Chairman, Board of Trustees, Aguene Art Foundation, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, speaks with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, on the challenges of the arts sector, pointing the way forward on what should be done to secure the future of arts among other key issues.
Why so much passion for the arts?
My father was a great traditionalist. He was also involved in collecting some major artworks that are useful to him like the Okwa Anu, The Kolanut Tray, Oji, Native Drums etc. I think I inherited it from him at a very early age when I was moving with him in the gathering of titled men in my place. We are people of culture and great tradition. Today, I choose to collect art because it is what I love doing. Personally, I collect and preserve, not for commercial purposes. This is because I want to preserve my culture from being extinct.
What are some of the challenges in the sector?
It’s difficult to explain the challenges now because the new minister has just taken portfolio and government is yet to unveil agenda. But if you ask me, the last Minister of Tourism, Cutlture and National Orientation, Edem Duke, had no interest, no passion for the arts, culture and tradition of our people. So he made no impact in the promotion of the arts and our artists. I made great effort inviting him to see my great arts collection and he saw that even the national museum does not have what I have in my collection. He made a lot of promises to work with me to promote the young artists as well as promote their art in terms of organising exhibitions, both locally and internationally. But at the end, despite all those promises, nothing came out of it. I can now say it was mere political promises because he never kept the promise. All ended as a political talk. He made no frantic effort to improve or lift the sector as it is done in country’s that value the arts.
But a major challenge is lack of interest in the arts. You see a lot of people or perhaps most Nigerians, especially the (South) Eastern people, do not know the value of arts and what it can bring in the future because it is the most valuable monument one can preserve or keep. The longer it stays the greater the value. The more it exists the better its value. You can compare it to estate in terms of value appreciation. The beauty comes better when it is older.
I just congratulate the Yoruba race; thousands of them are art collectors because they know the value and they have invested so much organising exhibitions both locally and internationally. They also have foundations that preserve artworks, just like my own foundation. I have devoted myself to promoting the arts and to help train young artists. It is a shame that our children go to Europe and America and get excited when they see artworks with inscriptions in Igbo or Yoruba or Edo etc., telling you that they are collections from their country, Nigeria.
On my own, I have taken over 400 Nigerians to Europe, America and other continents for arts exhibitions, art auction and cultural dances. That, for me, gives me great joy.
But why the neglect of arts in Nigeria?
We don’t have the interest. We have been brainwashed to a large extent through religion and as a result of some of the wrong information passed around. There is this neglect of the arts. Some people demonise our culture and tradition. Some men of God even see it as idol or evil and of course that view will also be bought by some followers or worshippers under them.
I think we should have patience with this government (Buhari government) and see what it will come up with. We cannot judge Buhari now because he is still battling with the corruption issue that has kept us down over the years. At least when they pass the budget, we will see what they are rolling out for the sector before we condemn or commend. But I still think the All Progressives Congress (APC) government should hit the ground running because so far some Nigerians seem to be worried with what is on the ground. So APC must show they have new creative ideas that will turn this nation around for good.
What should be done if we must secure the arts for posterity?
What a lot of people do not know about the African art is that, whether educated or not, you cannot leave those custodians of ancient works behind if we must make good progress. If you want to build a solid art foundation, museums, you must recognise and have great respect for those custodians because they have undiluted history about the work. Most of them may not be artists but they are needed to work in the museums or national gallery.
Others will not tell you the true story like the people that are involved. Look at the account of first archeologist from the United Kingdom, Prof. Thurstan Shaw, on the Igbo Ukwu bronze. There appears to be missing links when you read his account of the Igbo Ukwu bronze as traced from Isaiah Anozie’s family. He said the materials for Igbo Ukwu bronze was gotten from the Sahara desert through the route of Morocco to Tunisia etc. Till today, nobody has cast the bronze after the discovery of Igbo Ukwu bronze. So it is those custodians who were around, or those who their fathers passed on the information to, that will give us an idea of how it really looks. We need people from places like Igbo Ukwu, Ife etc. to be employed because the stories that most European curators who came to Africa told about us were fabrications. It’s like the story of Mungo Park discovering the River Niger for us when our forefathers had been making use of the river before his arrival. Mungo Park should have said he discovered it for his people over there. Government need to engage people that have passion and interest in African art, culture and the tradition of the people.
When the people’s culture and tradition are ruling them, when a people value their culture and tradition, they tend to be more afraid and disciplined, show more love and do not sabotage one another as we tend to have now. When you go to our museums, it is scanty, because people that have interest in the job are not there.
When you employ a business man who sees politics as business, who sees civil service as business, the person will find a way to loot. Those are the things that we need to address.
You can see that our value system today is being eroded, and that is the root. In a book I am trying to compile, I am advocating that we should go back to our roots if we want to unite. You can relate better when the culture and tradition that govern the people are respected.
We are not saying that if we go back to our tradition, we will not be using our phones or driving our modern cars. No. There are also modern works from our young artists which people will be interested to have in their houses. There is no good flat or house in this world that people don’t have or keep African arts – either replicated by the Chinese who have got some of them or by the Italians who are good at copying different designs. We need exhibitions and those in arts and culture sectors need to be assisted because they will in return grow the sector. Both the government, non-governmental organisations, private institutions and other critical stakeholders must make conscious efforts, join hands to promote our arts and culture.
What do you expect the President Buhari-led government to do for the sector?
I think it will be good for the Buhari government not to neglect the arts and culture sector because of its value to the society. I hope the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, will rise up to the challenge of the sector.
Federal government should endeavour to get involved in conscious development of the sector, encourage custodians of African arts without using formal education as yardstick. You need them to work in the museums or national gallery because of their deep knowledge of the arts. We must take our arts or perhaps promote it across our barriers, support young artists, curators and people having anything to do with the industry.
