Whose Centary Public Art Project...Pdf

8/3/2017

Professor Adepeju Layiwola Department of Creative Arts University of Lagos, Nigeria

Date Change: Presentation and Exhibition to hold September 1- 30, 2017 At the Mbari Institute, Washington DC,

Dear Professor Layiwola,

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to present your paper and slides of your 2014 project titled "Whose Centenary? Art at the Intersection of History" at our annual event at the Mbari Institute for Contemporary African Art. The exhibition will extend till the end of September as we hope to be able to move the exhibition to a gallery in Atlanta. Please disregard our earlier announced date of 1-8 August, 2017. We apologize for any inconvenience the date change may have caused. You will be expected to arrive early enough for setup.

We eagerly look forward to the contribution your esteemed scholarship will make to this important academic event here in Washington DC.

Looking forward to receiving you!

My warmest greetings!

Sincerely, Mimi Wolford Executive Director Mbari Institute for Contemporary African Art 202 244-6094 5319 Potomac Ave. NW Washington, DC, 20016 Mbari [email protected] Whose Centenary? Public Art Project as an Expression of Colonial Memory- Paper presented at the Mbari African Art conference and Exhibition, Washington DC, 7 September,2017

Introduction On the occasion of the declaration of the constitution of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, on January 1, 1914, Lord Lugard, Governor-General, announced the amalgamation of both the North and South Provinces of Nigeria. The year 2014 marked the centenary of this proclamation and presented a need for some form of celebration. Therefore, in 2013, former President Goodluck [onathan flagged off activities to mark a year-long commemoration of this centennial year. Much as this symbolized an important era in the history of the country, the 2014 proclamation in no small measure redefined the British-led structure which further entrenched colonial rule in what became Nigeria. The agreement for the amalgamation of both Provinces was done without the input of the people who later became known as Nigerians. In its commemoration, a centenary logo and song were created as well as a number of events. These included a state banquet for past Heads of State organized by the Nigerian government. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim emphatically stated: 'The celebration is not only desirable but imperative because of the landmark achievements the country has recorded in the last 100 years since its amalgamation". To reiterate this view, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who presented the theme song of the event, noted that despite the challenges Nigeria had faced in the last 100 years, 'there is every reason to celebrate in song and dance as one nation. Indivisible Nigeria has come to stay",

While the coming together of past Heads of States and Presidents of Nigeria to celebrate this event may have been suggestive of unity and integration and indicative of a more positive outlook on the future of Nigeria, there were dissenting voices about the centenary commemoration. The commemoration came under strong criticism. Oloja described the event as a 'grandiloquent celebration of mediocrity's. His judgment is based largely on the clear absence of historical documents and documentaries on Nigeria. He further contrasts the effort of the Federal government with that of the Rivers State government who produced an edited volume titled 'Port Harcourt at lOO' by the famous historian, Professor E. Alagoa. OIoja laments; 'It is a world-class document. Why didn't the presidency borrow a leaf from this worthy effort?".

1 Research work on the Whose Centenary? Project is funded by the Central Research Grant of the University of Lagos, 2014. My gratitude goes to all the theatre students who participated in the performances. These include Aribisala Ayobarni, Bare Mitchel, Mbanu Uche, Adesolanke Teni, Awe Ebunoluwa, Daniel- Onyegbula Ihuorna, Ude Norbert, Sowemimo Jimi, Awoniyan Toba, Sokan Oreoluwa, Okeke Stanley, Okunmah Alexander and Adedeji Ibukun. My special thanks to Jean Borgatti, Josephine Abbe, Alao Lukman, Taiwo Alabi and Titilayo Adebayo. 2 Ben Agande (2013) Why We Must Celebrate by President [onathan, Sunday Vanguard February 10, P. 17 3 ibid. P. 17 4 Martins Oloja (2014) Centenary: Not so Grand Finale], Centenary Commemorative Edition, The Guardian, Wednesday March 5. P.l a,lbid.P.3

1 Conceptualising Whose Centenary? In partaking in this fiesta of activities, the Whose Centenary? Project was birthed as an artist engagement devoid of governmental involvement. The project envisions Nigeria as a country with diverse cultural expressions worthy of celebration. However, in defining the 100 years of Nigerian history, it deemphasizes the fanfare that characterized the larger celebration in the country. The project was to bring together artists to interpret and highlight a more conceptual understanding and contextualization of Nigeria in the last 100 years. It opens with a rhetorical question and throws up further questions: Of what necessity is the commemoration of this British construct now known as Nigeria? How does this construct define the identity of the people subsumed under it, particularly when viewed against the background of the myriad problems that exist in Nigeria today? Does 1914 and the attendant amalgamations hold as much weight as 1960, a date that heralded freedom from British rule? Does the commemoration of the amalgamation not provide a basis for the celebration of colonialism?

