The 2023 Conference on Art and Development (CONADEV) by the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) ended on a colourful note on Thursday at Exhibition Pavilion, Garki, Abuja.

The two-day event kicked off on Wednesday with the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the National and State Chapter executives of the Society. This was followed by a lecture titled, “The Nigerian Copyright Law and the Visual Art Practice in Nigeria,” delivered by Dr. John Asein, DG, Nigeria Copyright Commission. This was followed by lively plenary session featuring art scholars, art practitioners and art aficionados. Many artists made valuable inputs on charting the way forward for visual arts in Nigeria during the session.

The climax came on Thursday with the awards’ investiture on deserving awardees. A colourful stage with glittering décor and a large LCD, beamed highlights of some of the awardees. On ground, was a live band, Aso Rock band, which dished out interesting oldies, that were well appreciated by the audience in the capacity filled hall. Two female guest artistes: Nicole Albert and Honeybell added spice to the evening with Afro fusion renditions and deft foot works.

Presentation of the awards followed in quick succession as background music from the band. In the Fellowship category, 35 distinguished artists were inducted alongside 10 Honorary Fellows; 13 art patrons clinched the Patronship awards while four art galleries clinched the Outstanding Art Gallery Awards.

Some of the recipients are: HRH, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero,. The Emir of Kano (Grand Patronship Award); Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya, (Lord of the Arts); Ebeten William Ivara, Dr. John Asein, Arc. Abiodun Oluwule Olutayo and Oji Onoko (Honorary Fellowship); Dr. Simon Ikpakronyi, Prof. Sunday Ododo, Prof. Abba Tijajani (Distinguished Service Awards) and Kanyenya Chukwu Tagbo-Okeke and Vera Chijioke (Special Fellowship award);

The diplomatic community was not left out of the recognitions by SNA: Ronald Vieira, Brazilian ambassador to Nigeria; Li Xuda, Cultural Counselor, Embassy of Peoples Republic of China; Bill Strassberger, former Cultural Affairs officer, US Embassy in Abuja (posthumous) and Eva Barta, Cultural Adviser, Embassy of Spain got the (Award for Diplomatic Excellence. The US Embassy, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the Embassy of Spain won the Award for Outstanding Cultural Diplomacy, among several others.

Addressing the audience, Chairman, Central Working Committee of CONADEV 2023, Archibong Bassey said the objectives of the convention among others are to bring together in a common platform, studio artists, the academia, diplomatic community, government and corporate organizations, to chart a way forward towards ameliorating, the dwindling fortunes of art in the school system, and to step up art appreciation and practice. “We want to encourage the use of e-learning to improve art instruction, practice and commerce and reward those who have supported the development of visual art within the Art ecosystem and beyond.”

Earlier in his welcome address, President, SNA, Muhammad Sulaiman, said: “Today, we come to unpack together the transformative power of art and delve into new frontiers of creative exploration.”