over certain ‘issues’ of critical concern/interest to the society. Such issues may be of economic, social, political, or cultural implications to the society. The inability to settle such differences is what usually results in the use of arms against one another.

Studies conducted on the area of war in the recent past have like Albertyn et-al (2003) indicated that, virtually all wars (regional conflicts) have economic and political reasons knitted in them as major causes. The Nigerian civil war, Liberia civil war, DR Congo conflict, Ivory-coast, Kenya election crisis are all conflicts/wars in Africa that their causes had economic and political reasons reprehensibly ingrained in them. Take economy for instance, either the resources are being managed to the benefit of one person, or a group is being marginalized and do not have a fair share of the country’s wealth. Mineral resources like petroleum, gold, diamond, and uranium to mention just a few have never been a blessing to any developing world especially in Africa. Such resources have always been a source of continual pain to the region that possessed it, most especially when viewed in terms of the good returns such valuable resources would have brought to the development of that region or country. Using Nigeria for example, the Niger delta region has been unstable for so many decades all because of oil. Recently, the reason for the unending war in Daafur region in Sudan has been widely acclaimed to, or linked with the oil discovery in the region. This one of likely reasons while in 2001, the United Nations imposed a trade embargo on diamonds and timber from Liberia; the U.N. Security Council extended the embargo in 2004, citing the NTGL's failure to meet necessary conditions, including maintaining control of Liberia's timber regions and freezing the assets of certain allies of Charles Taylor, former Liberian rebel leader/president.
Politically, the desire of many African leaders to stay in power has led to full blown war between them and the opposition side. The result of this is apparent political instability which leads to economic backwardness due to either frequent change of economic policies or lack of conducive atmosphere for initiating policies, talk more of implementing policies that will sustain the economy.
Countries like DR Congo, Chad, Ivory Coast, Somali, and even Sudan and Uganda, and recently in Kenya; just to mention a few, have experienced one form of political crisis/war at certain periods in their histories. While some of them (countries) are relatively peaceful now, other countries are still hoping for the day peace will reign over arms.
No parameter has been adequately employ to exactly measure or quantify the rate of damage cause by war to the society that had experienced it. However, whenever the issue of war takes the central stage in a discussion, its effects is mostly measured in terms of human/material damages it brings to that society. In that respect, it is easier to link such physical damages to the economic and political set back of the region, country, or place while the issue of culture is often  forgotten or if remembered taken as the least.

What is the effect of war on culture?
The damage usually done by war has never had exception to any aspect of the society. In terms of culture, it (war’s) effects is on two- folds: directly or indirectly.
The direct effect of war on culture is that:  
                                i.            It tends to damage the cultural institutions like museums which are responsible for preserving the valuable materials of great importance to the history of that region.
                              ii.            It brings a total break down in the communication of important cultural values to  the next generation.
                            iii.            War garnishes the unpleasant atmosphere for un-cultured cultural trends as well as  bad values to infiltrate the original/good cultural values of the people, which were originally preserved and protected with passion in the society.
                            iv.            War also permits the influx of foreign cultural ideas which are imposed directly or indirectly on the people of that region.
                              v.            At worst, war can erase a people’s culture by reaping a society of all its cultural values/assets (art practices, institutions of cultural education, channels of cultural communication etc.). In that way, the society relied on a borrowed cultures  surrounding it, since the people may have apparently lost memory of their cultural practices.
On the other hand, the indirect damage of war on culture is mostly seen in the inter-connectivity of other aspects of the society which, if tempered with, will affect culture in a multi-dimensional ways. Take economy for instance, economy which has been ravaged by war gives little or no room for some important aspects of culture like art practice to thrive. The excess hunger makes people (artists) to think of what to feed.