In discussing amalgamation, it became difficult to separate colonialism and the motive of amalgamation itself. Olawale Albert (2014; 111) opines:

During the colonial period, Europeans arrogated a lot of power to themselves and excused all they did around the need to civilize Africans. Indeed, much of what the colonial masters did was simply to advance the main goal of colonialism which is to exploit the colonial state for the metropoles,

One cannot but agree with this view in the light of the racist views and comments made by Lord Lugard, the key proponent of amalgamation. Whose Centenary? picks on a different register of history- to commemorate the passing of Oba Ovonranmwen, the King of Benin, who stood against British imperialism in the defence of his kingdom. His exile to Calabar in 1897, and his eventual passing in 1914 during exile, became a new way of positioning history in the context of the commemoration of amalgamation. The Whose Centenary? project questions the near absence of the appreciation of history and the lack of critical readings of some of the historical moments of our past. The project which was held on the 6th and 7th of December, 2014 yielded a new body of works in new media, performance, installation, painting, poetry and photography.

This paper highlights the various artistic projects carried out under the umbrella of the Whose Centenary? Project and shows the collaboration between varied groups of artists defining change within the context of a rigidly guarded culture. In many ways, despite colonial and foreign incursion, the Edo society has largely retained its cultural structures. The seemingly penetrative nature of these public art performances opened up areas of tension and negotiation. It also mediated the Edo cultural space, and celebrated unexpected receptive dimensions of the visual culture of Benin. The paper further touches on how my earlier project and exhibition, Benin1897.com:Art and the Restitution Question and the Whose Centenary? extend into global platforms and are engaged in wider debates of art looting that characterized the colonial period in Nigeria. The paper concludes with how the Whose Centenary? project reveals the changing nature ofthe arts in Benin, Nigeria.

Benin public space as the artists' canvas

6 Isaac Olawale Albert (2014) Conflicts in Pre-colonial and Post-Colonial Africa, Sustainable Development in Pre-Colonial, Colonial and Post Colonial Africa; Issues and Contexts, Eds. Labode Popoola et al, University of Ibadan Centre for Sustainable -Development, P.ll

2 Benin City has always held an appeal in the arts. The display of outdoor sculptures art ateliers and galleries along major streets in the city provide a colourful backdrop to the Whose Centenary? project. Preliminary visits to Benin began in October 2014 with meetings held between the members of this initiative and the Ine of Igun, known as the head of the bronze casters' guild. These meetings were held in his palace at Igun Street, Benin City. After several discussions, a strategy and project plan were evolved that were to be inclusive rather than invasive. The process of negotiation for the shared artistic space was necessary in order to choose the various locations for the individual artists' projects. The Igun artists offered their studios and compounds for the public project and were also willing to participate. The performance began in-house at the King's quarters at Akenzua Street with praise songs, dancing and poetry recitation. This was followed by a public procession along the streets of Benin through Akenzua Street, Airport Road and with a brief stop in front of the King's palace at Plymouth Road. The procession continued to the city Centre (the Ring Road) into Sakponba Road and finally berthed at Igun Street where the artists executed their individual projects.

Igun Street, although not a World Heritage Site is advertised as one on the arch that heralds one into the Street. It is nevertheless, a renowned tourist site in Nigeria. It was selected as the main venue of this artist's intervention. It is the home and ateliers of the guild of bronze casters' who for several centuries guarded and revered tradition of bronze casting in the kingdom of Benin. These artists have made a significant contribution to the history of Benin, indeed of Nigeria, in the sustenance of a tradition that has given the country world recognition in the arts. From the outdoor performances and installations at Igun Street evolved a new and rare form of collaboration between Edo trained artists and academically trained artists who worked together on a single project indicative of change. Working through the ateliers and bronze foundries provided the artists with a unique opportunity that could not have occurred several decades before because of age- long traditional restrictions and secrecy attached to the art of Bronze casting. The artists worked freely in the environment and were assisted by the Igun artists who could connect easily with their various projects. Bronze works were purchased from the galleries and used as part of the various independent projects. The space attracted several visitors who came to see the display in the two-day event which was held on the 6th and 7thof December, 2014.

Igun Street is a monument which receives a large number of visitors from all around the world. In activating this space with public art performances, the art becomes a monument within the context of a more established monument and commemorative space.

Artists' Projects for Whose Centenary? The artists comprised established contemporary artists, art students, Benin-based bronze casters and dancers drawn from within Nigeria, the African diaspora and Europe. They included; Ines Valle, [ude Anogwih, [elili Atiku, Victor Ehikhamenor, Andrew Eseibo, Taiye Idahor, Peju Layiwola, Elizabeth Olowu, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, George Oshodi, Burns Effiom and [urnoke Verissimo. A number of support artists also participated in the outdoor performances and events.

