The nation’s biggest visual art event, Life in My City (LIMCAF), recently held its second round of the competition in 18 regional centres across the country.
Themed, ‘Can we breathe,’ over 700 entries were received for the competition. A total number of 62 young Nigerian artists exhibited their artworks at the Lagos Regional Centre, Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.
In his speech, the Festival Director, Kevin Ejifor, disclosed the festival is about empowerment of young people.
To him, “there are two kinds of empowerment: Financially, what we can afford for those who win prizes. And then, there is the training and exposure where young people meet with established artists, scholars and teachers. Above all, we are growing young people who will be proud to say, I am an artist. Now, that we are in eighteen states every year, we are hoping that all around Nigeria, the love, the practise, the appreciation and deployment of art as a tool of social development will grow.”
Fielding questions from journalists, cultural producer and Creative Director of the Revolving Art Incubator, Jumoke Sanwo, advised, “do not think about your location as a disadvantage, but think about ways whereby you can portray the best of your locality to the global world. I want to encourage you to leverage social media. You might be in your house in Enugu and someone in China might be interested or engage your work. Social media has given artists the opportunity to connect a wider audience beyond their immediate environment. It allows them to have more interactions with experts and this expands their knowledge.”
Initiated in 2007, Art Director, LIMCAF, Ayo Adewunmi disclosed the festival is a yearly celebration of creativity featuring an art competition for young talents in the nation’s art landscape.
He further disclosed, “our mission is to position art for social development through youth empowerment, thereby promoting art as a resource for national development. Our vision is to establish LIMCAF as one of the top three high profile events in Africa within the international arts event calendar.”
With the regional centres, he added LIMCAF targets the grassroots to give every aspiring artist an opportunity. Over the years, notable Nigerian artists have been discovered through the exposure offered by the LIMCAF platforms. This year, LIMCAF increased the prizes to be won by 25 promising young Nigerian artists. This is in addition to international travel for the top six artists and a boot camp for selected artists.
Adewunmi also acknowledged sponsors such as Ford foundation, Thought Pyramid Art Centre and other regional coordinators.
On his part, Okechukwu Eze, the coordinator of the Lagos zone, “it has been challenging, the artists have shown their resilience in interpreting the theme of the festival, Can We Breathe. They have done well.”
