African art history has played a significant role in shaping the culture and history of the world. The belief that Africa is the cradle of the history of mankind is virtually unshakeable. The origins of African art history lie long before recorded history, preserved in the obscurity of time. Rock Art is centuries old, while shell beads fashioned for a necklace have been recovered in a cave in the furthest reach of the southern peninsula of South Africa that are 75,000 years old.
A lot of African art has been acquired for curious means by travellers, traders and missionaries in the century before, and taken out of the continent. Colonialists most often did not give indigenous art the merit and attention it deserved and thereby African art history has not been documented.
And that’s why the recently concluded West-Africa’s Premier International Art Fair – ART X Lagos, supported by Access Bank, is ‘More Than An Art Fair,’ it was a love letter to Africa Art. The fair was inclusive, it was as innovative, pristine, original, modern, and African with its numerous exhibitors, collectors, families, children, enthusiasts, students, professors and other guests from Nigeria and across the world.
This 2019 fair that held in Lagos between November 1 and 3, 2019, was the most ambitious to date, with a larger and better gallery to receive a wide array of artists from the continent and the diaspora.
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The art sector, largely, is one of Nigeria’s most undervalued and underutilised value-propositions that could be highly marketable for our national image boost and exportable for our economic growth. Art X Lagos recognises that Nigerians really do have talent, and are highly skilled and have amazing stories to tell through Art, which is one of the reasons for birthing the fair, in order to inspire, promote, give opportunities and establish emerging artists to the end that their potentialities to contribute to national growth and development are boosted.
Spotlight was on Etinosa Yvonne, self-taught Documentary Photographer who leverages the power of visual storytelling to create awareness, educate and inform people about causes and issues she is passionate about, who also is the winner of the 2019 Access Bank ART X Prize of N1.5 million cash grant, a three-month residency at Gasworks, London, in 2020, and a solo presentation at ART X Lagos in 2020. During an interview, in which she shared the impact that Art X Lagos has made on her career and person, she said, ”In 2018, I went for my first ever ART X Lagos fair, and I was really inspired by the kind of works I saw there. Fortunately this year, I got nominated and went ahead to win the Access Bank Art X prize 2019, meeting the jury members was really amazing. It made me review my practice; they made me think there’s much that I can do than what I am doing now.
“The subject matter I’m dealing with is very personal to me. I want people to see and feel everything I felt on my journey of documenting this project. I am looking at more immersive ways of putting together an exhibition that will stir up something in people.
“The relevance of the Access Bank Art X prize would be to give visibility to the artist. With the Access Bank Art X prize, I will be able to continue researching, continue travelling and interviewing survivors of terrorism and violent conflicts in Nigeria.
”This will be an opportunity for me to immerse myself in the whole art experience and see how I can basically push my project forward.”
Attendees could not contain the thrill of being at the fair and expressed their excitement. During interviews at the Access Bank Art X lounge, Art connoisseur, Patrick Koshoni, said, “I’m so happy, it’s all fantastic new work I’m seeing, and I’m titillated!” IBK said, “Hi, I’m so inspired and happy, it feels like something else.”
Herbert Wigwe, GMD/ CEO of Access Bank plc, a gold sponsor of the fair, lauded the founder Art X Lagos, Tokini Peterside, and stressed the importance, contribution and relevance of Art X to Africa when he said, “Art X Lagos is establishing itself as the Premier Art Fair in Africa and not only in West Africa, because it is making a difference, speaking to inclusiveness and speaking to the beauty of all parts of Africa.”
Art X Lagos shows us that as Africans, we can begin to harness the very best of talent on the continent so that we can begin to change the narrative of not just Nigeria, but of Africa, he further stated. The whole world must begin to focus on our continent and the quality of skills that we have.