George Oshodi, world famous photographer, set the pace of the exhibition by providing a photograph of the Oba of Benin, titled HRM Omo N'Oba Erediauwa. Oba of Benin taken during the annual Igue Festival in 2012. The opening image had previously featured in an exhibition dedicated to kings in the Nigerian Monarch series. More recently, it featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC in the exhibition, Chief s.o. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigerig September 17, 2014 - July 31, 2016. Very much like the classical Benin bronze plaques, the

3 king is the most dominant image in the photograph. The overwhelming distribution of the colour red plays a significant role in this photograph as well as in the several costumes designed for the project.

HRM Omo N'Oba Erediauwa, Oba of Benin, Nigerian Monarch Series, George Osodi, 2012

Wura-Natasha Ogunji and Elizabeth Olowu form an interesting duo. They began the entire production with a performance amidst singing praise songs dedicated to past kings of Benin. The dressing up of Ogunji in traditional Benin costume by Olowu, a daughter of Oba Akenzua 11, king of Benin (1933- 1978) symbolized an acceptance into Edo culture, and in a sense, was celebratory of her return to Nigeria. Ogunji had never been to Benin and had done most of her performances in the two large cities of -Texas and Lagos where she shares her time. Some of her previous work explored her connections with the homelands, which she had always longed for before coming to Nigeria. In the video, The Epic Crossing of an lfe Head, she uses short motions above water, land and air to connect to the homelands much the same way as she perceives her ancestors would in search of lost ones in the Americas. She claims her work ' ...investigates physical, historical and psychic connections between Africa and the Americas via the black female body'. A recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 2012, she has had several exhibitions and performances in Nigeria. Some her performances have been carried out with other Nigerian based performers such as [elili Atiku. Ogunji had previously staged public projects on the streets of Obalende, Yaba and Ejigbo in Lagos. The Benin experience provided another opportunity to possess yet another public space with the female body particularly in that largely autocratic and patriarchal society. She claims:

Many of my performances are about the presence of women in public space. These works emerge from my desire to create changing positions and perspectives. I am interested in how we insert our bodies into spaces which don't allow us to be present- politically, physically or through our thoughts and ideas. As I am conceptualizing my performances I often think about ways to create presence and power when formal means do not allow for such participation".

Betty LA Duke writing in 1991 asserts that 'As African Culture evolves to changing social conditions, Princess Elizabeth Olowu's monumental sculptures offer traditional continuity as well as a refreshing contemporary and feminist perspective". More recently Blackmun (2013) situated her practice within the broader framework of benin Brasscasting, reestablishing and rewriting her into a fast eroding history of female participation in the art of metal work=. In 1976, as one of the four pioneering students of the Department of Creative Arts, University of Benin, Olowu, became the first sculptress to emerge from the college. She is also regarded as the first female bronze caster in Nigeria who explored the male dominated art of metal casting in Benin-an art that was strictly guarded. It was taboo for females to cast metal in Benin. Olowu's father, Oba Akenzua 11 (1933-1978) King of Benin and custodian of the guild of casters, granted her royal prerogative to do so. Her return to Igun Street brings back memories of her tutelage under the supervision of Late Chief Osa of Igun in the 1970s. As an Edo princess who had grown up in the palace, she became accustomed to Edo traditions and learnt first hand from her mother, Queen Ehioba Ederaro Akenzua, the significance of the various hair styles worn by the Oba's wives. Between bronze casting and designing Edo traditional ensemble, Olowu speaks of the constancy of a culture and a people's philosophy that has an enduring nature. Her

7 email communication with Wura Natasha Ogunji, 5 January, 2016. 8 Betty LaDuke (1991) Africa Through the Eyes of Women Artists, Africa World Press. P.-33

4 performance in dressing Ogunji serves as a function to which she now dedicates her time, after retiring from the tedious profession of bronze casting. She engages in dressing young couples who take pride in identifying with Edo culture through dress.

Elizabeth OIowu in performance, Igun Street, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih Elizabeth OIowu in performance with Wura Natasha-Ogunji, Benin City, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih Elizabeth OIowu in performance with Wura Natasha-Ogunji, 2 Arala Street, Benin City, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih

Wura-Natasha Ogunji, an African American performance artist, even though of Nigerian extraction, was raised in the US. Her visit to Nigeria for the first time in 2010, brought her in close proximity with a culture to which she belongs in part, but from which in many ways she was very distant. Ogunji's participation is a metaphor for the cosmopolitan nature of Benin. Her performance marks the artists' dramatic return to the homelands. Ogunji's solo performance, Queen Sweep, flagged off the public art display at Igun. She dresses up as a performer wearing the stylized mask of a Benin bronze head. Her garment is tailored like a worker's pantsuit similar to the uniform worn by Edo See/or, the Edo State street sweepers. The performer sweeps the street for several hours. A camera attached to her pantsuit records the journey through the streets as well as responses from the public. Ogunji remarks that this combined imagery of the head and the sweeper's uniform is an attempt to

