It was a colourful palette for the visual art community as artists, galleries, collectors and academics had something to remember 2009 for. From the increase in art shows to the emergence of new media art, to styles that were either refined or invented, it seemed like the year was just what the visual arts needed. It was also a year of international reckoning with the Art Expo holding at the National Museum in Lagos and sculptor El Anatsui receiving the 25,000 euro Prince Claus Award. Competing for the headlines in the past year were the death of Suzanne Wenger, aka Adunni Olorisha; the murder of art promoter and curator at Pendulum Gallery, Peter Areh, and art teacher and sculptor Lamidi Fakeye, who passed away on Christmas Day.

Photography and new art

In retrospect, photography deserves praise for making a bold showing. Major events like the Nigerian Art Competition recognised this genre of new media. In particular, there was a photography exhibition at the Omenka Gallery featuring top brass in Nigerian photography: Tam Fiofori, Amaize Ojeikere, Sunmi Smart-Cole and Kelechi Amadi Obi. There was also George Osodi’s “Drivers Dexterity”. Other representatives of new media art were performance artist Jelili Atiku’s “Agbo Rago”, and Emeka Ogboh’s sound installation.

Titled “Identity: an imagined state”, the first video art exhibition also took place at the Centre for Contemporary Art. Rom Isichei’s “State of Being” and Victor Ehikhamenor’s “Mirrors and Mirages” are examples of exhibitions with the use of material and new ideas as a focal point in 2009. Pop art was indigenised in the hands of Diseye Tantua and Lemi Ghariokwu with their exhibitions at the Signature Gallery and Artistic License respectively. Nnena Okore’s use of discarded, local material in “Of Topography and Earth…” was one of the major shows of 2009.

The year of the international

Organised by the Art Galleries Association of Nigeria and the National Gallery of Art, the International Art Expo featured 36 galleries from around the country and, for the first time, included a gallery from Benin Republic. In October, it rained works from about 200 artists as the Society of Nigerian Artists held their yearly juried exhibition tagged “October Rain”. A month later, Abuja became a beehive as African visual artists assembled in the capital city for the African Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Arts that featured 50 artists from Nigeria and 23 from other African countries. In November, Nigeria’s Uche Okpai-Iroha beat other photographers from across Africa to win the highest prize at the Bamako Biennale. The National Art Competition with the theme “The Nigeria I see” ended with the winners going home with N750, 000 and the opportunity to have their works exhibited. The Visual Arts Society of Nigeria’s ‘Open House’ exhibition took place at the Mydrim Gallery amidst controversy.

Schools and books

Nigerian Art schools did not fail to represent as every school put its cards on the table. YabaTech led the way closely followed by the Auchi School. The Benin School experienced an awakening and the Osogbo School held its own, even after the death of its matron Suzanne Wenger. The school held a show at Quintessence in Lagos and Rahmon Olugunna’s works brought a contemporary edge to the Osogbo Art school.

The launch of Sylvester Ogbechie’s book, ‘Ben Enwonwu: The Making of a Modernist’ and that of ‘Jewels of Nomadic Images’ on Bruce Onobrakpeya’s art were some of the artistic landmarks of 2009. In December, the Goethe Institut launched a collection of images of artists invading public spaces titled ‘Lagos: Art in public spaces.’

As things stand, the visual art community looks set to draw from the gains and losses of 2009 for an improved 2010.