Owambe at A Whitespace Lagos

Big 60 International Video Art Festival Lagos 2014/2015

A Whitespace,
58 Raymond Njoku
SW Ikoyi
Lagos

January 22nd 7pm

The second annual festival hosted in collaboration with A Whitespace continues with work by Nigerian and Indonesian artists, with films being made available by OK Video. The screening will feature 10 years of Indonesian film alongside a curated exhibition of Nigerian videos entitled ‘Owambe’ also featuring an installation from visual artist Odun Orimolade. The screening is supported by the Biritish Council

Owambe
The gathering of people in celebration is an important part of the Nigerian culture. The milestones of life are marked through community gatherings, music and dance, with the ‘Owambe’ being a classic example of this. Owambe translates as "He/She was there", a colloquial expression for a party where the who-is-who in the Nigerian society are in attendance. Visual cues tell of ties to a celebrant through fabric materials that provide uniformity and a sense of belonging. The entire scene is illuminated by shimmering headpieces (gele) and brilliantly coloured costumes (aso ebi), all creatively embroidered and worn with accustomed grace. Reciprocity is practiced in that giving flows in all directions, from the celebrant to the families and the guest; there exists a commonality in the dispersal of gifts.

The Video Art Network Lagos collaborated with invited Nigerian video artists to explore/interpret Owambe, and how Nigerian communities and cultures contribute to the wider cultural discourse of the global community.


Participants:
- Oyinda Fakeye
- Jude Anogwih
- Emeka Ogboh
- Uche Okpa Iroha
- Wura Natasha Ogunji
- Buki Bodunrin

Installation:
- Odun Orimolade

INVITATION: Talk & panel discussion featuring curator Jude Anogwih, Wednesday 16 March 6.30pm

Artist and curator Jude Anogwih offers an insight into the contemporary art scene in Lagos, introducing a series of projects and artists currently working in one of the most exciting and dynamic cities in Africa. Anogwih works as a curator at CCA Lagos, a contemporary art centre in Nigeria. He is also a founding member and coordinator of Video Art Network, Lagos.

The talk is followed by a panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges of working across different continents and contexts. Chaired by Alessio Antoniolli (Director of Gasworks and Triangle Network), the panel includes Jude Anogwih, Kerryn Greenberg (Assistant Curator Tate Modern) and Albert Potrony (London-based artist who has recently completed a residency at CCA Lagos).

Jude Anogwih is participating in a curatorial residency exchange initiated by Tate Modern in collaboration with Gasworks and supported by the World Collections Programme. This exchange forms part of the Level 2 exhibitions programme at Tate Modern and will result in a collaborative exhibition curated by Jude Anogwih and Kerryn Greenberg at CCA Lagos and Tate Modern later this year.

OFFLINE FV Shorts

OFFLINE FV : Film and Video Exhibition curated by Michael K Taylor
Exhibition Dates: Sept 11th 2010 - Sept 25th 2010
Hours: Thurs-Sat 12-5 with special screenings 6-8pm each Thursday
Location: The Community Artists' Collective 1413 Holman near LaBranch Houston, TX 77004 713-523-1616- Tea Room Gallery

Short experimental films from American and Africa (total run time 21:23 min), featuring:

Songs for My Fathers - by Tierney Malone feat. Charlie Perez (Houston, TX)
length 2:43 min
Against the Wall - by Andrew Esiebo (Lagos, Nigeria)
length 3:51 min
[dis]connect - by Emeka Ogboh (Lagos, Nigeria)
length 1:58 min
Dreams (Smeard) Smeared - by Jude Anogwih (Lagos, Nigeria)
length 1:02 min
Carbon Blues - by Uche Joel Chima (Lagos, Nigeria)
length 2:44 min
Outage - by Outrage by Lillian Pilaku (Lagos, Nigeria)
length 2:16min
Elinor Beauregard - by Simone Bailey (San Francisco, CA)
length 1:35 min
Vanishing Point - by Patrick Lovejoy (NY & CA)
length 4:36 min

Glad to see Nigerian (Lagosian) Video Art exhibited to new audiences, and our very own Jude Anogwih and Emeka Ogboh featured. We were told that during the question and answer session much of the debate centred around the work of the Nigerian artists, leading to discussions around politics and environmental issues on the continent (Africa).

Documenting Fiction… Falomo Roundabout experience

culled from the Guardian Newspaper 8th June 2010
by Tajudeen Sowole

AS one of the two main roads linking Lagos Island and Victoria Island, Falomo Roundabout was a delight to watch as seen during the presentation of a group exhibition. Organized by Goethe-Institut at the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF)’s art gallery, Ikoyi, the video art show titled Documenting Fiction featured works of Jelili Atiku, Oscar Enamino, Tunde Aboderin, Omeligho Udenta, Abimbola Ogunsanya and Olorungbemi Olushola. Others are Uchay Joel Chima, Jude Anogwih, Ikem Okolue, Azu Nwagbogu and Segun Adefila. The works are what the organisers described as the results of video art workshop of documenting forms of fiction in urban areas. The workshop was conducted by visiting German artists, Constanze Fischbeck and Daniel Kötter. In 2007, similar workshop was conducted by Kötter and had a theme that focused the fuel crisis of that period. A concept that fictionalised common activities of people around the Falomo Roundabout presented such works that captured the subjects in spontaneous as well as regular acts. In fact these works, offered the viewers the purpose of close circuit camera in public space. As one of the works was rightly titled, Different, Different Fever, three officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management (LASTMA) caught on duty, offered an insight on the attitude of Nigerians to work: while one of the officers in the control cubicle stationed by the road side was busy reading a copy of a national daily newspapers, two others were attempting to solve or prevent a traffic gridlock. And comes the drama or fiction moment as the voice over on the video got the officers engaged each other in dialogue. If some traffic officers’ ineptitude affects free flow of traffic, some motorists are equally nuisances on the road. The same work caught two ladies in the car as the one behind the wheel, took the short break of stop at traffic light junction to have her lunch. Another work titled Pedestrian Dilemma took the audience about a 100 metres away from the roundabout to a public space, which is currently an abandoned project. Apparently designed as a pedestrian subway to ease flow of vehicular movement at the Maitama Sule / Awolowo road Junction, this underground channel has not been functioning since built over five years ago. Reason: it appeared like a preposterously conceived idea. And just in case there is a Citizen Proper who decides to use this subway to cross from one end of the road to another, a performance in the work depicted that. With camera focusing just the legs of Proper, he walks to a halt at the entrance of the subway. He is unable to progress beyond that point because the gate is locked. And from his point of view, the camera peeps in to reveal a filth-filled subway, in fact a dumpsite. Documenting urban, according to the organisers, offers fictional ideas. “Thus, urban places can be documented through people, ideas and dreams. “Fiction” becomes vivid material when the story is told and retold through people.” The workshop, they explained focused the challenges of finding artistic strategies by using documentary techniques in video art and the root of fiction. “Each participant had to choose a specific urban location, which portrays the city, Lagos - in - transition and to find a strategy to work with some people around the location, maybe through sharing a common or individual dream, TV-soap opera, fairy tale etc.” Responding to question of how far Nigerian artists have improved in video art between 2007 and now, Kötter said it was difficult to assess the situation “because we are not working with the same artists.” He hopes that when he returns, “perhaps in 2013, we might say yes or no.” Indeed, video art exhibitions are not common here. Except for three or more done by Centre for Contemporary Art, CCA, Lagos and few others by Goethe, the genre is still unpopular.