|
|
AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
Show panel list
Art and the canker-worm years in Nigeria, 1960-2006: The implications for Nigerian art history and its documentation
| Panel |
40. Contemporary African Art: A Rhetoric of Change
|
| Paper ID | 83 |
| Author(s) |
Odiboh, Freeborn Otuno
|
| Paper |
No paper submitted
|
| Abstract | The ‘canker-worm years’ indicate the period of general undulation in Nigeria’s polity between independence in 1960 to the present 2006.However, for a close study, this paper has focused on the years from the 1980s to the present. The imagery of the Cankerworm is used as a metaphor to indicate an era of increasing authoritarianism in government, official mismanagement, and sloppiness of government policies . This paper considers the developments and the effects on Nigerian art as well as its implication for Nigerian art history practice and art documentation. By the mid-1980s, military coups worsened the already pitiful state of the social-economic and political contrivance in the nation and the economic hardship which followed forced many Nigerians including artists of different categories to immigrate to other parts of the world, especially Europe and America. The brain drain destroyed all the efforts that was made to propagate fertile intellectual activities in almost all fields that began towards the early independence period, some of which continued through the 1970’s. Moreover, the turbulent situation over the years justified the virile artistic changes that occurred on the contemporary art scene. The unfortunate but continuously unfolding socio-political and economic scenario led to the presence of a quantum of Nigerian modern artists including a number of renowned Nigerian Art historians and writers now residing in the west, on the international scene. Most importantly, the growth, fortunes and status of the Nigerian artist during the period in focus is a paradox considering the depressing situation in the nation, which also bred unprofessional and artistic aberrations. In spite of these developments, it is worrisome that little or no proper as well as incisive information is available about the latest on modern Nigerian art; this is often precipitated by the dearth of literature, poor documentation and circulation of information. The poor engagement of Nigerian art historians, within the expanding experience of Modern Nigerian art is therefore a focus as well.
|
|