'both complicate and question the relationship between the sacred and the profane, royalty and the populace. While reverence for history and the archive does not necessarily sit in opposition to daily economic realities, it is nevertheless important to consider how a citizen's relationship to historical artifacts changes and morphs depending on the current economic, religious and political climate of the nation. Queen Sweep intends to position the worker who sweeps the streets as a sacred trickster figure in order to explore the relationship between history, tradition and sacred space",

The act of sweeping can be viewed as a symbolic removal of the detritus of colonialism. Ogunji's broom assumes a new meaning within the politically charged city. As the symbol of the reigning political party, APC, her intentions seemingly conform to the philosophy of the Party which is to cleanse Nigeria of its ills. Ogunji ideas of purging as metaphor are clear;

The sweeping was intended to invoke the labor of workers who clean the city streets. It's a task that often seems endless. Can a city ever be clean? Sweeping is also a way to clear away history or the past. It becomes a symbolic act that both makes way for the new and cleans the present so that we may properly observe the past!". Queen Sweep, Wura Natasha-Ogunji, Igun Street, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih

[ude Anogwih is both curator and artist attached to the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Lagos. As an artist involved in several international video art exhibitions, he became the founder of the first Video Art Network (VAN) Nigeria. This initiative has a mission to popularise new media which are not a regular feature of the arts in Nigeria. His works dwell on issues of identity, mobility and migration.

_ 9 ibid . •• lOOp cit

5 His contribution, Emittere, belongs in a series of works which featured from 2009 to date. This short video shown within the context of a shop display in the atelier of Eric Ogbemudia expresses the conditions that facilitate the movement of people across geographical boundaries. In the case of Africa, the mass movement of people during the transatlantic slave trade and, more recently, on account of religious crises, war situations and other unfavourable conditions result in the movement of people across and within the borders of their countries. The rising scourge of people desperately running away from their home countries on account of danger, weathering harsh and dangerous conditions on journeys to arrive elsewhere, presents a plethora of images that raises global concerns. The shocking image of two Syrian toddlers and their mother drowned at sea near Turkey asthey journeyed towards Greece in 2015, presents an unfolding scenario of migration. This grim photograph went viral around the world with the hastag 'Humanity Washed Ashore'. As the world looks on helplessly at the human condition, the predictive nature of Emittere refers to the shore as a locale of mixed emotions -of pain, survival and victory. In its abstract form, Emittere conceals. Yet, at the same time it reveals these tensions. The subtle movements of the waves symbolize migratory patterns. The reversal of these tidal movements is suggestive of his desire to bring back migrants that have left the shores of Africa. In staging this moment of hope, his thoughts align with the concept of the Whose Centenary? project in its claim to bring artists from the African diaspora to collaborate with Nigeria-based artists. In its present form, Emittere (which means Waiting) remains timeless.

Emittere, Video Clip, [ude Anogwih, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih

[elili Atiku is a renowned performance artist and recipient of the Prince Claus award (2015) for his outstanding performances. Atiku, who features regularly at several international biennales, produced a compelling performance along the Streets of Benin titled Holy Ovonramwen Cathedral. His first reference to Benin was an earlier work, Rawson's Boat (2011) performed in Lagos at the Freedom Park. Holy Ovonramwen Cathedral which took olace in an open field next to the Great Church of God International tells of the infiltration of pentecostal churches into Benin. He uses the image of Oba Ovonramwen taken aboard the ship named Ivy that took him on exile to Calabar features on a banner rather than the image of Christ. Dressed in a bright golden outfit and moving in frenzied steps, Atiku moves like a possessed priest through the streets, ringing a bell and distributing handbills announcing a church service that was to begin at Igun Street in an hour. His costumes, like those of his church stewards, create a spectacle in their lustrous and shimmery quality, dazzling in the full glare of the sun. These costumes were fashioned from bales used to transport imported products from Europe. The batch numbers still visible on the garment are a metaphor for the importation of foreign religions into Nigeria

His performance is multilayered in meaning. Firstly, it refers to the influx of Europeans into Benin who came with the bible on one hand and the gun on the other. The aftermath of the coming of early explorers, traders and missionaries was the looting of the treasures of Benin. Gradually, Benin art changed overtime to incorporate two conflicting icons- the Christian cross and ammunitions. Atiku substitutes Christian symbols with 'fetish' objects. His staff, rather than the cross, is the Oro Bird, an historical bird regarded as a bird of prophecy during the reign of Oba Esigie in the 16th century. The Ora bird had prophesied disaster for the Edo warriors during the battle between Benin and Idah. With the victory of the Benin army, the bird was silenced and has become a commemorative reference to this event during the coronation of a new king. The bird in its continually transformative meaning reemphasizes its position as a symbol in history. The historic return of two bronze works, a gong and a bird, to the Oba of Benin in 2014 by Adrian Walker, a descendant of one ofthe expeditionary soldiers who looted the Benin treasury in 1897, brings this symbol again to the fore. Atiku uses other imagery

6 like a bronze ancestral head used in the veneration of past kings of Benin which is placed in the centreplace of worship alongside the prayer book dedicated to this service.

