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Hostesses pose for photograph during the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) ceremony in Lagos Sunday. 82-year-old Cameroonian vibraphone and saxophonist Manu Dibango, was recognized for making tremen- dous contributions to African music, especially for developing a music style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. The All Africa Music Awards is designed to recognize and reward artiste who have given African music the most creative competitive edge in the global market within the year under review. — AFP Nigerian artists keep sculpture in the family

Nigeria’s first female bronze caster Princess Elizabeth Olowu (right) poses Artist and art historian Peju Layiwola answers journalists’ questions in ’s first female bronze caster Princess Elizabeth Olowu, 77, cleans with eldest daughter Peju Layiwola, also an artist and art historian in her . her bronze sculptures with lemon juice in her living room. living room in Benin City. — AFP photos

rincess Elizabeth Olowu, 77, sits on the A supportive father of the “Benin Bronzes”, which were stolen by Greek mythology and Yoruba mythology,” meaning.” Olowu dusts her sculptures to give sofa in her small living room, rubbing In Benin City, superstition had it that if a the British during colonial times and which she says, flicking through photographs on them their original shine. Pbronze sculptures with lemon juice to woman went into a foundry-particularly when largely remain in museums overseas. her computer. “She is very close to her work, so I don’t make them shine. Her eldest daughter Peju she was menstruating-she would cause an One of her most recent pieces is a large “Their Zeus is equivalent to our try to convince her to sell it anymore,” whis- Layiwola, 49, is showing off her latest contem- accident. “Or if she’s pregnant, the child will mural in sculpted metal. “I wanted to mix Armariolum. The mermaid has also a similar pers her daughter. — AFP porary art sculptures on the screen of her turn into bronze and will never come out,” says Apple laptop. “Now I have evolved to other Olowu, sitting straight-backed on her sofa. But materials but I started with bronze,” she she said Akenzua II was a man ahead of his explains. “It was easier for me, my mother time and always encouraged the education of already paved the way for females to be all of his children, particularly his daughters. bronze casters.” Supported by her father, then by her husband, It was bronze art that made the reputation Olowu quickly made a name for herself across and the fortune of the ancient royal kingdom southern Nigeria as the country’s “first female of Benin, whose history dates back nearly bronze founder”. Her works only feature 1,000 years and which is now located inside women-typically pregnant or surrounded by southern Nigeria. In days gone by, only kings children, always naked and with great sensual- could own sculptures, which typically repre- ity. Nudity wasn’t an issue in the kingdom. sented former monarchs or creatures such as Princes and princesses were traditionally birds and wild animals. A lucrative trade with swathed in a simple white cloth, often bare- Portuguese merchants was disrupted by the chested, wearing long coral necklaces. arrival of the British in 1897, who assimilated the kingdom into Nigeria. Ancestral art Olowu describes herself as a feminist. She ‘Sculptures everywhere’ gave birth to eight children but always kept Olowu lives in a faded house in Benin City, working, even when she was pregnant, she now the capital of modern-day . says. Her daughter, Peju Layiwola, smiles. For There’s little in the property to indicate her her, feminism is more defined by women’s royal childhood other than large dusty photo- rights. She has also cast bronze in the form graphs of a young girl in sumptuous head- of women’s bodies, albeit with simpler and dresses decorated with pearls. Olowu’s father more modern lines. was king Akenzua II, who ruled between 1933 But the contemporary artist-who has and 1978. She grew up in the splendor of the exhibited in Dresden and Madrid and has her Halloween palace with her father’s eight wives and his own art foundation in Lagos, Nigeria’s finan- pumpkins are many children. “As a child, I saw sculptures, cial capital-now focuses on using fabric with covered with shrines, bronzes, everywhere in the palace,” her sculptures. snow in she recalls. “Art was part of the life of the peo- With a doctorate in art history from the Hinterzarten, ple, through singing, dancing... I started with , Layiwola teaches and southern mud but I always wanted to cast bronze. “My curates at national museums, and remains Germany father gave me the go-ahead. He knew I was faithful to the art of the kingdom of her yesterday. very adventurous.” ancestors. She has also fought for the return — AP