Artsville

Arthouse Gets Better With Its Residency
With exhibitions, studio visits and even workshops involving artists currently in residence, Arthouse Foundation has gotten a lot better in maximising the value of its residency. The charity arm of the auction house Arthouse Contemporary, is doing far more with and for Kadara Enyeasi and Thierry Oussu, its current artists –in- residence than it did with Victor Ekpu, its debutante, in 2016. Ekpu literally organised his own exhibition while at the residency. The US based visual artist also almost entirely arranged the two talks about his works during the period. Arthouse Foundation came across as quite reticent in “owning” Ekpu’s residency. But things have since changed. Nengi Omuku and Francois Beaurain, the last two resident artists, were hosted to Artist Talk and Open Studios in March. They gave a formal presentation of their past works followed by an informal public visit in their studios. Last Friday (July 7, 2017), the Foundation presented an interactive workshop, titled “The Collage” in which Thierry Oussou, a painter and installation artist, engaged four other participants in a hands-on session.

It lasted five hours. Yesterday, (Saturday, July 8, 2017), Arthouse presented Open Studios with Kadara Enyeasi and Thierry Oussu, during which the two artists presented their works and spoke about their artistic practice. The audience was allowed informal visit to their studios to see the works they are developing in their residency. Next week Saturday, (July 15, 2017), the Foundation will present an interactive workshop with Kadara Enyeasi, titled “Ideas and Fine Art Photography”. Enyeasi is a self-trained fine art photographer and mixed media artist with a background in architecture. This workshop will focus on developing ideas and realizing them through fine art studio photography. It includes a practice session where participants will practice with provisional studio equipment. It is limited to five participants, and all participants must successfully register on an Eventbrite link to attend.

Okey Ndibe Reads, In Nine Venues, In Five Cities, Over Three Weeks
Okey Ndibe’s extensive Book reading tour of Nigeria, which begins at Patabah Bookstore in Surulere. Lagos, this afternoon, is welcome for host of reasons. Nigerian publishers hardly organise readings of their writers. Nigerian writers, as a rule, think they’ve done their utmost once their book is out. No need to engage with audiences. So Book readings, let alone book reading tours, are rare in the country. Most books do not exactly reach the intended audience. Bookcraft, the Nigerian publisher of the two books on the tour, Foreign Gods Inc, and Never Look an American in the Eye, is a home of quality books, but true to type, the company is shy about getting its writers out. Ndibe, a gifted scribe whose first novel, Arrows Of Rain, speaks eloquently about arrested development, is temporarily home from exile in the United States.

He will read at the Faculty of Arts Boardroom, University of Lagos on Thursday July 13 and participate at the Goethe Institute’s Literary Crossroads series at the City Hall on July 15. He then leaves Lagos for Port Harcourt, where he will engage the academic community at the Saro-Wiwa English House, English Department, University of Port Harcourt on July 18. Ndibe travels eastwards to read at the UNEC Main Hall, University of Nigeria, Nsukka on July 21 and at Havila Suites, in Awka, on July 22. He has only one date in Abuja: the city’s Literary Society hosts him at the Sandralia Hotel, near the scenic Jabi lake, on July 28. He comes back to Lagos, to read at Quintessence, Ikoyi, on July 29. Ndibe rounds up the tour at the Bookcraft Africa Headquarters, in Bodija, Ibadan on July 30.

The Fagunwa Book Is Out, For Launch on July 27
It’s about three years since the Fagunwa Study Group presented a conference with the theme: D.O.Fagunwa: Fifty Years On, the conference at a hotel in Akure. The summit of scholars and culture enthusiasts commemorated the first half century after the death of this uncommon storyteller, who gave the world Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irumole, Aditu Eledumare, Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje and Igbo Eledumare. The proceedings of that conference have been edited by Adeleke Adeeko, a humanities professor at the University of Ohio and Akin Adesokan, professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University and published by FSG in association with Bookcraft. The book will be presented to the public at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan on July 27.

Authors that the readers of Celebrating D. O. Fagunwa: Aspects of African and World Literary History will get to read include: Wole Soyinka, Akin Adesokan, Dan Izevbaye, Moradewun Adejunmobi, Karin Barber, Adeleke Adeeko, Niyi Osundare, Arinpe G. Adejumo, Dele Layiwola, Tejumola Olaniyan, Olufemi Taiwo,  Pamela Olubunmi Smith, Tola Badejo,  Olu Obafemi, Jacob Olupona, Gbemisola Adeoti, Femi Osofisan  and Elizabeth Fagunwa. “This book celebrates Fagunwa and re affirms his contributions to African literature and culture, re-examines his work as a store house of hitherto undiscovered sources of knowledge, and assesses his continuing relevance to our contemporary times”, says Tunde Babawale, professor of political economy and international relations at the University of Lagos who, as Chief Executive of Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation, CBAAC, helped to sponsor the 2013 conference in collaboration with Ondo State government.

Wanderlust Opens: What’s Junkman Trying To Do?
SMO Gallery opened the exhibition Wanderlust, at the Wheatbaker Hotel yesterday, featuring five visual artists. Chidi Kwubiri, Emeka Udemba, Junkman from Africa, Jimmy Nwanne, Numero Unoma and Yetunde Ayeni-Babaeko, have something or other to do with Germany; ether by birth, marriage, or residency and the thematic focus of the presentation is travelling, migration. On offer are paintings, mixed media, photographs, and sculptures. One artist whose work many exhibition goers will be looking forward to is Junkman of Africa.

Dilomprizulike aka Junkman was one of those who brought to life the concept of installation art, focused around assemblage of found objects and discarded material. His contribution in this exhibition, several years after he’d disappeared from the country, is a body of paintings that come across as far more restrained than the chaos that he used to create with jagged metals.

Compiled by staff of Festac News Agency