By PRISCA SAM-DURU

The 2013 edition of the annual ‘Children in Art Talent Hunt Exhibition’, organized by the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Lagos, took place penultimate week at the Aina Onabolu building Lagos.

The talent hunt exhibition is an initiative of NGA which seeks to implore visual Art as a medium to reposition the Nation’s creative spirit as well as promote the appreciation of Nigerian Art.

With the need to ensure unity and peace, restore dignity  and make Nigeria habitable for everyone, this year’s exhibition was tagged ‘Hope and Creativity Through the Eyes of Children’.

Competing schools were drawn from both primary and secondary schools and they were grouped into three categories; primary, junior and senior secondary schools, bringing the total of competing institutions to 21.

Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, ST & T Regency College, Oloye Comprehensive College, Lagoon Secondary School, Agape Baptist Senior and Junior college, were some of the exhibiting secondary schools in the competition.

While in the primary category, Redeemers International School, Fame Hall Our school, Bacs School, Prime Montessori Primary school, Clervanx primary schools  and Effortswill schools, joined their mates in the creative competition.

The Director-General of NGA, Abdullahi Muku stated that the annual event affords NGA the opportunity to  bring together children of different age groups and  mentoring them in various aspects of Visual Arts, adding that it also provides participants with a platform cum conducive atmosphere for talented children to engage Nigeria’s social, cultural, political and economic circumstances while imploring Art as a perfect medium for achieving this goal.

The programme he said, also affords Nigerians a rare opportunity to view themselves through the eyes of the young ones whose art works rekindle the aspirations of cohabition and peaceful co-existence irrespective of the cultural and ideological diversity which often threaten to disunite the people.

The children, through their lenses implored their creative devices to interrogate the challenges of the nation. Most importantly, their stunning art works in diverse genres such as Painting, Sculptures, Ceramics, Graphics and Textile, also speak volume of the fact that children are not unaware of the present state of quagmire in which Nigeria finds herself and therefore, demonstrated the country as being in dire need of fortifying those bricks of nationhood.

In the Primary school category, work of Adesuwa Omosigho was adjudged the best in Textile, Awole Gabriel came first in Graphics,  Chidiebere Obogbo (all from Redeemers Int’l sch.),  also took first position in Sculpture while Oyelabi Oyinkansola from SOS Herman Gmeiner Pry school exhibited the best painting.

The junior secondary school category had Ogbelenta Gift (Agape Baptist College), Davida Ozung (Lagoon Sec. Sch.), Okoro Uzoamaka (Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls),  and Chisom Nnerika emerging tops in Textile, Sculpture, Graphics and painting respectively.  Chisom Nnerika was also overall best artist in the junior category.

Idiara Joshua from Imoye Senior Sec Sch took the first position in Sculpture and also emerged overall best artist. Others in the senior secondary category who came first in Textile, Painting, Ceramics and Graphics were Amtu Christiana (Imoye Senior High School), Ofoegbu Beauty (Vivian Fowler), Lawani Akinyemi and Ogbeyemi Segun respectively.