Sculptor’s odyssey in brand, market dynamics

In surviving up to its estimation arsenic a distinctive level of adept creation showcase, the 2024 variation of the Art Miabo International Arts Festival (AMIAF) interrogated the divers realm of creation and its creators and expanded beyond regular themes successful the ocular arts horizon.

The showcase so not lone celebrated the craftsmanship of deserving sculptors but besides engaged assemblage and encouraged idiosyncratic mentation of three-dimensional creation forms successful the themed ‘Sculptors Odyssey’.

Curator of the the 2024 edition, Yusuf Durodola, described the taxable of AMIAF 2024 arsenic “a solemnisation of the sculptor’s tone – a testament to the transformative powerfulness of earthy materials shaped by the artist’s hands, carving stories into stone, wood, metal, and imagination”.

As it was successful its erstwhile 2 editions, the AMIAF 2024, which ran from April 29 – May 1, 2024, astatine the EbonyLife Place, Victoria Island Lagos, celebrated the pivotal contributions of manufacture trailblazers, displaying their indispensable relation successful shaping the creator landscape.

This year, 4 young sculptors were chosen to grounds with established artists. They are: Ojegoke Pelumi, Azeez Kausarat, Blessing Proven and Ifeoluwa Odushe.

The 4 AMIAF Slot participants volition beryllium exhibiting with masters specified arsenic Pius Waritimi, Kunle Adeyemi, Adeola Balogun, Ato Arinze, Tonie Emodi, Dotun Popoola, Adeniyi Adewole, Aromire Wahab, Fidelis Eze Odogwu, Shola Kukoyi, Muraina Akeem, Adebisi Adebayo, Djakou Kassi Nathalie, Ibrahim Afegbua, Nkwocha Ernest, Luke Osaro, Adisa Juliet Nzekwe, Obinna Adiele and Ebriel Afegbua.

Other exhibiting artists see Nelson Edewor, Ayooluwa Akinrinola, Oladapo Afolayan, Tolulope Sobowale, Simon Chidiebere, Fatai Abdulkareem, Exodus Aluyia, Adebor Etsekhumhe, Abdulqadir Ojelade, Ugherebe Godwin, Hakim Dipeolu and Samuel Akintiitan.

AMIAF founder, Miabo Ngozi Enyadike, during a chat with The Guardian identified Artmiabo arsenic an Art thought and the thought itself being sold arsenic a marque advocates for each creator arsenic an entrepreneur. “If you make thing and you privation radical to respect and wage for it, past you’re selling. This is what I’ve done for years. I started selling creation earlier I adjacent started creating art. So, astir collectors and radical didn’t cognize I was an artist.

“Artmiabo is aimed astatine representing the unrepresented. That’s what i’ve experienced; I was refused each signifier of practice due to the fact that of the mode I paint. I overgarment connected insubstantial but with ink.” Miabo wants artists to unfastened their minds to what creation is to the satellite successful today’s clime particularly successful the areas of representation, branding and marketplace dynamics.

Already, Miabo defies accepted creation practice by creating online galleries; she owns six virtual creation galleries already.

Artist and entrepreneur, Miabo, emphasised connected the value of embracing unconventional paths successful the 21st period creation world. She highlighted the imaginable of the net arsenic a instrumentality for artists to scope a wider assemblage and summation exposure, portion acknowledging the challenges of navigating the creation marketplace and the request for authenticity and uniqueness successful art.

Miabo noted the challenges and opportunities successful the creation market, including knowing marketplace trends and concern fees, accordant performance, and beardown collector base.

She besides noted the relevance of pistillate collectors and artists successful the creation world. First is the spot of enactment of pistillate collectors and their assertive concern attack to art, arsenic good arsenic women successful the commercialized of creation and their uncanny quality to marque outstanding creation traders. Women, she said, person the unsocial selling accomplishment successful the commercialized particularly with the quality of lasting one’s crushed successful negotiations.

She said the challenges faced by women successful the creation satellite remain, including navigating sex roles and societal expectations, and the request for a enactment strategy successful the creation satellite and workplace.
Citing idiosyncratic experiences and societal issues, Miabo advocated for unsocial perspectives done grid-inspired paintings.

Elaborating connected creation concern and marketplace trends, she urged the request for authenticity of African art, the value of vulnerability for collectors, acquisition and expertise successful business, societal media successful business, show successful managing collectors and making income past collectors’ exhaustion and concern trends successful the creation market.

During a sheet discussion, Dotun Popoola, a modern creator who specializes successful synergetic metallic sculpting, lent his acquisition connected however artists and curators tin blend up the accepted with the integer strategy of marque & marketing.

Dotun stated that an creator indispensable beryllium immense capable to cognize what the marketplace is saying with keen comprehension of the psycho dynamics of creation enterprise.

He said: “An creator indispensable contiguous his enactment with the close worth that speaks to the appreciation of his brand.”

On the question of whether artists should survey marketplace algorithms successful acrophobic climes earlier creation endeavors, helium said successful the end, it each depends connected the artist, his originative leanings, doctrine and concern mindset. On his part, helium has chosen definite antithetic approaches successful effect to the demands of concern successful art. For example, Popoola would restrict collector’s fig of acquisitions wherever his works are concerned.

“Although request could find what an creator produces, however, if an creator wants to beryllium genuinely palmy successful life, you indispensable bash thing that gives you the joyousness of it and that tin spell beyond the wealth you get for the work. The passionateness needs to beryllium enactment successful the close place.

“I don’t let my lawsuit archer maine wherever to weld a scrap. Just archer maine what you privation and I’ll manifest the thought my ain way. That’s way, you arsenic an creator tin sphere your originality,” Popoola said.

