BRUCE ONABRAKPEYA’S HARMATTAN WORKSHOP AT AGBARHA-OTOR: ROADMAP TO RENAISSANCE OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN NIGERIA

Adebayo, Timothy Adefemi
Art and Industrial Design Department, The Polytechnic Ibadan, Email: femmiadebayo@gmail.com

Abstract

Since the establishment of workshop centres in Africa in the 1940s to create a new synthesis of African modern art, there has been a wide range of artistic perceptions, creative expressions, techniques and styles. Tremendously, the importance of Nigerian artists has never been in doubt. Globally, they are acknowledged as dexterous, prolific and relevant to the cultural practices of their society. The prowess of artists has equally been outstanding in their exploits in ground breaking art traditions. However, it is from this perspective that the paper focuses on the history of Bruce Onabrapkeya’s workshop experiment, his profile, what attracts the participants, the footprints of the participants; their captivating styles and themes. The mission statement: Artist growth through interaction, experiment and search had so far challenged the artists on how to confront and interpret the world of art and assist in changing it for better. The workshop promotes and develops public interest in the visual art by creating awareness for the intrinsic values of the art, particularly by the African arts and their benefits to the larger society. Bruce Onabrakpeya’s status is as a result of over thirty years of creative toil and stress, of consistent search and persistent research, of experimentation and discovery, of the articulation and spousal of philosophic tenets, which are pivoted on pragmatic humanism. The main thrust of this paper is to look into creative engagement of Bruce Onabrakpeya and to discuss his invaluable contributions to the development of Contemporary Art in Nigeria. The content of this paper has not overruled the possibility of a universal language for art through dialogue sessions of art devotees in the workshop series

Keywords Onabrakpeya, Workshop, Roadmap to Renaissance, Contemporary Art,


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CITATION: Abstracts & Proceedings of SOCIOINT 2018- 5th International Conference on Education, Social Sciences and Humanities, 2-4 July 2018- Dubai, UAE

ISBN: 978-605-82433-3-0