Holy Ovoranwmen Cathedral, Performance, Igun Street, Benin City, [elili Atiku, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih

Secondly, his conversion of the open revival field situated next to a Pentecostal church which was once used for casting operations, goes to show how very little regard is given to the conservation of heritage sites in Nigeria. Igun Street, which was once solely reserved for bronze casters, is now being infiltrated by churches, other institutions and small businesses. As part of an outdoor display, shrine objects were placed alongside the signpost of the Church to reveal an interesting juxtaposition of conflicting faiths in the service of multiple Gods.

Burns Effiom who works as an interior designer and director of the Bronze Gallery in Calabar produced an autobiographical piece as his intervention. As a descendant of the Offiong family who catered for Oba Ovoranmwen during his exile in Calabar, he sought to reestablish that familial relationship struck in 1897 between the people of Benin and Calabar. Oba Erediauwa had previously expressed his gratitude to the family on the occasion of the launch of the Great Benin Centenary in 1997:

I cannot end this my address without making mention of one special family here in Calabar. It is the Offiong family of Odukpani Road. When it pleased the Britons to release the Oba from the dungeon where they kept him for years, they brought him out and invited an volunteer that they handed the Oba over to since the British had decided not to return him to Benin. The British made it clear that whoever volunteered to take him would ensure that the Oba did not return to his Kingdom of Benin and would not plan revenge against Britain. These conditions instilled fear in the minds of many people and nobody came forth until the head of the Offiong volunteered. The family did their best to make him comfortable until the end carne-t.

The rupture occasioned by exile has left several gaps in the history of Benin. Oba Erediauwa expresses this succinctly: '".not much is known by contemporary history of the 17years that Oba Ovoranmwen lived in Calabar. We intend to explore it...'12

In his performance, A Journey in Memory, Effiom carries an umbrella to which are attached several photographs of colonial architecture believed to be the various houses in which the king once lived in Calabar. In creating a new home for Oba Ovoranmwen in Calabar, Effiom uses the umbrella as a symbol of nurture. He sports a knitted skullcap usually worn by members of the Ekpe masquerade society. The Ekpe society was responsible for making laws in Calabar and was greatly revered. He wears a red shirt and an old indigo dyed wrapper decorated with Nsibidi symbols. The Nsibidi signs evoke secrecy,

11Burns Effiom Citing HRM Oba Erediauwa in Unpublished document as response to questions raised on the performance titled A journey in Memory, December, 2015 ~ ibid

7 sacredness and esoteric knowledge. His regalia speaks of traditional rulership and power with red symbolizing strength, power and royalty amongst the Efik much as it does in Benin. Effiom admits: My costume is celebratory of royal power and esoteric knowledge ... my performance is a monologue to recall the journey of Oba Ovoranmwen from Benin to Calabar and the return of a descendant of the Efiks to Benin through collaboration in the Whose Centenary? project. Through this engagement I believe this monologue would eventually result in a dialogue.P

A Journey in Memory, Igun Street, Benin City, Burns Effiom, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih

In many ways Effiom and Ogunji's performances animate Idahor's installation of collages in her questioning of gender roles and symbols of power and authority in Benin. The first reference to working with hair, beads and regalia began in 2010 in her solo exhibition titled Havolution. In her use of beads and regalia, Idahor seeks to understand the role of women in Edo society. She does this by interrogating the power of the Iyoba (Queen mother) who by virtue of her position occupies a special place in the court as well as in history. The /yoba is doubly empowered as 'mother of the king and wife to the past king'. She admits that although Benin may seem like a highly hierarchical and patriarchal society, there are instances where the female gender appears overtly powerful as in the case of priestesses. She recounts her experience:

Just a few weeks earlier before I knew about the WC exhibition, I was in Benin city to visit my parents. During my visit, I escorted my mother to visit a long distant cousin of hers who happened to be a priestess. She had a visitor's room where she had her special high chair. We had to take our shoes off to enter this room in this modern building. And when she entered everyone had to kneel to greet her. Even my uncle, who must have been about the same age as her, went on his knees. However it was her title and position that required we pay such homage and not her age or sex. After that visit it got me thinking about whether more positions or spaces like that existed in Benin city for women to fill. I was quick to be reminded by my mother of the "Iyoba" title and that is where the series begant+. Idahor questions the use and abuse of coral beads and the commodification of this prized item of adornment in the proliferation of fake/plastic beads imported from China. Ivie Series, Close up view, Collage and pen on paper, 11 by 14 inches, Taye Idahor, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih Ivie Series, Close up view, Collage and pen on paper, 11 by 14 inches, Taye Idahor, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih Ivie Series, Close up view, Collage and pen on paper, 11 by 14 inches, Taye Idahor, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih Ivie Series, Collage and pen on paper, installation, Taye Idahor, 2014. Photo credit: [ude Anogwih Beads were only worn by people who were associated with royalty. When a woman or man would wear these coral beads, they would wear only one or a pair of them and they were real coral beads. Today the story is different, modern brides even those who are not associated with the bead culture of the south of Nigeria indulge in this custom of bead wearing. As time passed, the

}3 op cit iJ 14 email correspondence with Taye Idahor, 22 December, 2015

8 designs became more elaborate and detailed. In some cases, the design and number of beads even surpass the grandness of the ones worn by the royalty of the palace albeit fake corals. The mass production industry aided the trend by producing cheap plastic replicas of coral beads making it easier to acquire and create these elaborate designs 15.

