At Orisun, Wewe honours women with hieroglyphics of womanhood

For the award winning artist, Chief Tola Wewe, there is a society because there is a woman.

“Without women, there cannot be man and without women, there cannot be a family,” he said at the opening ceremony of a two-week visual arts exhibition held at the Orisun Gallery, Abuja.

The opening ceremony attracted a large number of arts enthusiasts, most of whom were thrilled by the number paintings that are dominated by female figures.

Beyond this, women play prominent roles in our society. And they are so diligent about it. If you go into politics, both of the women in politics are more active, I would say. While some are abstract, majority of the paintings were women beautifully adorned by either acrylic on canvas, pen/acrylic on canvas or mixed media on canvas.

Another fascinating aspect of the art pieces was the size. Although many are of average size, some are 65 inches big, speaking volume of efforts and resources aimed at giving expression to womanhood.

Some of the titles include, Jinjin: The Mirrors, In the Becomings, Kutukutu Owuro, Siblings, Lawino and If You Don’t. Others are, Alaro Meta, Welcome Home, Tracking Time, On the Outside and Vibrations. In all, the paintings were adorable, bearing witness to the master’s brushes. Beyond that, the creative ingenuity of the arts leaves one with a burden of interpretation. Yet, their looks embody so much that they engage the audience with the riddles of giving meaning and interpretations to some of the facial expressions.

If You Don’t appeared the centre of attraction. Hung strategically at the middle of the gallery, the female face painting gazes into the future, living viewers wondering what would have occupied her thought. For some, it represents the struggles, burden and challenges of being a woman but for others, the red eyes, painted lips and the bright pair of ear-rings are only used by the artists to shield a suffering women from prying eyes.

Interestingly, the creator, Wewe described her as a fashionable woman who is in tune with the fashion reality of her era.

Speaking on his reasons for devoting the entire works to women, the artist said women are more forthright. “We don’t have more women armed robbers as men.” He was of the view that if women are in control of the society, it would have been a better place to live in.

“And I feel it is time for us to eulogize our women. Let us worship our women if possible because they contribute a lot.

“In traditional societies and environments, apart from domestic works, there are spiritual works women do. Even in the Christian faith, they talk about prayer warriors mainly dominated by women.

“Where I come from, women play prominent roles during traditional festivals. They dance, they sing, they make the whole event lively. So, why wouldn’t I eulogize women? Why wouldn’t I praise women with my work? After all, I had a woman as a mother, as a wife and I pray for a woman as a child.”

Since some of the works were painted since 2004, one wondered if the artist has been observing women for over 30 years, and if the changes in era has any significant change on the style or medium.

For the artist however, his engagement is to sing praises of women and eulogize across ages and time. “Honestly, I didn’t note any kind of transformation. All I wanted was to express whatever mood I am in and whatever impression I have. I want to express myself using imagery of women”, he said.

He called how his mother was kidnapped in his place, she suffered trauma after regaining freedom and passed. “And I can feel the pain women go through. And it was all because of me. I was the main target because they wanted money but they didn’t come to me, they took the poor woman.

“So, I will continue to praise women. I will continue to do whatever I can to praise women.”

The Executive Director, Orisun Gallery, Dr. Adebola Adetunbi, said she was fascinated generally by the figures of women, tall, short, their eyes, their figures and different aspects of the woman captured by the artist.

“And those represent the depth of the woman’s versatility. The woman is not just about the physical attributes, it includes her strength, soul, the impact she makes in the society.

“So it is not just about perceiving women as being domesticated or restricted to their homes. The woman’s strength is presented in various parts of humanity. I believe that this is actually what Chief Wewe is trying to do by showing the strength and the depth of what a woman actually is.”

Mrs. Adetunbi further described the artist is an icon who should be celebrated and promoted.

“He is so versatile and his works are so striking. We call this a crucible of artistic expression. When you look at it, each work of art has a different characteristic. There are different interpretations that you can give to each work of art. You see the strength and the power of womanhood in every work of art. So, this is what we always try and do at Orisun Gallery, to project the African icons and master artists.”

Mrs. Adetunbi used the occasion to disclose the activities of Orisun Art Gallery. According to her, the strategically located exhibition hall promotes the works of master artists as well as those up-coming ones.

“If you look around the gallery, you see a lot of young artists’ works on display. There is no type or profile of artists that you will not see their works here – young old and contemporary artists. That is reason we are here.”

Decrying the dwindling fate of the art in the country, Adetunbi charged the government to raise the bar for the arts and make the industry as viable as it ought to be.

Other encouragements from the government, she suggested, include patronage, sponsorship of exhibitions and creating platforms such as Artists Week, where younger artists will have the opportunity to exhibit their works.

Declaring the exhibition open, Senator Tolu Odebiyi, introduced to the audience by his colleague, Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi, was excited to meet the artist, whose name he has heard for long.

He also commended him for educating the audience on his artworks, his concept, his ideas and what inspired him.

Among the dignitaries were the Israeli Ambassador, Michael Freeman, who appreciated Nigerian artists and their works. He disclosed that he was always tempted to patronise Nigerian artworks because of their great beauty.