A lacklustre Art Expo

The second edition of the Art Expo initiated by the director of the National Gallery of Art, Joe Musa, and the Art Galleries Association of Nigeria, under the chairmanship of Frank Okonta, trailed off with little more than a murmur on August 31, 2009, after a week’s run.

The optimism for a bigger, better and more pan-African edition was weighed down by the current travails of the management of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) at the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Though their arraignment and subsequent release on bail are based on a yet to be substantiated allegation of financial misappropriation, the resultant frozen accounts seem to have impacted adversely on the current edition of art expo.

Poorly promoted

On approaching the National Museum of Art, Onikan, I noticed there were no banners or adverts within the vicinity or on the museum walls to indicate that an important event was happening.

Even within the gates of the museum, no sign pointed a newcomer, tourist or casual visitor towards the location of what is supposed to be Nigeria’s - and in the absence of any other, probably West Africa’s - premier art business event.

After a relatively adequate launch of the inaugural Art Expo in 2008, expectations were high with regards to fixing the initial lacunas of the event.

I visited on a week day afternoon and found myself in an almost deserted ‘island’, save for the gallerists. With less than a handful of visitors, the boredom and disillusion writ large on the face of the attendants, not to talk of the heat under the tents.

As I walked from one booth to another, I was disappointed by the paucity of quality exhibits and the monotony of the offerings. This is not to say there weren’t some attractions, such as the computer manipulated photographic works by Segun Fayemi at Harmattan Gallery.

Still relegated to the status of a poor relation to painting and sculpture, photography made a braver outing this time, though the number remains dismal; barely scrapping through a handful among the fair’s alleged 300 strong artworks. This time, veteran Nigerian photographer and writer Tam Fiofori joined the fray; his first time presentation, however, was unconvincing.

The decision to print on canvas robbed the images, not only of their purpose, but also of their power. Printing photographs on canvas is a ‘fad’ which needs to be carefully considered in order to work, especially on black and white prints.

Woman ad nauseum

Another component which might have made the fair exciting, by adding a competitive edge, was the promise of a Pan-African edition. However, it seems the ‘burden of representation’ for the rest of the region was bravely fulfilled by Beninois artist Yves Midahuen.

Through his Midy Art Gallery, he presented his mixed media paintings with those of two other compatriots. It seems they had some commercial success with at least one or two works sold at the time of my visit.

Artist groups such as Artzero were also present with a mixed quality of work by emerging and mid career artists. It is safe to say that the fair showed over 80 per cent painting with 15 per cent sculpture and five per cent of other media, including photography.

A curious aspect with regards to the painting, apart from the fact that one or two artists were represented across three, four and sometimes five galleries, were the vacuous images of women in every possible situation or position - the ‘must have’ clichéd mother and child, mother nature, mother feeding, woman lying down, African woman dancing, woman half naked, woman all seeing, woman child, woman here, woman there, woman everywhere ad nauseum.

But it seems to work, as several works, including some by chair of the Lagos state chapter of the Society of Nigerian Artists, Oliver Enwonwu, were stamped with the ubiquitous red dot.

I began to wonder if this was the NGA’s curator, Simon Ikparonyi’s unwritten theme, and why ‘poor’ women were at the receiving end of these platitudes.

Human silhouettes

As I moved towards the end of the hall, I was confronted by what looked like an incongruous installation piece. A mirage? Alas no, but a presentation by the Strip of Gaza Gallery of Alafuro Sikoki’s The Sleepers, consisting of human form, white cloth sleeper bags, which comment on the issues of homelessness.

Their out-of-placeness within the art expo, added a welcome breath of fresh air in an otherwise staid and predictable offering. And, as usual, whilst commercialism is paramount, not sacrificing quality and innovation is also sacrosanct.

Art fairs shouldn’t be like that. The mere fact that they provide the space for the critical mass of viewing artworks should highlight the diversity of what the galleries and by extension the nation has to offer. Allow me to digress.