Idahor is also interested in void spaces or negative spaces that women occupy in society. She is enthralled by the advertorials women put in papers about a change of name when they get married and wonders how such an insignificantly small column could transform their identities. She asks:

As women get married how do they occupy the space of wives and mothers? ... Who is a 21st century woman? These and other questions have continued to spring up from time to time because as the world evolves so are women restructuring their roles in families today. As I create these collages with paper, the negative spaces bring to light these questions. I try to answer these questions through the eyes and words of women around me and with these I make markings that seem to fill the space without creating any specific form>.

Coral beads, lvie are extremely significant as items of body adornment in Benin. It was regarded as a great honour for the king to present a string of coral beads to an individual. In drawing attention to the substitution of plastic beads for coral beads one cannot but notice the transformation of styles of Benin regalia for both males and females. The Ewu lvie or beaded blouse was worn exclusively by the king on ceremonial occasions. Today, we find traditional dancers and brides wearing the beaded blouse, which was never worn by females. Now it is more commonly worn in other cultures that have cultural affiliations with Benin such as Urhobo or Itsekiri. As Idahor, noticed it has become a fad to dress in Benin regalia even when there is no filial affiliation to the culture. The colour appeal of the beads and the elaborateness of the Ododo applique cloth bestow a regal appearance that is as attractive as it is compelling. In several streets of Benin, it is common to find shops that specialize in costuming, as this has become a lucrative business.

The dual contribution of Ines Valle and Andrew Eseibo threw more light on the archives as veritable material for art historical studies as well as a great resource for artistic exploration. Ines Valle, a Portuguese, British-based curator and photographer was invited to organize the various artists' projects and to offer her contribution to the theme as an artist from outside the culture. Her Portuguese heritage brought back memories of historical ties between the Edo people and the Portuguese who were the first Europeans to visit Benin City in the latter part of the 15th century. The cordiality of the relationship between the two cultures is revealed in the iconography of Benin art which features Portuguese figures. Ines was visiting Nigeria for the second time. Andrew Eseibo, a well-known photographer had participated in several exhibitions within and outside Nigeria. The duo visited the Ibadan branch of the National Archives and much later, Igun Street. A photograph taken in 1975 of a house along Igun Street, which they found in the archives, was put side by side with a photograph they took in 2014. It is remarkable how very little has changed over a forty-year period. More intriguing was that some of the occupants were still alive and featured in both photographs.

'Mernorical' photographic collage, Ines Valle and Andrew Eseibo, 2014. Photo credit the artists

Victor Ehikhamenor who comes from the Esan culture which has an affinity with Benin produced an on site installation in the palace of the Ine of Igun. This work titled My bits are Not Your Pieces consists of

15 ibid l~{)pcit

9 two paintings. Both paintings represent the reign of Oba Ovoramwen and the historical antecedents surrounding his exit from the throne. The paintings are made of earth colours symbolic of the predominantly red soil in Benin. Ehikhamenor states, 'Not only is the soil red, the palace colours are also mostly red and white'. I used red in one of the murals to depict the king's vibrancy and warrior- like nature. Black and white were used in the other mural to represent the king's departure to exile'. The entire making of the site-specific installation was dramatic. In the creation of the work, Ehikhamenor danced to Edo music while painting. In his reflections on music he states: They have stories and parables that are woven into their narratives that enhance my own visual language'. Ehikhamenor attached cast bronze to the paintings as a means of making connections between the past and the present. The actual purchase of the works was in itself performative as the bronze casters narrated to him versions of their understanding of the Benin/British narrative.

My Bit are not your Pieces, Painting installation, Ine's Palace, Igun Street, Benin City, Victor Ehikhamenor My Bit are not your Pieces, A two part Painting installation, Ine's Palace, Igun Street, Benin City, Victor Ehikhamenor

[umoke Verissimrno, an author and poet had participated in festivals across Nigeria and Europe. Her poetry has been widely translated into Italian, Norwegian, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Macedonian. In relating her previous projects with the Whose Centenary? She claims:

I have always been interested in the incursion of Europeans to Nigeria. In 2008, my first book, a collection of poems titled I am memory, explored the idea of forgetfulness-collective and personal. I explored slavery in one of the book's sections. I believed there was more to what I had in the book, there was the resulting colonialism which brought to Nigeria, and on a wider scale, Africans, several dimensions of self-denial. This theme was something I knew could be further expanded through a collaborative work with other artists, with several interpretations defining collective amnesia, or ignorance or denial in fuller context. I did not get an opportunity to do a collaboration in this direction until 2014, when I was invited to take part in Whose Centenary? (WC) WC became an opportunity to further explore the theme of cultural oppression, under the umbrella of the Northern and Southern amalgamation which happened in 1914. This time, the exactness of theme, location and time made it more interesting, as this meant I had to explore from the perspective of context. I was also interested in a style that would embed the metaphorical characteristics of the locale where the theme of the collaboration sprang from!".

