Advertising viable platform for artists to communicate, says Ananaba

A veteran artist, Ibe Ananaba, on Saturday said that advertising was also a viable platform through which artists had been communicating with their fans.

Ananaba, who was born in Belgium, but relocated to Nigeria at a tender age after his father’s death, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

According to him, advertising has also helped to expand his understanding of human behavioural patterns.

Advertising has also helped in various ways to understand the varieties of what drives or influences people.

Advertising is like psychology; it has helped me to understand the business side of arts and has also enabled me to define my target audience.

It helps to broaden my thoughts and exposure to various experiences through which I hit some ideas that could inspire bodies of works,’’ he said.

Ananaba also said that through advertisement, he had been able to be vocal at seminars, symposiums, workshops and other fora where artists gathered to rub minds.

According to him, advertising and arts share some creativity as the livewire that powers them and that they somehow share some key processes together.

If an idea for a campaign comes, the next thing I do is to pick my pen and pencil to sketch it out.

The same process is what I pass through when I conceive an idea I would want to paint.

The same insight that drives a campaign could drive a series of works that could be produced in my studio,” he said.

According to him, same idea applies to other artists, whether they are in advertising or not or in other related jobs.

Ananaba said that by sketching out series of ideas on storyboards, he was indirectly building self-confidence.

As a creative person everything inspires me. I engage my mind with things around me. I remain open- minded on whatever things and issues I might come across.

I try to soak in the much I can both the garbage and the valuable, depending on my mood and situation. I make mental memories as well and store information.

It is all about everyday experiences. There is nothing to waste. One just has to be observant to spot the gem in everything,” he said.

Ananaba said that his inspirations come either from songs, a phone call, fight on the street, news, jokes, nature and anything and that it could come anytime from anywhere.

I like to capture mood and emotional issues lure me easily, things that affect mankind, societal and personal concerns which I mostly address,” he said. (NAN)