Soyinka @ 80: Exhibition of paintings on him to tour Osun, Lagos, Ghana

ADA DIKE

Conceived as a countdown to the 80th birthday of the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, also known as ‘WS80’, the ongoing exhibition of life paintings of him at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, where students from various tertiary institutions gathered for training, is going on smoothly as expected.

Daily Newswatch gathered that the exhibition will later in the month move to Osun State before moving to Lagos for a one-day showing. Thereafter, it will move to Accra, Ghana.

The 80-day long exhibition which is organised in conjunction with Ogun State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is part of the 5th edition of the annual Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange Programme.

Declaring the exhibition open, Ogun State Governor, Senator IbikunleAmosun, stressed the imperative of youth empowerment and mentoring to enhance nation-building as well as socio-economic development, adding that Nigerian youths deserved to be properly empowered and mentored. This, he said, would help secure the country’s future.

A visit to the venue of the exhibition shows that students are no doubt taking advantage of the platform provided by the exhibition to training on various areas of art and culture.

Curated by Olu Ajayi, the exhibition featuring works by notable artists such as Biodun Olaku and Sam Ovratai, among others, will run till July 12, 2014 – a day before Soyinka’s 80th birthday. The celebration will climax on July 13, with series of activities including several drama presentations, spoken word performances, lectures, and essay competitions, among others.

Disclosing this in an interview in Lagos, producer of WS 80, the international cultural exchange programme, Lilian Amah Aluko, said the project was designed by Zmirage Multimedia Company for the purpose of using the platforms of literature, arts and culture to affirm and uphold the dignity of man. It settled on Soyinka – renowned playwright, poet and human rights activist – as a worthy role model and pivots for the ideals it seeks to propagate.

“As part of the exhibition, every Wednesday, we have art workshops for students drawn from schools in Ogun State mainly, who want to learn different things about arts and culture. We have arts teachers and culture enthusiasts who take the students through the various areas of the art. They are taught painting, framing of art works, drama, writing and so on, depending on the area of interest of the students,” Aluko said, adding that it has been beautiful.

“Our target is to have 1000 children. We have about 100 children every Wednesday; 20 students from five different schools every Wednesday.  So we’ve had about 400 students since it started. All the participating students are given a year membership to the Cultural Garden. We’ve paid for that. It entitles them to go there; they can learn swimming and any other thing happening in the garden.  It gives them free entrance for a year

“The exhibition is going to travel; it would not be dormant in Ogun State. It is going to move to Osun State from June 13 – 15. It is going to Ghana. On July 7, 2014, we are going to stage one of Prof. Soyinka’s plays, Child International which will be directed by Grace Adinkwu. The venue is Efua Sutherland Drama Studio, Accra, Ghana.  And as a prelude to that, we will have the exhibition on that same day.” 

Explaining further on the drama presentations segment, she said about 10 plays will be staged in the course of three days during the celebration.  “The already selected plays are:  Dance of the Forest – directed by Tunde Awosanmi; Death & King’s Horseman – by Femi Osofisan, assisted by Bisi Adigun; Alapata Apata – by Crown Troupe of Africa; Oba Koso –  by the Duro Ladipo Company; Lanke Omu – by Tunde Kelani/Tunde Awosanmi; Childe International – By Grace Adinkwu; and Our Culture, Our Pride – Peter Badejo. While Dance of the Forest, Death & King’s Horseman, Oba Koso, and Our Culture, Our Pride was be staged at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, Alapata Apata and Childe International will be staged at Freedom Park, Lagos and Efua Sutherland Drama Studio, Accra, Ghana, respectively.

“Also, the WS80 in collaboration with the Trinidad and Tobago Golden Age Poet Circle will put together an event. We are also hoping to have the works exhibited at that event.”

She further said that: “We will also have poetry – spoken words - performances.  We are going to have 80 spoken word artistes from different parts of the world. The performance will start in Lagos (University of Lagos, Akoka, and Freedom Park, Broad Street, and Terra Kulture, Victoria Island),from July 10 – 12. The finale will be on July 13, at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, where the international artistes and the Nigerian artistes will perform.”

On the essay competition, she revealed that 80 children will participate. “Right now, the judges are in the process of short listing from the entries received, 80 children that will come for the finals. They will write their essays, and on the morning of July 14, we will have the result announced. The children as usual will visit Prof. Soyinka on July 14; they will also pay a visit to the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

“Everything will culminate in Abeokuta.  We are going to have the 80 spoken word artistes, 80 students participating in the essay competition, the 25 professors that will be delivering lectures for the Soyinka International Conference in Lagos, and all the cast and crew in all the plays in Abeokuta. So it is going to be a whole big festive celebration. The finale, the closing ceremony will feature Dance of the Forest, directed by Dr. Tunde Awosomi.”

Project WS (timed to coincide with the birthday of Prof. Soyinka annually) has been successfully executed in the past four years – WS76 in 2010, WS77 in 2011, WS 78 in 2012 and WS79 in 2013 – to mark his 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th birthdays respectively.

The project has three main aspects: the essay competition which is open to Nigerian secondary school students anywhere in the world; stage plays featuring renowned Nigerian and international actors; and advocacy lectures.