By Chukwuma Ajakah

The Fine Art Department of Yaba College of Technology, Yabtek, Lagos is holding a commemorative art exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of its School of Art, Design and Printing Technology, SADP.

The exhibition themed, “Connecting the Dots” opened on Thursday, December 15, 2022 at the Yusuf Grillo Art Gallery, Yabatek and will run for six weeks, including the first three weeks of January, 2023. 

In an interview with Vanguard, the Head of Fine Art Department, School of Art, Design and Printing Technology, Dr. Adeola Balogun revealed that the auspicious occasion themed, “Connecting the Dots” serves as a connection to the past through which the present can be evaluated in preparing roadmaps for imagined futures. “The 70th anniversary celebration is an inclusive one as the presentations include past and present members of faculty,” he said, adding that “Connecting the Dots is a reference to dedication and zeal in pursuit of distinction in creative development which significantly heralds the accomplishments of the school’s alumni both at home and in the international space.”

Tracing the historical development of the school, the HoD said: “A cursory history of the Yaba Art School informs one that the school was started-as a workshop, by Late Paul Mount, a Briton in 1952 after which the revered Prof. Yusuf Cameron Grillo nurtured it into the fully-fledged School of Art, Design and Printing Technology that we enjoy today. Prof. Grillo, together with other zealous members of staff assiduously worked and successfully birthed the faculty which now has six different departments. The school is living up to expectation as it continues to develop and grow with the aim of making positive impact in myriads of art genres, discourse and engagements, both domestically and in the Diaspora.”  

Balogun whose two entries, “Rhythms in the Air” subtly capture the celebrative mood of the art show revealed that the event would feature 70 carefully selected works that symbolically reflect the 70 years of the school’s existence. The exhibiting artists, largely drawn from the six departments, include adjunct lecturers and the alumni within and outside the shores of Nigeria. Faculty members being featured include: Adeola Balogun, Rukume Noserime, Pius Egiolamhen, Aderinsoye Aladegbongbe, Chinyere Ndubuisi, Tony Emordi, Toni Ogunde, Emmanuel Irokanulo, Odun Orimolade, Titi Omoighe, Dayo Akanbi, Segun Mokayi, Ufuoma Onabrakpeya, Ayo Sodade, Etim Ekpeyong and Fatai Abdulkareem. Visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the school’s art museum as well as view the works of legends such as Profs. Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onabrakpeya and Sir Victor Uwaifo.   

While delivering his welcome address at the event, the Rector, Engr. Obafemi Omokungbe commended the Art Department for the cardinal role the faculty plays in the institution, saying: “In my decades of experience at the institution, the arts have proven to be an interesting accompaniment and interaction sphere in this academic community. It never stops evolving and reinventing ideas and issues for debate and participation in our interdisciplinary community. The arts are extremely important because they reconnect us to our humanity and incorporate it into all of our endeavours. We benefit from a cross-pollination of interests and discourses in our world, which is catalyzed by the arts and fuels forms of knowledge, investigation, and imagination for innovation and solutions. As a result, we cannot overestimate the value of investing in the arts as a means of innovating, discovering and contributing to the betterment of society.” 

According to the Rector, “The arts, as creative thinkers, bear the responsibility of exploring questions and possible solutions for positive social development and the Yabatek Art School has strived for this over the last seventy years. Their exhibitions provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas.”

The Dean, School of Art, Design and Printing Technology, Dr. Pius Ehita Egiolamhem stressed the importance of the anniversary, saying: “Major milestones such as this anniversary affords us the opportunity to look back and take stock, but also to look ahead and plan for the future. Our students are our most important connection to that future and we are focused on keeping the tradition of the Yaba Spirit going for future creative people. Hard work, passion, assiduousness and zeal are all required of the practicing artist, particularly those who include scholarship in practice. Creative talent has never been enough for the creative. That Yaba Spirit is what has been added in the years of engagement and interactions. It is hoped that we can continue to develop productive, contributing, innovative and exemplary artists worth their discipline in every measure.”      

The curator, Dr. Odun Orimolade explained that the exhibition celebrates collective creative achievements while tracing multiple patterns of development that had contributed to the niche position of the art school. “Classic sculpture techniques and materials coexist with a variety of painting techniques and styles with the figure incorporated into the subject imagery,” she said. 

One of the participating artists, the immediate past HoD of the Art Department, Dr. Chinyere Ndubuisi described her work-a 105cm by 182 cm by 72 cm wire mesh sculpture of an elephant, as a chicken wire sculpture inspired by a British sculptor, Kendra Haste, saying: “Concerning the material I use, I try my hands on a new material.

Although, it is not entirely new, people have been using it, but chicken wire sculpture is not common in this part of the world. I tried my hands on it to see how it will be and it came out nice.”

Commenting on her choice of title, “Blossoms” and embedded message, Chinyere Ndubuisi said: “Often, we forget the good things that happen in our lives. I am using the work to remind people that we do have our good times, our beautiful times. We have blossomed at one time or the other. If we can always remember that, we will see things in a more positive light. Moreover, we have come to realize that we are losing touch with our environment and nature. The closest any child can talk about the elephant is from what they see on screen and in paper, but sculptures are almost as good as life, except that they do not breathe. If we can get ourselves to introduce some of these animals, there will be a closer interaction or ground for the children to learn more than what they see on screen.” 

Another exhibiting artist, Dr. Aderinsoye Aladegbongbe, a Chief Lecturer in Art Department depicts the sorry state of Nigeria’s economy in his sculpture, “Travail of Oil Wealth” (212 cm by 31 cm by 50 cm Metal). Aladegbongbe revealed that the works on display in this exhibition include some of his experiments in the course of teaching for over three decades. “This particular work is about crude oil. We all know that crude oil is a natural gift from God that flows within the earth crust. It is expected that a nation like Nigeria live in affluence. There are a lot of things that are not the way they should be because we have different sets of people mismanaging this natural blessing from God,” he remarked. The art educator decried Nigeria’s inexplicable poverty, saying “There is need to be very intentional about the things we do. If you are not able to use your natural gift, it becomes useless. The work shows the three major tribes in metal with oil flowing through the pipes into their agbada. Of the three persons given gifts in scriptures, only two enjoyed theirs positively. One returned, accusing the master of being wicked.”

Revealing what viewers should expect at the event, Orimolade said: “The artworks presented in this exhibition reward the viewer who is prepared for a further consideration of the artists’ intentions, mastery and control of form, media, ideas and interests that constitute the subject matter along with the completeness of each work. sThe exhibition reminds us of the Yaba School’s unwavering determination, bold experimentation and risk-taking spirit to practice and connecting pedagogy that has morphed it into being located at the heart of contemporary art practice in Lagos, Nigeria.”