In Paris around 1990, I visited my first art-fair, FIAC, and was overwhelmed by the intermingling of hundreds of galleries and thousands of people - all interacting with objects of art. Four years later, on a postgraduate curatorial research trip, I visited one of the world’s then biggest art-fairs of modern and contemporary art - the Cologne Art Fair.

All I remember of that visit was the feeling of dizziness and nausea which threatened to pre-empt the onset of agoraphobia at the sight of so many booths, so many works and so many people. It was a visual ‘cacophony’ mixed with a sea of human silhouettes.

These experiences resulted in my avoiding art-fairs for over a decade, in spite of their growing importance, the diversity of locations and the explosion in numbers, especially in the new millennium.

In 2007, I finally visited the much vaunted cutting-edge ‘star’ of art-fairs, Frieze in London. By this time, I was a ‘hardened’ and much ‘travelled’ curator accustomed to taking in hundreds of artworks and remembering many of the names and the works without a slither of sweat.

From being allergic to artfairs to being a keen observer, this year I became a participant through the invitation extended to the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos (being the only Nigerian and African based artspace out of South Africa) by ArtLogic.

Johannesburg Art Fair

In 2008, the first Johannesburg Art Fair notched up an encouraging sales figure of approximately 27 million rands ($3.5m) on the back of the boom in the global art market. I have yet to read the sales figures for the first art expo Nigeria. The Johannesburg Art Fair also counted on a decent attendance rate of approx 8000 people in over four days.

In 2009, estimates showed that sales dropped by at least 40 per cent, also on the back of the global financial meltdown; however, audience levels increased by over 40 per cent. The fair is run by ArtLogic, a private business growing the market for contemporary art from Africa to an international collector base.

As elsewhere around the world, galleries pay a hefty fee of approximately $150 per square metre with most spaces averaging 30sqm. Additionally, visitors pay an entrance fee. Artlogic cannot afford to operate outside a well implemented business model without jeopardising the sustainability of the fair or its business existence.

Excuse the alliterations

Art Expo Nigeria operates on what seems to be one of the country’s favourite business models, Private Public Partnership. Even if that is to be the case, the partnership needs to be thoroughly thought through (excuse the alliterations) with long-term sustainability being a priority.

In any other context, the partnership should be a recipe for successful government financial input with commercial gallery expertise. A number of galleries that are Art Galleries Association of Nigeria (AGAN) members or active participants are fully functional, whilst the majority are cottage industries at best and hobbyists at worse.

Such a situation will hardly professionalise, commercialise or galvanise the art industry. Before that can happen, a major commitment has to be made by the sector to work together diligently in order to get it right, and for the hard inevitable questions to be asked.

Do we need to import another ready-made product tailored for the developed American market? Do we need an art expo or an art fair or a hybrid of both models? Can the name and model ‘art expo’ be jettisoned, for say a Lagos Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art or a Lagos Art Expo/Fair?

Can the expo partner with the Lagos State Tourism Development Company and the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency? Can committed media partnerships be developed? Can we get a major financial institution as sponsoring partner with a commitment of at least three years?

Wake up call

The fact that the art expo was initiated to provide a platform for the appreciation of art by the widest audience possible is commendable.

But that is not enough to give the event a pat on the back, as the depreciation of its quality this year could set a dangerous precedent and kill the market it aims to develop. This year is a wake-up call for the National Gallery of Art and AGAN.

Art Expo must prove that it has the ability and the willingness to stand on its own like its counterparts around the world. 2010 will be a landmark year for Africa, especially Nigeria, with its celebration of 50 years of independence.

To grow and carve its place on the continent, Art Expo or Lagos Art Fair needs to firmly stamp itself on the collective consciousness or die. The best foot must be put forward, otherwise it could be an indictment of what the next 50 years portends.

Bisi Silva is an independent curator and writer, and artistic director of the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos.