BY  JAPHET ALAKAM

The Worlds Swedish leading Vodka brand, Absolut has proven that the creative and transformative power of art can change the world.

This they did through an open art event held across four centres in Lagos; Shoprite Ikeja, Victory Park-Festac,TBS-Tinubu Square and Herbert Macaulay Pedestrian bridge, Yaba .

The 5-day artistic campaign across Lagos no doubt featured twenty young artists, who took the Swedish vodka maker’s famed legacy of supporting the arts from their commissioned artwork competition brief and infused same with a new energy and tagline, “Transform today.” See, Custom Canvas Picture Prints for Wall Art

The result across the four centres is an unequivocal stylish blend of hope that will inspire restive Lagosians and transform their own lives, make them more creative and help them drown their sorrows.

For the talents who featured, they range from artists to digital-media artists. The agency looked at a sizeable entry from artists in different parts of Lagos before selecting the twenty.
”We’re looking for cutting-edge artists, emerging artists, not necessarily the most well-known ones but the ones that really are shaping the future and are truly transformative in what they’re doing,” said Ibe Ananaba, a notable mixed media artist.

When Sunday Vanguard Art visited the four activation centres across Lagos, the spots showed all artists furiously engaged in the creative process of conception, creation, completion and celebration in the spirit of Absolut.
The “Transform today” line was hiding in plain sight. “We were trying to get to the nexus of what makes this brand singular,we found it was the idea of transformation—of the raw ingredients into this fantastic vodka, but also in the world of art. Absolut is a brand that allows you to become who you want to become”.

For the young creative artists people who are daring to live by their own creative code,they brought the creative spirit to life in a modern way, especially during the artwork painting exercise.

According to the Brand Manager Absolut Vodka, Akintayo Akinseloyin, “We had a strong need for this brand to start speaking with one voice again … and talk about what Absolut believes in. We want to celebrate and inspire people to go out and create their own future, where all it takes is a passion and a dream.”
The launch of ABSOLUT Vodka’s new global brand platform, Transform Today in Nigeria, marks the first output of the collaboration between the brand and arts in Nigeria.

The open canvas campaign rolled out with an extensive body of work spanning and documenting twenty artist’s passion and drive, an array of brand and product print executions and a refreshed ABSOLUT brand initiative.
”The creatively interactive event has offered us as participants the opportunity to explore our own creative potential through a variety of media, enabling us to realize our own ability to create the future,” artists say.
According to Absolut, Transform Today continues the brand’s history of “pushing the boundaries of contemporary culture to connect with the passions of a new generation.”

The brand has been working with artists for 30 years, starting with Andy Warhol.
For the team at Tinubu Square,They took an iconic brand and blended it into the wallpaper. Nothing about this stands out except for the fifth shot which is an absolute bottle actually on a wall.

Absolut says it aims to connect with the creative spirit in everyone and to inspire artistic transformation around the world.
”From a consumer perspective, it starts from a shared belief we have with consumers that the future is actually not set in stone, not a given, but we have the power as individuals to transform not only ourselves into more creative persons, but to transform society at large,” Akinseloyin said.