No Answer, Poetry performance, Arala Street, [umoke Verissimmo, 2014. Photo credit [ude Anogwih

No Answer, Poetry performance, Igun Street, [umoke Verissimmo, 2014. Photo credit [ude Anogwih

Her poetry titled 'No Answer' rendered in Benin comprises 153 lines and three sections -the opening, body and exit. It offered the artist a unique experience first to visit Benin and secondly to experience the unique opportunity of a live performance in front of a responsive audience. She reveals: During the walk from Akenzua's Street, where the King's Quarters is situated, I felt like history being replayed and even more at Igun Street, where I performed. Although I have taken part in

••i7 email correspondence, [umoke Verissimmo, 6 December, 2015

10 several collaborations, this was a unique experience, where performing my poem to an audience of passersby, stopping by to listen, gave me the power to contest the past with words-''.

The salutary opening of 'No Answer' is reminiscent of the ritual of greetings that pervades court ceremonies. The king is usually greeted by his chiefs and courtiers. Beyond the standard verbal greetings of 'Oba gha to opere' meaning 'Long live the king', the salutation using the staff of office like the Eben symbolizes a recognition of authority and obeisance to the king during the annual Igue festival. The artist pays homage to the people, the king and the land

Greetings to the owners of the land Greetings to the land. Greetings to its earth Greetings to a people who have kept the land Greetings to the waters which birthed this earth Greetings to you, makers of ideas that border the land Greetings to you, who stand, you who sit, you who speak Greetings to Osanobua. The creator of a land of ideas-?

Verissimmo's words reveal the Benin/ Portuguese connections, the trade by barter between Europeans and the Benin people, and the infiltration of Portuguese vocabulary into Edo language.

Memorable friendship which came with the Portuguese, They it was who offered a friendship that knew pleasure They it was who offered with both hands gifts to ease life Smiles were bartered between sides like gold coins Their language found home in the mouth of the Bini-?

Through poetry and installations, both Verissimmo and I reiterate the loss of Benin artifacts stolen in 1897 by the British. The installation, Face/Off comprising one thousand heads,in terracotta and bronze, is a direct reference to the British expedition and the looting of Benin artifacts.

The lyrics affirm this.

Have you not heard, that the royal bronze, sits in a foreign Museum Learning to protest in the language of its defamers Questioning each visitor to its stand, telling stories, 'You see, I was brought here, a hundred years ago Stolen from Africa, brought to this land See, I've been waiting, waiting for leave For the palace. For I am a royal breed-".

Art and its changing form in Benin Face/Off derives further meaning from my previous work titled 1897.com featured in the solo exhibition titled Benin 1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question (2010). 1897.com is a series of

18 ibid 19 http://www.benin1897.com/whose.html 20 ibid 2J.-Op cit

11 jerracotta pieces comprising one thousand heads, a reference to the plundering that went on in Benin in 1897 at the palace of Oba Ovonramwen. Face/Off is a reinvigourated version of 1897.com. In addition to the terracotta heads, Edo bronze casters displayed their prized bronze pieces within the installation. It is estimated that about four thousand works in bronze and ivory as well as regalia, were stolen from the palace, some of which were in the king's bedroom. The works were then stacked in the palace courtyard and later carted away to London. On their arrival in the UK, the works were auctioned and became embroiled in a global market that continues to register huge prices. The trade in Benin artifacts is carried out without any recourse to Nigeria. In this installation terracotta plaques are displayed hanging from the ceiling over the heads. This is a way of scripting back history, a history which keeps recurring as the debate on the looted works of Benin reechoes at global platforms from time to time. The archival records and diaries of the British officers involved provide incredible records of their attack on Benin, and its people and the period immediately after. These records reveal how the soldiers plundered the art and the rich resources of the region. Benin was richly endowed. On the terracotta plaques, the amount of ammunition expended on a single day, the number of casualties, the size of the British army that overcame Benin, the dates of specific events like the hanging of the King's men and the burning of towns and villages, are all recorded. One of the plaques reads 'Queen Rejoices' as was the case at the fall of Benin and the eventual take over by British soldiers. One hundred and seventeen years after the sack of Benin and one hundred years since the amalgamation of Nigeria, many of the artistic resources from Benin still remain outside the region. This scriptorium, like the history it reveals, looms over Benin and Nigeria. The current location of the installation in the Ine N' Igun's palace pays homage to a tradition that predates British incursion. The involvement of Edo casters lent strength to this work, elevating the art from the status of lone statements to a collective one that was as powerful and forceful as it was novel. These artists, who had previously worked solely within a client-based structure were provided with the opportunity of a new form of collaboration that was different from what normally obtains in Benin. The sheer number of artists and the diverse genres of artistic expression were also a major change that expressed the diverse nature of Edo art in its performative and tangible nature. The high number of female participants in this project was a way of balancing gender participation in the arts. Olowu's return to Igun Street was a reminder of how gender restrictions in the arts blur over time. It showed how these restrictions were imposed by a tradition that once maintained an adherence to established values and at the same time provided a window to social change.