What programme has UN in times of war to reduce the damage on culture to prevent cultural extinction of such regions?
Base on the current/previous media reports from various war zones, it is obvious that UNESCO does not have such a plan or programme on ground yet. During war, humanitarian services range from provision of basic human needs like food, water, shelter, clothes, beds and any of such things that can urgently ameliorate the suffering of people in that region. At best, refugee camps are provided with educational materials for children to continue learning. The kind of education given to children at this period is remarkably different from the one received in organized schools. Besides, the training atmosphere does not warrant the education/inculcation some of basic cultural values in the children. While in such conditions, some children manage to learn, other camps are frequently invaded by rebels or enemies disrupting the learning system against the interest of the learners. In view of this, UN ‘s most priority is to prevent loss of lives of the innocent ones, most of which are women and children or old men who can not hold arms during war.
What can UNESCO do to Revive Cultural Industry of a Region or country after war to Prevent Cultural Extinction in Africa?
Although, war times are highly unpredictable, considering the unsafe/tense atmosphere which is characterized by turmoil, confusion, hostilities of all sorts, UNESCO can still do a little to aid in the area of cultural preservation. UNESCO can create a temporal cultural unit that will be responsible for the storage of cultural pieces (artifacts). Such a unit will performs roles like collection, registration, documentation as well as temporal storage of cultural materials/relics like ethnographic/archeological materials, products of artistic value, etc. details of such cultural product, no matter how little they are, will be documented based on the scanty information received. This will help in tracing the location of such materials, identifying the cultures that produced them and or, returned them to the appropriate cultural institutions in that region or country. This arrangement will serve as a back-up plan that will possibly contribute to reviving the cultures of that region or country after war.
This arrangement may sound unachievable since war times or conflict periods have total disregard for any formal arrangement or constituted authority. However, during such period, formal arrangement are usually achieved through informal means. In view of this, the peace keeping force in charge of field operations, health workers under emergency teams (WHO or Red Cross officials) as well as other humanitarian workers who serve as volunteers in such region will be sensitized on the need to work together and include this as part of the mission. In this way, UNESCO will achieve meaningful results in this aspect.       

Reference:
Albertyn, R., Bicker, S. W., van As, A.B., Miller, A.J.W., Rode H. (2003), The Effect of War on Children in Africa; Pediatrics Survey International, Vol-19, Number 4, www.springlink.com. Retrieved on 12/11/2010, 11:05 am.
CIA World Factbook (2002) The Economist, Frontline/world/Liberia-No More War. Fact/pbs-http://www.pbs.org. Retrieved on 12/11/2010, 1:47pm. 
 

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The Review of Art Exhibitions/Critique of Visual Arts in the Nigerian Media

The mode of review of visual art exhibitions as normally carried out by most press agents for publication or broadcasting in media Organization is not encouraging and sometimes misleading. For example, Oloidi (2001) while writing on “The Development of Professionalism in the Media and the Academic Art Criticism in Nigeria (1920-1996)”, observes that, it was common to read a newspaper and found an art reporter, reporting about an exhibition with the direct lifting of the words from exhibiting catalogue.  He further stated that “many journalists who had been fevered by mediocrity and were therefore lazy in their writings were able to use the catalogues to address traces of their professional shortfalls if not outright incompetence”.

The media reports about visual art exhibitions are not supposed to be presented in a hasty and unwholesome manner the way Oloidi has mentioned, yet reverse seems to be the case. However, since the public (the audience of visual art) depends on such media comments, for an objective report which will go a long way in helping to promote the exhibiting artists, there is a need to educate those who are directly concerned with review of exhibitions. Through this, objective press comments will contribute to analyzing such exhibitions for the artist to see his/her shortcomings in the practice of his/her profession. This can be well achieved if media art reporters did not only stop receiving exhibition catalogues through the windows but also visit exhibitions as well as artists in their studios and see things for themselves.
Another kind of reviews observed to be carried out in the mass media especially the printing media is using the overwhelming flattery vocabularies which are meant to exalt the artist’s creative talent/ capabilities beyond the normal. Jegede described this as “perfunctionary and flattering distasteful”. Such reviews can hardly give an objective picture of the artist and the nature of the works as genuinely and professionally required. The consequence of this is the filtering of substandard reference materials in the main stream of contemporary art literary materials. When researches on contemporary art are to be carried out, such materials are bound to find their way in the final analysis of researchers.

