By Prisca Sam-Duru

In collaboration with Mydrim Gallery and Omooba Yemisi Shyllon Art Foundation, OYASAF, the Lagos State Chapter of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) is set to celebrate art and passions in glorious style, with its historic juried exhibition for this year’s October Rain.

Themed “Art as A Glorious Passion”, the 2021 edition of October Rain will hold between October 3rd and 16th, 2021.

The art event is perhaps, the first major task to be undertaken by the newly inaugurated SNA-Lagos executive council members who took on the helms of affairs last April.

For this October Rain exhibition, a strong committee of trusted art administrators has been constituted to carry out the curatorial and managerial aspects of the event. The standing committee, chaired by renowned painter, Damola Adepoju, has other members of the October Rain 2021 Committee as Ayoola Omovo (Deputy Chairman); Mutiu Yusuf (Secretary), Niyi Ogunkunle (Publicity Secretary), Dr. Kunle Adeyemi (Advisor), Otunba Mufu Onifade (Advisor), Odogwu Fidelis (Advisor), Porter Ajayi (Advisor), and Yusuf Durodola (Advisor).

Briefing the press in Lagos, SNA Lagos Chapter Chairman, Prince Kolawole K. Olojo-Kosoko disclosed that the exhibition is conceived to be juried adding that a panel of jurors has already been set up to ensure total featuring of quality and original entries. The jury panel consists of seasoned art academicians and professionals cutting across various art specialisations and genres, including; Abiodun Olaku, Sam Ovraiti, Shola Ogunfunwa, Odun Orimolade and Pam Makanju.

The theme for this year’s art feast, he said, is targeted at two vital missions. The first is to celebrate visual art professionals in Nigeria who continually achieve creative greatness despite all odds; and secondly, to worthily honour one of Nigeria’s most ravenous art collectors, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon.

Prince Olojo-Kosoko explained that “For years now, SNA-Lagos has been at the vanguard of celebrating selected Nigerian art personalities through her annual juried exhibitions known as October Rain. This year, the Society decided to go a little further by paying a special homage to a very important arm in the organigram of the extended art family — the collectorate!”

Also speaking, Damola Adepoju explained that the exhibitors can be categorized into four stratas, which include: legends, fellows, masters and fast-rising young artists. The reason for the universality of participation according to him, “Is due to the fact that SNA is the umbrella body for visual artists in Nigeria and the Diaspora. We are also assuring all and sundry that the interest of our new generation artists is paramount to us”.

“Our choice for celebrating a compendium of dogged artists and one super collector is born of the fact that we identify that it takes a lot of passions to create arts, especially consistently -just as it entails a different level of emotional attachment to religiously collect and promote art, especially in a third world country like Nigeria”, Adepoju said.

He added that “Omooba Yemisi Shyllon’s passion for art and cultural promotion in Nigeria is enviable. This is evident in his thousands of wonderful art collections and in his numerous self-sponsored art projects of iconic importance, such as: Yemisi Shyllon Best Graduating Student Awards; OYASAF Residencies; the newly established Shyllon Museum at the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos, among others.

“Omooba Shyllon is unarguably a treasure to behold and we hope the federal government realizes this on time and honour him accordingly”.

The over 80 artists featuring in the October Rain 2021exhibition, are expected to “offer a piece of themselves for sale, considering the rigorous/passionate toil it entails to produce a piece of art.

“We hereby officially introduce you to works by traditional and contemporary artists both living and deceased, from diverse generations, who are/were also members of SNA-Lagos”.

Adepoju also hinted that this year’s October Rain is going to come in twofold. Firstly, through the exhibition and sales of artworks at Mydrim Gallery and, the publication cum presentation of papers in the Association’s inaugural October Rain Journal which is expected to feature scholastic contributions from Art Theorists, Art Historians and Art Academics. The presentation of papers, on the other hand, would be held at the Shyllon Museum in Lagos, on a date to be decided soon.