Aize shines light On Above All, Women Without

For the second time in less than a month, Aize Mohammed Paul will be exhibiting some of his major works at the Alliance Française, Mike Adenuga Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The show, which will run from April 8 to 15, 2023, is titled, Above All, Women Without, and is, shining light on women doing extraordinary things despite their predicament.

Speaking on the show, the artist said: “This exhibition is basically about life and finding yourself and discovering life’s purpose.’

“It is a continuation of the installation at Alliance Française, and the idea for this is to show that without women in the world, things can never be settled. So, it’s like bringing in the balance to show support for women.

On the inspiration behind the show, he said: “It’s inspired by life. Being black is something that needs to be preserved and for me, the idea of shooting as well is not just to make art, but also, to sustain mankind. We sell these works and get some proceeds back to the people we shoot. So, the idea is to keep that sustainability and survival of every black person that comes across my path.”

On what makes him different from other artists, he said: “Being different is just like knowing yourself and being grounded. After knowing myself spiritually, physically and mentally, I feel I know my way around myself. It’s about self-navigating and I feel that’s another reason this show is very key on self-navigation because once you find yourself and you can navigate, no one can be like you. At this point in my life, I know myself and I know my career path. I know my craft. It’s a thing of just knowing.

“For the new show, I am bringing two new additional prints, with the over 50 virtual works.”

Shedding light on the choice of the artist, the Cultural Coordinator, Alliance Française, Lagos, Chic Chic Umah, said: “Aize project is the most striking, the most unusual, the most interesting of some of the applications we received. And this year, one of my personal goals was to select artists that would be different, and innovative, and I think so far, I have succeeded in that aspect.

So, I was very excited to include Aize in the cultural programming for 2023. And just generally the feedback has been great, so that’s also a boost of confidence.

“And, his choice is for the public that comes to Alliance Française, to experience and also view things that are different, things that are unusual things and things that they wouldn’t come across generally or daily.”

She said: “My hope for the exhibition is that Aize can inspire various artists and creatives and also push them to help push themselves into creating things not just easily but to think outside the box, which Aize has done beautifully.

“We hope to also get Aize works across different Alliances, also in France, to promote it as much as possible.”

Speaking on the impact of the centre on the promotion of art and artists in Nigeria, she said: “I think everyone is aware of what Alliance Francaise does, in terms of providing artists with a platform, we have been able to do that amazingly. And if anything when an artist comes through Alliance, we cultivate that relationship and make sure that our relationship is maintained and sustained. And however we can support the artist, will always support them. Alliance Francaise is a big name when it comes to culture and the promotion of creatives.

“The way we measure this is artists getting more visibility after their show with us and things just get better for them from there. Alliance is a stepping stone and artists reach higher once they come through us, and that’s a big deal for us.”