TEMITAYO Otun, a visual artist, on Wednesday advised the three tiers of government to employ art works to convey their policies to the society.

Otun said such policies would be better understood by the public and remain permanently ingrained in their memories for long and have positive effect.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that there was a dwindling interest in arts because the stakeholders and government had not been promoting the sector as it should be.

“If the art sector is going to thrive; if art works are going to survive, then the public must be made to recognise their importance when government used it to promote its policies.

“Arts should be used to illustrate and communicate government policies, happenings and development to the society for effect and remain permanent with them for long.

“Visual art involves everything we use; it is our creative ability that brought about good things we use. We should embrace it, appreciate it,’’ he said.

Otun said that this would encourage more members of the public to patronize works of arts and lift it to its pride of place.

He said that the country needed people who could make case for a better appreciation of art works and its importance.

He noted that government should support it and throw its full weight behind art.

“We have to constantly showcase our arts to the world through festivals because it is  the only way people can come and see the art potential of the country,’’ he said.

Otun, however, said that the public did not appreciate the arts because of the advent of technology.

He said that the social media, the television, the internet, films, video games and cinemas had taken over the natural art.

He noted that the variants of the social media had become the biggest challenge militating against the arts, because the world had been living in an electronic culture.

“We have lost almost all of our connections with the past,’’ he said.

He advised artists and intellectuals to always dialogue to guard against the African culture from dying.

Otun said that the society should be re orientated to accept arts as part of our value systems and not things belonging to the deities which should not be touched.

“You find out that you have to make a larger and more inclusive case for the importance of what you are doing,” he said.

NAN reports that Otun, popularly known as “Dilo’’ is also a musician, a rapper, singer and a song writer. (NAN)

– Aug. 8, 2018 @ 17:49 GMT |

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