The problems associated with visual art criticism in the media are similar to those of exhibition reviews by press agents who claim to be professional art writers/ reporters. However, the damage done to art criticism by the publication of unprofessional write-ups by some media organizations especially in print media, is part of the reason that contemporary Nigerian art is grossly misinterpreted in most of the western literatures.
According to Abayomi, (1990), most art critics including the ones working as agents of media are ignorant of what art criticism is all about. He stated that,
To be an art critic, you need to read a lot on that area. It is not the same as writing on social events. Art apart from being a means of expression also satisfies some technical requirements. You have to know the difference between gouache and wash, between pastel, poster colour and water colour. Or what are the basic differences between acrylic and oil (National Concord, June 7th, 1990, p.5).
Abayomi’s position on this issue is that, an art writer must know a few things about tonal effect and composition, not only going to exhibitions and saying that the artist had ‘procession in the desert’ or waterside’. You must be technically adequate”. His arguments were that, sometimes an artist would do a work which is technically deficient but art writers would be praising them unnecessary.
To review a work of art goes beyond just writing about it, because it involves a whole lot of things in the field of art history. For example, the writer must consider form- colour, line, texture and shape of the work; the background of the individual artist, the iconographical signs/symbols on the body of the work and sometime considers/links the work to some critical theories which help in explaining the socio-political background in which the work was made as well as the particular audience of the work. This because different kinds of works serves different audiences. All these are done with the view to establishing contextual meaning as well as the socio-political, religious or cultural relevance of the work to the general public. Aside from these, the work is just a fine piece of art that contributes little or nothing in the society which it is created. Some people rather builds their review more on aesthetics, forgetting the fact that something ignites then artist's feelings which eventually give rise the creation of such work.
A good review of any art piece does not only promote the artist but also educate the public on the message the art work is sending. This makes people find the relevance of art in the society as well as patronize it.  

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Media Coverage of Visual Arts Events/Activities in Nigeria


The media coverage of visual art activities in Nigeria like exhibitions, art workshops and other art related events has been lukewarm or to some extent, non existent. Apart from Lagos and Abuja where art business is thriving with a good pace, it is rare to find one media organization in other states that can boast of covering visual art events. According to Amodu (2008) the “print and electronic media”  are crucial means to “help improve the promotion of international visual arts / fine arts related programmes and events taking place in different parts of the world”. But the issue remains that, how fair is this media coverage in terms of visual art event/ activities in Nigeria?
Generally speaking, the coverage of visual art in the media has not been encouraging. Jegede (1983), noted this when he was writing on the problems and anticipations of Nigerian artists when he stated that, “A constant reassessment of cultural and artistic values cannot be expedited in a situation where the role of mass media is per functionary and flattery distasteful”. The impression created by this is that, the mass media are culpable ignorant of the role they should play in stimulating a healthy artistic atmosphere in Nigeria. If this is so, it therefore means that the media has to be properly educated as well as encouraged to take up this challenge of carrying out programmes or moving out to cover cultural events/ activities which of course visual art will not be left out. Jegede (ibid), having recognized the overwhelming influence of the media in the society especially in generating some awareness to the general public which can be healthy for the practice of art commented that:
Only one or two television stations ever gave thought to the idea of reviewing artists and their works some of the programmes that were aired in the name of culture reveal on unpardonable lack of cultural appreciation, our newspapers are no less guilty (of this unhealthy development). Only few newspapers organizations dole out columns devoted entirely to art and culture. And some have been turned to a forum for praise- singing rather than that of a crucial objective assessment of work, (Jegede, 1983:33).
The undue attitude of the media toward visual arts coverage in Nigeria has contributed to low appreciation of visual art by the populace and this has done less good to the growth and development of art generally. In essence, it has made certain aspects of the society un- popular and un-heard of, since people hear very little or nothing about them. Chika Okeke, paints a picture of what seem to have necessitated the creation of Committee of Relevant Art in Lagos and link it to the general attitude of the media in covering art events in Nigeria. According to Okeke in Mhonda (2001):
We recognize the fact that inspite of the plethora publications in Nigeria, there are hundreds of newspaper publishing in Nigeria and inspite of that, there is still a lot that  don’t care about the newspaper. Inspite of the fact that its supposed to be popular media, it is not popular in the essential sense. So we set up in Lagos a Committee of Relevant Art…..Now this committee meets every quarter and invites people to an open party, a lot of things get discussed because we also recognize the fact that condition of popularity in Nigeria and else where in African  still hold true. We gather and talk about arts. If there are journalists, and writers who have the courage and tools to transcribe these and publish them in magazine and journals, its for them and the audience (Okeke in Tony Mhonda 1999:66).

