By Benjamin Njoku

UK-based Nigerian female painter, Chief Josephine Oboh-MacLeod was not thinking of going to Europe to propagate the art culture and traditions of the black race, when she left the shores of this country few years back.

Chief Josephine Oboh-MacLeod

Perhaps her interest was in the collection of the artworks and reselling them to make profits. But the reverse was the case when she was inspired to do so, following the wrong perception the western world has about the arts of Africa.

Josephine, also a photographer and designer who is currently in the country, said the west believed that African arts are substandard and scary, hence she was inspired to embark on this herculean task.

Narrating her experience while operating as a gallery co-owner in the UK, Josephine said: “Living in the UK, I found out that the people there appreciate the visual art. But the problem they have with our artworks is that they find them substandard and scary. Some of them have even told me that they find our works very scary. So, that has created a mission in me that sometimes, people need education and marketing.

“I explained to them that now that I am in the UK, my dream is to spread the African art positively to other continents; to explain to the western world that there are different styles of African art. There are some artworks that were supposed to have spiritual meanings,“ she added.

Josephine relocated to London in 2015 with her family.

The Isan, Edo State-born painter, who was once an apprentice with the Universal Studio of Art, located within the National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos, however, decried the discouraging rate of art appreciation in Nigeria when compared to the UK.

Having studied the art scene in Nigeria, Josephine said she found out that there’s a lot of respect between people who know about art in the country, and the basic people do not appreciate painting or visual art as they do not know the healing power of the art works.

Also narrating how her path and that of art crossed, Josephine who is a Culture/Charity advocate at Kakofoni Foundation, said as a child, she used to paint with her father and mother, and she also enjoyed sketching anything she saw.

“My mother supported me but at some point, she withdrew her support and insisted that I must be a businesswoman,” she added.

Continuing, she said: “They did everything possible to get me off the art to be in business. But when I was 20, I was working as an apprentice for my family business. I told my mother that if she does not want to resign, she has to give me money to start buying artworks and selling them. Our house then was full of art works and I asked my mother who was behind it and she told me that my father used to collect art works and that my grand father was a sculptor when he was alive and also a title holder.

“I started thinking to myself that was where my love for art emanated from. But for years, I have been dealing on art collection. I was one of the art collectors who patronised the works of Tola Wewe. This is because I have a gallery in Guildford, United Kingdom, with a British partners. Tola Wewe’s artworks was introduced to Nimbus Gallery. My partners looked at the works and liked them. That, I believe, was one of the international exposures Tola Wewe would have.”

According to her, she has mentored a lot of artists and seen them grow over the years. “But at some point of my life, I said to myself that I don’t want only to be an art dealer, but also I want to go to art school. I had my master’s in Business Administration. I decided to attend art school and I did an apprenticeship with Universal Studio of Arts, within the National Theatre Complex, Lagos,” she explained.

Josephine said she was in the country on a visit and also, to lend support to the Mabel Oboh of Mabel Oboh Centre for Save our Stars, affordable life insurance scheme for entertainers, which was launched recently.

“I left Nigeria in 2015 and for the commitment I have in the UK, I have not been able to come back home. For me, since my adult life, it’s the longest time I have been away from Nigeria. Secondly, I am here because there is a very important project being executed by Mabel Oboh of Mabel Oboh Centre for Save Our Stars, which is the affordable life insurance scheme for entertainers. I want to support the programme and also, create awareness for some artists who cannot afford this affordable life insurance scheme. What we have decided to do is to see how we can get corporate bodies to come on board, to raise funds for these artistes.”

A Master’s degree holder from University of Surrey, Guildford, Josephine who is also the founder of JOM Charity in the UK, is planning to open an art gallery called Johim Gallery, in Elesu, Lekki, Lagos, before the end of this month, to boost arts appreciation in the country and encourage the youths to put their works for other people to appreciate. She works on mixed media, oil on canvass and she likes painting flowers.

Her paintings and sculptures are created through a mixed-media technique, three-dimensional effects and a colour synergy.