Prince Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon, elaborating connected categorisation successful creation pricing and artists successful societal creator class, described Popoola arsenic an creator who has been capable to conception himself to conscionable the creator needs of the precocious echelon of the nine and young oregon budding artists who instrumentality that way earlier mastery would starve.

Prince Shyllon is presently regarded arsenic Nigeria’s largest backstage creation collector, with implicit 7,000 artworks of sculptures, paintings and different media, arsenic good arsenic implicit 55,000 photographic shots of Nigeria’s taste festivals.

In his clarification of marketplace segmentation, helium made notation to the Toyota illustration of Luxury Export to the United States (Lexus) and referred to the likes of Popoola arsenic the Lexus of his time.

He said the pricing mentation is wide for the creator including artists conscionable caller from school. The method applicable is Cost Plus Pricing. He explained that what determines the terms of an artwork is the estimation of the artist.

In his travel up with a proposal that creation concern should beryllium included successful schoolhouse curriculum, Prince Shyllon urged that creation students should beryllium taught selling successful the arts. He said the impartation of captious cognition successful the fields of selling and creation past is mediocre successful Nigerian schoolhouse curriculum.

“School institutions should promote interactions betwixt the ‘Gown’ with the ‘Town”, helium said.

He besides advocated for periodic invitations of professionals to classrooms for payment of students. Another country helium advocated is for copyright instrumentality and patent to beryllium taught to artists successful schools.

International Media Strategist and AMIAF patron, Emeka Enyadike stressed connected the value of specialization successful business. He noted that nary substance what tract a idiosyncratic acquired cognition oregon task successful by people of study, specialisation is pertinent.

“If for illustration you use for a occupation successful immoderate museums, you won’t conscionable beryllium employed due to the fact that you person a grade successful Fine Arts, radical person specialization successful the creation business. If you’re not prepared for the market, you whitethorn not beryllium useful. This applies to astir each sectors including sports and engineering”.

Enyadike agreed that the knowing of selling dynamics is captious for an artist. He described selling arsenic a precise analyzable tract due to the fact that it is visual. An creator has to beryllium ocular successful originative approach. You person to beryllium capable to make thing that tin get the attraction of people.

“There’s thing called strategical fix. There has to beryllium immoderate conception astir what you are doing. Even if you person a specialty, a rubric oregon taxable for a enactment of art, determination indispensable beryllium a mode to align what you’re trying to bash with the captious request of the people audience. There has to beryllium a matrimony betwixt your goals and the extremity of your people audience”

One of the maestro exhibitors, Dr. Adeola Balogun, Lecturer successful the Fine Arts Department of the Yaba College of Technology, acknowledged the value of the concern broadside of the creation task oregon practice. “Unfortunately, astir artists person been little inclined to scope of the enterprising country of art, particularly marketing”, helium noted.

He recalled the submission of different maestro exhibitor successful the festival, Pius Waritimi, who during the sheet treatment connected Day 1 admitted to person ignored the concern broadside of his artistry earlier successful life. Waritimi said if helium had been little blimpish successful his originative life, helium would person made captious levels of enlargement done his originative interests and craft.

Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, Director of Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Department for Yaba College of Technology and a maestro exhibitor besides successful the festival, regarded the 2024 AMIAF arsenic unsocial successful initiative.

If galleries and stakeholders are capable to enactment successful similar efforts into the arts, the interaction volition resound crossed the economy. He appreciated the facet of specialization notable successful the festival. The absorption connected sculptor and sculpture works was stressed arsenic appreciative for the genre and the enlargement of the seashore of sculptors successful the country.

He noted the prime of originative endeavors successful the tract wherever sculptors person been capable to grow their creator effort into metal, bronze, fibre solid etcetera.. Adeyemi pressed for much specialized vulnerability for artists and the needed level for improvement and enabling situation for much opportunities.

Art collectors and enthusiasts filled the VIP accumulation abstraction of the festival successful appreciation of the assorted works successful display. One of specified enthusiasts is Lucie Minlend, who expressed her involvement successful a fewer works, including that of 1 of the younger artists, Ibrahim Afegbua. His amazingly crafted metallic creation enactment successful depiction of the quality and appreciation of womanhood, caught the involvement of Lucie. Lucie took circumstantial enactment of the artists attraction to the hairsbreadth and the 3 dimensional portrayal of feminity.

Lucie, a US based francophonie Cameroonian, successful her presumption of arts appreciation successful Nigeria, noted the expressive quality of Nigerian art. Having seen respective exhibitions successful the United States and Europe, she said she could overmuch easy subordinate with Nigerian creation than the European.

She noted that the accepted rooting and detailing successful Nigerian art, successful opposition with different overseas art, stands it retired and Nigerian artists amusement support their taste individuality successful the uniqueness of their artistry. Despite the infusion of tech bits successful classified modern art, individuality and accepted details volition ever substance erstwhile it comes to African works of art. Without the distinction, the essence is lost, Lucie told The Guardian.

As a yearly ample standard exhibition, AMIAF made its debut and 2nd editions astatine the aforesaid venue erstwhile it showcased implicit 24 artists from wrong and extracurricular Africa successful 2022 and 2023 respectively. A peculiar diagnostic during the three-day 2024 variation was the philharmonic show of Afrobeat singer, Madè Kuti, lad of planetary Afrobeat sensation Femi Kuti.

Made Kuti’s show was astir notable for the uniqueness of his show and originative acoustic combo successful delivery. Outstandingly, the multi-instrumentalist played 7 antithetic instruments successful azygous rendition. The item of the show was possibly the infamous azygous enactment circular breathing method helium applied portion playing the saxophone arsenic helium swayed with the blend of jazz, funk and West African people rhythms.

During his chat with The Guardian, helium disclosed that helium has thing blistery successful the works and would soon reveal.