The formation of Committee Relevant Art as painted by Okeke is a deliberate effort to promote art by making it popular. The quarterly meetings which are often held by the committee in form of throwing a party to attract journalists are effort put in place as strategies that will encourage media coverage especially in society like Nigeria where the issue of art and culture are not the first priority. It therefore stands to reason that a popular media in a true sense must be popular with a variety of issues of society including those of contemporary culture with visual art fully represented.
Oloidi (1990), while tracing the factors that are responsible for lack of art promotion and patronage in Africa, also link part of the issue to attitude of the media toward visual art coverage. According to Oloidi, the patronage interests of the electronic media in art is almost restricted to only arts like drama, music, poetry, among others. In the print media, however, they use the service of the cartoonist and commercial artist, and although they seemed to be generally very promising in their art coverage, they don’t really feature ambitious programmes that can help advance the course of a dynamic visual art in Nigeria; Oloidi (1992). It means therefore that patronage of art is some how partly dependant on effective media coverage of visual art event/activities. This is however, confirmed by Onuchko’s (1996) comment after experiencing the works of a Spanish painter which he stated that:
I have long been interested in the Spanish artist, Savador Dali. The moment I saw his disquieting, feverish works I know this was a complex, expressive and eccentric personality, a strange genius. Now that an exhibition of his works has at long last been held in Moscow and the Soviet press has featured objective articles, essays, and biographical note on him, I see that my first impression of him and his works was on the whole correct (Onuchko,1996, the artist and society, pg. 4).
This statement clearly paints a picture of how some members of the public react to media publications especially in confirmation of their already existing belief about a particular phenomenon of a perceive societal importance. To some extent, People tend to rely heavily on press / media sources without minding the shortcomings that are sometimes found in media reports. This is because there are several instances where the media has announced or published their shortcomings (in form of an apology) over misrepresentation of issues in previous publications or broadcasts. Despite this, it still controls a large group of the population as the major source of information. From the above statement, one could notice that, Onuchko had his own personal and private observations/ judgment of Salvador Dali paintings which seem very positive any way but it was when the Soviet press wrote articles, essays, and biographical notes on Salvador and his works that Onuchko considers his judgment correct, or else, he would have definitely abandon his believe of the reality he has noticed and seen in the works of the Spanish artist.
In this regard, the advantageous position of the mass media in the promotion of visual art through increased awareness/ education of the public on art issues cannot be over emphasized. This is tantamount to boosting the art market and paving way for a flourishing art practice in Nigeria. Also it will lead to economic growth especially in the art sector for self reliance of Nigerian artists and reduce over dependence on government.

Reference:
Amodu, R. (2008), “ The Modern Nigerian Artists and Globalization”, Visual Vanguard: A Journal of Contemporary Art, Design, and Architecture, Vol: 1, no:2, pp.83-86.
Jegede, D. (1983), “Made in Nigeria Artists”: Problems and Anticipations, Nigerian Magazine, No. 144, pp. 22-37.
Oloidi, O. (1990), “Art Patronage and Professionalism: Towards a Golden Era in Nigeria”, Dept. of Fine and Applied Arts, Nsukka, Nigeria, pp.5-8.
Okeke, C. in Mhonda T. (2001) “Art Criticism as advocate”, Art Criticism and Africa, Katy Deepwell (edited), published by Saffron Books, United Kingdom, pp. 66.
Onuchko (1996), The artist and society, pg. 4

Monday, November 1, 2010

The Art of Selecting Leaders: Will 2011 Election produce Rebranded Leaders?

