Last month, as part of activities to celebrate the 2011 Igue festival in Benin City, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) Benin City and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments Benin City, collaboratively organised a first-of-its-kind Art exhibition at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre, Benin City.
The joint exhibition project, which lasted from 19th through 30th December, 2011, has continued to elicit reactions from visual Arts pundits and other stakeholders across Edo State.
While many viewed the event as a new frontier in artistic synergy by the two Arts institution and “national custodians of our Arts and cultural identity”, some others were of the opinion that it was poorly packaged and published, giving the magnitude of the Igue festival and the national status and images of both institutions involved in the collabotation.
However, the overall estimation of the exhibition was that the NGA Benin and the NCMM Benin deserve to be commended for strategically thinking up such a laudable concept which has great potentials for future Igue festivals and thus must be sustained and expanded to accommodate more Artists and participants from all genres of the visual Arts in the sprit of diversity.
For example, it was observed that majority of the invited participants in the exhibition were drawn from Art schools in Edo state, especially UNIBEN, as well as formally trained professional and mid-career artists. But the organisers, it appeared, failed to work in the spirit of the Igue festival to also involve grassroot artists and artisans in Benin kingdom who are closest to and more acquainted with the Igue festivals and most of its insignias and paraphernalia. Examples like members or participants from the Igun bronze casters, the Benin carvers association, to mention but a few.
Also critically pointed out by observers of the event was the absence of Edo State government’s direct participation through the state’s ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism. Aside the fact that the venue for the event may have been secured free of charges from the Edo State Arts Council, an organ of the ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Edo State, such an novel initiative ought to have been visibly co-oponsored by the ministry and even featured art collections from the ministry relating to the Igue festival.
This would have given the exhibition more verve and international attention. There is no mincing words how much foreign exchange the Edo State Government can rake into its coffers if it paid serious attention to supporting and investing in Art exhibitions, cultural and tourism promotions during such occasions as the Igue festival which is now metamorphosing into an annual global event.
Besides, the royal blessing and full involvement of the Oba palace should be visible in future Art exhibitions for Igue festivals. The organisers must reach out to and involve the services of professional think-tanks (not just civil servants) in the project planning team. They must also invest more in media promotions to create nation-wide (if not global) publicity and awareness of the international Art exhibition, well ahead of the Igue festival in future.
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