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Chinze Ojobo, a multi- talented artist, brings the challenges facing the girl child in Nigeria to the fore through her unique artworks which she exhibited in National Museum, Lagos, from March 22 to 29
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Apr 4, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT |
IT was a gathering of artists and display of artefacts as Chinze Ojobo, a renowned artist, exhibits some of her artworks at the National Museum in Lagos. The weeklong exhibition which started from March 22 to 29, was centred on how the challenges facing the girl child in the society and how she can still enjoy the protection of all and sundry.
Ojobo, a well-travelled Nigerian artist, has exhibited most of her works in the United States of America and Europe. Her unique style of putting together art pieces has won her accolades from admirers of art all over the world. She told Realnews that because of her passion for the Nigerian girl child and being a mother herself, she believes that there is so much the society can do to protect her.
She used her latest art works to celebrate the girl child and hopes to draw attention to the plight of today’s female child as well as create awareness for her wonderful art pieces through creativity. According to Ojobo, the artworks speak about the travails of the girl child in today’s society is subjected to different abuses right from adolescent to adulthood.
“The girl child is supposed to be protected by the society but unfortunately society seems to be failing in this regard. One of my major artworks which is on display depicts images of little innocent girls with various facial and bodily expressions and speaks about how oppressed the girl child in our society is and how resilient she is no matter what life throws at her.
“Whether they are oppressed house maids, hawkers on our streets, child brides or even the missing Chibok girls. One thing is for sure, my art works definitely communicate with anyone who takes a moment just to appreciate the masterpieces. It brings to the fore the plight of our young girls who suffer from preventable diseases like VVF as well as the current trend of kidnappings and forceful marriages of underage girls,” she said.
Ojobo uses a well-known African quote “Train a boy, you train an individual but train a girl and you train a Nation,” to illustrate her art works on the girl child.
Another major artwork that was on display at the exhibition is titled “Life’s Journey” and it takes art lovers on a journey and tells the story of how every human being has a calling and that everybody are all wired in a certain way. “All that is needed is for each one of us as individuals to discover our calling and make the best of it,” Ojobo said.
“Chatting” is also one of her cherished works which was on displayed at the exhibition and it speaks volumes about the obsession of Nigerian youths with technology and the internet. On display in this particular exhibition are two young ladies sitting together around a table with drinks but totally consumed with their iPad and iPod not realising that they are so close to each other but yet so far away in thought.
Dakuku Peterside, director general, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, who was at the exhibition, praised Ojobo on her use of colours to bring out the real African culture. He said that the African man is a man who likes beauty and creativity and Ojobo brought all of that to the fore today.
“Chinze is amazing. She always thinks out of the box. When you come to an exhibition, you are looking out for the identity of the people, their contemporary challenges and what is happening in the society. You are at entertainment and have a sense of appreciation. She has gone beyond all of these. If you followed us through the exhibition, if you look at the politicians she was talking about in one of her artwork, the discordant tones among the political class yet they are pursuing their personal interest rather that the common national interest.
“In that place (artwork), she addressed a contemporary issue, a major challenge and the need for our political class to come together in pursuit of national interest. If you look on the work on social media, she was also addressing a contemporary social challenge. She is talking about interaction gap in the society. She was talking about the things that border us, the sheer challenge we have and that these days there is a new culture that needs to be addressed. A new culture where people go out they don’t talk or communicate. There is total communication gap,” he said.
Cornel Agim, curator of the artwork, was excited that Ojobo has transformed from art painting to a more pronounced style with social values and concepts. “I’m highly impressed because I created Chinze’s works in one of her first art exhibition about 25 years ago and I’m privileged to create this too. I have seen the transformation from her initial concept of pure colours to more unique combination of colours and the use of specific terminologies like the girl child and the social media and its effect on the society.
“This is a transformation from initial pure colours to a more pronounced social art of illustration. We have about 25 works on display but she intends to do a larger one. This is like a preliminary of what she wants to have because she has moved to a unique style to a much better style with social values and concepts,” he said.
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