My knowledge of art makes me to realise two things: 1. a true artist must not lack a middium to express him/herself in any given situation irrespective of the condition of things he/she is surrounded with. 2. Any skillful act whether good or bad can be categorised as art in this present age. In view of these, as an art historian I have seen the political manipulation of our political leaders as an art. Hence, only those that know the art can get in the corridor of power. Since it can be seen as an art, I must respond to it in the same way art historians generally pass comments on any form of art they see.

The game of politics involves a process of choosing leaders who are given responsibilities in trust of those who vote them into power. However, since 1999 which is labelled as the day which democracy finds her feet on the political map of Nigeria, it appears that the process of choosing leaders has been much of selection than eletion as it ordnarily supposed to be. This can be understood better using a number of instances cited below.
The shift from Military to Civil rule was a dream no Nigerian thought will it ever come true. When it finally became a reality, it took a different dimension than what most Nigerians least expected. Instead of blessing, it become a near-curse to this nation.
The coming into power by Obasanjo was a puzzle many Nigerians could not solve. This is one man who hardly finished his jail term for criminal charges which his convictors believed that his freedom was against the peaceful co-existence of  people of Nigeria and the government of that period.  Taking him (Obasanjo) out of prison and cleaning him of all his sins in the name of presidential pardon was a clear indication that this man is heading to a selection avenue. The 1999 election result that brought him in power demonstrated clearly that he was not the choice of the entire western states, neither was he the choice many Nigerians in some other parts of the country; Yet he was the choice selective imposed on the collective will of the Nigeria populace. Most governors who served under him had one or two issues relating to electoral irregularities. On the whole, they were forcefully selected against the will of the masses who never knew that their votes count very little in the selection process, since all their efforts were in the name of ‘election’.
In 2003 the selection process was heading towards perfection. This was a period when youths were hired to use guns during elections in favour of aspirants who were bent on seeing themselves in the corridor of power. There were massive blood sheds in so many polling stations while in some polling units/communities, elections did not hold yet results were announced. The media reports received across the nation indicate that, only one-third of the leaders were genuinely elected. Others battle in court even up to their final year in office. While some stolen mandates were regained others used power of incumbency to over power their opponents who were apparently the choice of the masses.
In 2007 general election, Nigerians had already adjusted to the new demands of election in the country. Every one could predict what was going to happen. The police proved to be less effective in granting a secure atmosphere for elections and in some areas, only those who are arm-fit could dare the election venues. Hundreds of people died innocently for a cause they believed in, that is to cast a vote that will ellect a leader who will pay attention to the plight of the suffering masses; yet their cases were not taken up and followed for justice to prevail. The killers go free which send a sign of warning for those who want to cross their paths in the leadership tussle.  
A rough estimate  of the people who lost their lives from 1999 to date in the name of electoral crisis, if properly examine, could doubled the deaths Nigeria recorded during thirty something years of military rule. The selective imposition of leaders against  the wishes of the masses has done more harm than the blessings of the so called democracy. Our freedom is rapped in bondage by the word democracy. Our collective zeal to choose leaders democratically has been killed by the same people who preach to democracy to us.
If we elect leaders, we can hold them accountable to their evil against us. But when leaders are forcefully imposed on us in the name of a mirage word called “election”, we can not do even little to question their evil acts/policies even though we are recipient of such policies.
The trumpet of Rebranding Nigeria has been blowing for over two years now. 2011 election marks a timeline for truly rebranded leaders to come on board and help in establishing the ethics and values which are being preached by the Rebranding Crew. A truly rebranded nation, must start during election because elections are grounds which honest, hardworking, and good leaders receive their mandate to serve those who elect them into power.
FREE AND FAIR 2011 Election is one of the critical areas that will make this Rebranding Nigeria campaign a success. No selective imposition of leaders on the masses. Let every vote counts.