For Nigerian visual artistry industry to make a more substantial contribution to economic growth, it is essential for artists to indulge in collaborative efforts outside the art discipline.
Creative pieces of artwork will have better and valuable outcomes if collaborations are, for instance, done with engineering, architecture or medicine, Adeleye Makanju, a lecturer of Sculpture and African Art History, Lagos State Polytechnic.
Such partnership on multidimensional methods can equip artists to win the growing competition from designs generated from smart technologies, the keynote speaker at a lecture marking 2019 Society of Nigerian Artist (SNA) week, said.
Citing a quote, he said, “The purpose of art is not necessary to create more professional dancers or artist but to create more complete human beings who are critical thinkers, have minds and are completely productive.
“For the next economy, we need to re-access our departments and introduce programmes. We need to introduce programmes and work to begin to have an interface with other professions.”
Makanju, addressing ‘The importance of Art Education to the Development of an Emerging Economy,’ said, “Art students should be equipped to meet modern-day demand. Taking care of this will provide sustainability that can contribute to the economy of the country. Let’s go into collaboration with others so that when jobs for the regular painting, graphic artist are no more, outstanding works will sustain us.”
On his path, Oliver Ewonwu, national president, SNA, believes art is serious businesses that can help redress the poor perception of Nigeria internationally. With trends of corruption in the management of public resources, previous military incursion and grappling with basic infrastructure, Ewonwu noted that not many would be willing to invest in an economy where the ease of doing business was rated one of the lowest. But he sees art as a soft power to change the perception, advocate positive values and project reasons why doing business with Nigeria is safe, saying, “Let’s just go to the West and see how the likes of Pablo Piccaso, a Spanish painter, have been able to rebrand their countries with art.
While Nigerian artists can do more by making a difference in being able to stand out in the global pool, there is also a need for government contributions in terms of art education for all students, Idowu Sonaya, SNA chairman, Lagos chapter, said. He recommended that subjects that could teach pupils art appreciation at primary level be introduced to prepare their minds.
“Some of the people we have at the tertiary level are art appreciation bereft. Art as an important tool in an emerging economy cannot be overemphasised. In the area of engineering, we need a lot of visual strength to create something outstanding. People who have creative backgrounds are doing well,” Sonaya said.
