AlterNativeArt

Date Saturday 16th August 2008 2pm - 4.30pm Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos9 McEwen Street, Off Queen Street, Sabo,Opp Methodist Church, Herbert Macaulay St, Lagos. Telephone 0702 8367106 The session will start with a presentation titled:" Re-Imagine Nigeria " – which focuses on the possibilities of young artists getting involved with helping shape a more positive external view of Nigeria via artists exchange programs that encourage cultural diplomacy. Artists Ndubuisi Nduwhite Ahanonu and Harrison Ikibah will present a review of their visit to the cultural diplomacy symposium in Berlin and share with us their experiences and findings. Margie Johnson Reese is the Program Officer for Media, Arts and Culture for the Ford Foundation's Office for West Africa based in Lagos, Nigeria. Margie is most noted for her ability to initiate partnerships among unlikely collaborators and her passion for global culture exchange has led her to focus her expertise on developing programs ...

Society Through The Eyes of South African and Nigerian Artists Vansa Western Cape Space 8-10 Spin Street Cape Town, 8018, South Africa 7-12 August 2008 Opening on 7th August at 17hrs. Curator: Okey Nwafor Nigeria and South Africa have not really been juxtaposed under the platform of the visual arts. Despite epochal positions occupied by these two countries in the African art scene curators have never thought it expedient to bring these countries face to face under art. Both countries although have had cause to work together in different creative quests have never engaged each other under changing artistic paradigm. This exhibition is conceptualized not only as an important occasion to address the above theme but also to compare the extent of experimental motivations among younger artists from both countries. The exhibition hopes to interrogate how society has influenced their creative production contextually and formally. Are their motivations socially relevant? Or have their creativi...

I have just returned from a two and a half week trip to Nigeria, reluctantly might I add! Having been born and breed in London, England, I fall under the term Diaspora, however I haven't felt more Nigerian in my entire life! Probably the most widely appreciated art-form in Nigeria is music and the appreciation of Nigerian music within its borders and on the continent continues to grow. Contemporary music gains support not only from the public but arts awards seem to be directed this way (at least by the British Council Lagos). Literature is also at a high standard with writers such as Chimamanda Adichie shining a limelight onto Nigeria, both Historically and culturally ( side note: Wole Soyinka was on my flight back I was so star struck). I myself have been a fan of Nigerian literature for about two years, working my way through Chinua Achebe (No Longer at Ease), Peju Alatishe (Orita Meta) and Helon Habila (Waiting for an Angel) to name a few. During this trip I made my way through...