.Over 600 entries received
A record 638 entries were received for the 2024 Life In my City Art Festival (LIMCAF) art competition, an increase of 12 per cent over 2023.
Sorting of entries according to regional centres shows that Lagos Region leads with 106 entries while Enugu follows with 88 entries. Abuja is third with 69 entries.
It is not only the largest gathering of young artists, patrons, scholars, gallery owners and other stakeholders in the visual arts in Nigeria, it is the longest-running yearly art event in Nigeria, and features exhibitions, lectures, an art and craft fair and workshops, in addition to the fine art competition in various categories. Over N3million are won in prizes every year.
Established in 2007, LIMCAF is a yearly celebration of creativity featuring young talents in the Nigerian art landscape. It aims at encouraging young artists, male and female, including persons with disability not older than 35years.
Since inception, it has been in the vanguard of discovering young artists and nurturing them, while providing a platform for advocacy of social issues.
The festival was registered as a Trusteeship in 2012 under the name Life In My City Art Initiative. The festival features visual art competition, pan-African photography contest (Photo Africa), school children’s and art teachers’ workshops, multimedia workshop and the award and gala Night.
Speaking with The Guardian after the sorting of entries in Enugu on May 31, 2024, LIMCAF’s Art Director, Dr Ayo Adewunmi, congratulated the young artists from all over Nigeria, who have kept faith with the project since its inception in 2007, trusting in the uncompromising fairness and integrity of the competition’s processes.
Adewunmi said: “LIMCAF remains steadfast in its mission to cultivate and continuously upscale the talents and creative potential of young and emerging artists in Nigeria through empowering them in the various ways to advance their careers.”
He announced that other new and special training opportunities are currently being fine-tuned and will be announced during the gala and awards night in October, adding that a workshop scheduled for Abuja for persons living with disabilities is by special request, following the success recorded last year in Enugu.
According to Adewunmi, the theme for 2024, Humanism, “seeks to explore the qualities that make us human, demands the spirit of altruism and a determination in pursuit of the common good in all and that we take our destiny in our hands by truly being human in our relationship to one another and the environment.”
The 2024 exhibitions began in Lagos on Saturday, June 15. It will be followed by Abuja show. The Abuja exhibition holds from June 20 to 26. It will be curated by Okhide Obioma Clara and Destiny Eke.
Holding at the Thought Pyramid, 18 Libreville, Wuse, Abuja, there will be a workshop for PWDs on June 25 and 26.The Abeokuta exhibition holds from June 29 to July 7 at the Simeon Adebo Library Gallery, IIB Boulevard, Kuto. The Abeokuta region is coordinated by Kenny Badru.
The Benin/Auchi zone holds from June 21 to 30 at Thought Pyramid Art Centre, GRA, Benin while the Enugu / Awka will hold from August 6 to 13. It is billed for Alliance Francaise, Enugu. The Jalingo event is August 8 to 16 and Jos is July 15 to 19.
The award night will hold on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at the International Conference Centre, IMT, Enugu. The grand finale features works from young people across the country, selected from over 600 works exhibited yearly in 11 exhibition centres across Nigeria.
Winners will go home with their prizes. The prizes are, N1million for the overall winner, Best Painting/mixed media N500.000, Best Sculpture/Installation Art N500,000, Best Ceramics N500,000, Best Graphic/ Digital Art N500.000; Best Photography/Video N500,000, Best Textile/ Fashion Design N500,000 and Best Drawing N500,000. Others include consolation prizes, endowed prizes and El Anatsui prize, international travel for top artists.
