Eyimiegha Seidougha Linus organised a workshop in honour of Onobrakpeya, a recipient of the 2006 Human Living Treasure Award by UNESCO and 2010 National Creativity award by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Marking his 87th birthday through the iconic ’87 art workshop’, there was also a moment of an interactive session with the kids.
Designed by him to keep Onobrakpeya’s legacy alive in the minds of these young ones, Linus said, “the programme was created as an avenue for children to interact with him, ask questions about his life, the creative process of his works, and his contributions towards the development of the Nigerian art industry.”
Prior to the question and answer section, videos and slides about him and the Harmattan workshop were displayed through a projector before the participants, numbering 25 from ages five to 17 years.
Talking about his works, Onobrakpeya said they “do not fall under any movement since his themes are drawn from the African traditions as they dominantly discuss the history, philosophy, and folklores of our people, especially the Urhobo culture.”
The second part of the programme, which was the workshop segment, started immediately after the discussion session with Adetola Adenuga and Boluwatife Caleb Ayodele as key facilitators.
The participants were divided into four groups based on their age brackets. The range of activities includes drawing and painting with pencil, crayon and marker pen for ages 5 to 10, basic printmaking technique and drawing for ages 11to 13 and drawing for portrait of Onobrakpeya for ages 14 to 17.
A total of 22 prints were created, seven portraits of Onobrakpeya and four still-live drawings and 14 other artworks.
The project, which held at the Mushin studio of Onobrakpeya, was designed for children and teenagers to interact with and reinterpret the works of Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya.
The project coordinator, Linus, has a first-class portfolio in art project management. Several of his projects, just like this one, are designed to help young people interact and appreciate art from their locality.
This project had an exceptional value-added to its package because the participants had the privilege to interact with Onobrakpeya, no doubt, “they realized he was at some time, many years ago as young as they are through the stories he told about his works that relate so much with his childhood days,” said Linus.
According to Linus, the original idea was to have 87 children create 87 artworks to mark the birthday of the artist, however, due to challenges beyond what could be managed, “we were able to accommodate only 25 and we look forward to making this bigger next year.”
Said Linus: “However, the quality of works that were produced at the workshop is good enough for an exhibition.”
Most of these young people Linus said have been part of programmes he organised in the past. “I selected them from four different art projects and I’m helping them network with themselves from now.”
Not all of them, he reported will end up practicing art, “but with the level of information they are being exposed to, they will grow up valuing and appreciating art.”
The last session of the programme was the cutting of the birthday cake. This was done in segments based on the age brackets starting from five to seven, eight to 10, 11 to 13 years, and 14 to 17 years. Then facilitator, visitors, and parents also had the opportunity to take photographs with Papa Bruce.
Source- https://guardian.ng/art/iconic-87-art-workshop-in-honour-of-onobrakpeya/