Can you please introduce yourself?

Larry Okey Ugwu

My name is Larry Okey Ugwu, a citizen of Nigeria. I hail from Igboeze North LGA in Enugu State and I left Nigeria in 1982 for Poland. I read Law and have my masters in Maritime Law all in Poland. I am also an Artist, an actor and have featured in music and drama in Poland. I have also starred in soap operas on TV and in films. Apart from music, I worked as a Tv presenter years back. As a musician, I have three bands and have released albums with different musicians numbering about ten. I also have two singles. Presently, I am the Director of Baltic Sea Cultural Center, the biggest international Cultural Centre belonging to the Government of the Pomeranian region.

Before then, I have been a cultural animator for the past 16years and by that I mean a cultural promoter organising cultural events. I am the curator of the Pomeranian Association for international arts and culture which was established in 1999 and became its first director. This is an organisation that promotes arts and culture of Africa, Asia and different countries of the world For 7years, before I was appointed the director of Baltic Sea Cultural center, I worked as the Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the Governors office, here in Nigeria, we call it commissioner for Arts and Culture.

As a performer, an artist and a Lawyer, I decided operating culture myself instead of sitting in the office. So, I have been promoting the culture of the Baltic States which are ,Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Latvia, Russia etc. The institution integrates culture in these states within the Pomeranian region in the North of Poland with capital at Cdansk.

You are welcome home. So, What’s your mission?

I am on vacation and so I decided to visit home with my daughter. I do not have any mission with the Nigerian government, my job is strictly in Poland. Everything I have done is in Poland.

Have you ever featured in any Nigerian movie?

No. I have never, though I hope to someday because as an official of the Polish government I have very limited time actually. Maybe when I retire, I will think about coming home for film shows and productions. As a cultural animator, I have also been promoting artists. Actually, my organisation, that is the Pomeranian association for integration of arts and culture is very active and has been existing as a non governmental organisation. My exploits through this association led to my appointment as the Baltic Sea Cultural Center director. We have been promoting the culture of Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean region, in fact, the association takes care of the far world and is most active in art dialogue between Europe and Africa.

We touch places the society does not reach. I have organised exhibitions where we presented African Masks, we invited different musicians during festivals from all over the world like festivals for tolerance and against racism. It is an annual event that has been on for the past 12years.

In what way has your involvement in Arts as an animator impacted on Africa?

For the past 15years, my organisations have promoted a lot of African arts and culture as mentioned earlier, we have packaged exhibitions and festivals where African musicians performed. we have expanded to the entire world through festivals of world culture. We have had Seun Kuti perform in one of the festivals in Poland. I actually brought him because of the kind of music he plays which is real Afro beat music.

How many more of Nigerian artists have performed in Poland?

Just Seun Kuti.

Considering the number of years you have operated arts and culture in Poland, one expects that a lot of African artists would have been given the opportunity to experience cultural exchange in Poland.

The problem of promoting Nigerian artists is lack of cooperation from the Ministry of culture and policy makers because if you really want to promote African folklore and you invite artists, you will want to cooperate with the ministry of culture and tourism but it is not easy.

Challenges

I find it less cumbersome working with countries like Angola and South Africa. When ever an artist is invited over to Poland, I take care of the accommodation, feeding, flight ticket and others. I tried bringing Lagbaja to Poland 3years ago but it did not work out because of same reason. If the government partners with us and there are institutions in Nigeria that support artists then, we all will work together and it becomes a shared deal. Another problem is that there are no institutions that manage the welfare of artists and it prevents our culture from spreading. This is the reason some artists, when they travel out to perform, don’t like coming back and next time you invite another artist, he finds it difficult getting visa from the embassy. Besides, most people who parade themselves as artists are not real. It makes it impossible for us in real business abroad to help Nigerian artist showcase their talents.

Is there no way you can be more involved in Nigerian art industry to push things forward?

Not now. By my profession as a lawyer, I had private business in oil exportation with a universal agent but since I took over the position as a director in the government’s institution, it closed and so are other private businesses. It’s a law in Poland you do not engage in any other business.

The remuneration must be pretty enticing for you to have closed down an oil business for government job

Well, it depends on the way you look at it. Its okay actually but I feel fulfilled, creating positive impact in the world even as a black man. It is difficult for people to believe that an African can be in charge of an European organisation and run it with distinction. Besides all this, I love being a cultural animator, Music and acting give me joy.

How would you rate the Nigerian art industry.?

Im glad we have some tough people who never give up. People who have made great impact in Nigeria’s art and culture like Ben Enweonwu and many older artists, though it appears they are not well appreciated because of lack of education. We have a lot of potentials in Nigeria that should be promoted abroad but we cannot do this alone except the government cooperates with us.

Right now, I am organising a conference that is taking place towards the end of this year. The second conference comes up middle of next year and it is solely dedicated to Africa. I am inviting arts and culture operators from Mali, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Angola etc. The aim is to discuss and form a unified front to tackle issues that have so far hindered mutual cultural interactions among Nations of Africa.