Face IOff, installation, Igun Street, Terracotta and bronze, Peju LayiwoJa and Eric Osa Ogbemudia, Benson Edobor, Anthony Osemwengie, Ikponmwonsa Inneh, NosakhareOmorodion (Chief Okao) Friday Iyamu, William Edosomwan, Johnbull 11 Enobakhare, Imuwahen Edebor and A/ex Osemwengie. 2014. Photo credit: Jude Anogwih

1897.com, Terracotta, wood, paper, copper and bronze, Peju Layiwola, 2010

The site of the various artists' interventions was also an innovation. The use of the corridors of the Ine's palace at Igun Street for display, the video and painting installations in the ateliers of the casters and the street performances were new ways of using alternative spaces for art display. This concept deemphasized the over dependence on the 'white cube' or conventional galleries preferred for the display of works by artists in Nigeria. The participation of the street hawkers, passersby and onlookers in the performances revealed the seamlessness that exists between the audience and artists in this intervention.

12 .While processions are a normal feature in Benin, the display of uniquely designed costumes, largely made from paper and fabric and derived from the already existing regalia worn by high chiefs, princesses and other members of royalty, provoked mixed reactions. During the short stop in front of the Oba's palace, one of the palace officials vehemently protested at the manner in which the artists were dressed. He complained about the use of the full regalia worn by Edo chiefs. The Whose Centenary? intervention, in its provocative nature, brought to the fore the seamlessness between reality and fiction, and shows how personal histories blur into communal memory.

Benin Art and the Global Encounter. In 2014, Artefakte, a German artist/scholar group began a series of activations that took place in Cape Town, Porto Novo, and Dresden. While the activation meetings in Cape Town focused on the handling of human remains collected during the colonial context, the other two activations were concerned with restitution issues and cultural heritage. 'Artefakte' or 'Artificial facts' was further interested in exploring shifts of signification and multiple representations of contested artefacts. In Dresden, Solphie Golz curated an exhibition of works connected with these issues. The installation titled Columns of Memory which featured some of the costumes used in the Whose Centenary? performances formed part of the display in the group exhibition titled Boundary Objects ". Dresden holds about four hundred looted Benin artefacts many of which are in storage in the ethnographic museum. For me showing at Kunsthaus, Dresden, provided me with the opportunity of viewing these works in storage at the Museum. The feeling of nostalgia at seeing the burnt ivory tusk in the collection was a reminder of the violence and destruction that took place in Benin. Berlin, another German city has a much larger collection of Benin works in the Museum in Dahlem. Both extensive collections are reminders of a tragic history. Berlin was the venue of the partitioning of Africa in 1884 and a key part of the structure that stripped Africa of its treasures. Columns of Memory in expressing this inglorious history, at the same time celebrates the voluntary return of two Benin works stolen from the palace in 1897. These works; a bird and a gong, major iconographic elements in the installation, were returned by Adrian Walker.

Columns of Memory, plastic, plaster of Paris, Aluminum, Exhibition View, Objetas Frontera, CA2M, Madrid, Spain, Peju Layiwola, 2015

Conclusion. Benin art has evolved to include a wide range of genres and themes that had not featured prior to 1897. The response to the event of 1897 has taken several forms and goes beyond a mere artistic exercise. It combines art activism with art practice to evolve an art that is enduring and forceful. The display of works from this project influenced by the 1914 amalgamation of the two Provinces in Nigeria, extends beyond the history of Nigeria. It has now been caught up in larger global debates that reveal the interconnectedness of cultures. In this case, it underlines the act and art of stripping Africa of her resources by European powers during the colonial era

22 Barbara Winston Blackwell (2013) 'Contemporary Contradictions: Bronzecasting in the Edo Kingdom of Benin'A Companion to Modern African Art. Eds Gitti Salami and Monica Visona Blackrnun, Wiley Blackwell, 23 _ Boundary Objects showed at Kunsthaus Dresden, Municipal Gallery of Arts, Dresden, ••

13 Germany, June 20-September 20,2015, The exhibition later travelled to CA2M in Madrid, Spain (November 4, 2015 to February 28, 2016). This show was curated by Sophie Goltz .

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