CREO 2024: Inspiring a generation one brush stroke at a time

The humming drum blared in the reception of paintings with metaphors so infectious that art enthusiasts stood bedazzled and engrossed in each style and story therein. CREO’s 2024 art exhibition swung its beauty to the admiration of residents of Abuja.

CREO an annual Art exhibition hosted by Family Worship Centre to help artists express their creative ingenuity had over 200 creative pieces across diverse mediums on display. These paintings depict biblical allegories and other societal-informed happenstances.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Society of Artists, FCT Chapter, Aderinkomi John Adeleye, who also serves as a church deacon, disclosed that “CREO” is derived from the Greek word “Creole,” which means creativity. The exhibition aims to showcase artists’ pieces that give glory to God.

He also stated that the exhibition is an opportunity for artists within and outside the church to sell their creativity as a means of evangelizing and societal reengineering.

In his words: “Creole in the Greek language means creativity, and we coin it to be created for his glory. Creole Art Exhibition is a Christian Art Exhibition organized by Family Worship Centre. It is a yearly event, and this is the 6th edition. It’s an event where they bring out the best in the creatives in church, giving them a platform to showcase their talent.

“Over the years, it grew to a stage where we now invite outsiders, even all over the country, to come and participate, to showcase their talent as a tool of evangelism to minister to people. The other aspect of it is people make money because they open it up for sale, especially on weekends, and that is helping us economically.”

The curator and the immediate past Chairman of the Society of Nigeria Artists, Chike Emembo, noted that there are over 200 paintings and over 20 artists who participated in this year’s exhibition.

Chike highlighted that each work exhibited plays the role of the conscience of society, and the church is integral to the character formation of the society and has done excellently in hosting an exhibition of this magnitude.

He stated: “The scale of this exhibition is the biggest in the whole of Northern Nigeria. The consistency of the show has to be studied. Knowing it is funded and executed by the church, not an art institute or institution, is laudable. You have every other work here speaking to artists, their struggles, their experiences; it plays the role of the conscience of society.”

One of the painters, whose work was exhibited, Stanley Anyanwu, expressed his elation about the event and gave a detailed description of one of his paintings.

“I have 13 of my paintings exhibited. This exhibition is very significant to every artist because it doesn’t only give Christian artists a voice but it gives them international exposure. One of my paintings titled Abundance clearly depicts the fullness of life Jesus gives to anyone who believes,” he said.

Also, one of the attendees, Chisom Henry, praised the church’s initiative when she said: “I am not a member of the church, but I am so impressed. I pray other churches get into the business of improving society through practical initiatives like this. This is so incredible to experience.”