My fear for sculpture in Nigeria – Philip Nzekwe

Philip Nzekwe is an environmental sculptor who uses biodegradable materials for his works. The award-winning artist, who is set to participate in another group exhibition alongside three other artists in Lagos, speaks about the importance of art in addressing climate change in Nigeria. 

As an artist who has been using his work to address climate change and other environmental challenges, do you think Nigeria is doing enough in mitigating the effects of climate change? 

I use my works to address climate change. Although when compared with industrialized nations, Nigeria still contributes least greenhouse gases but we pollute the environment through massive consumerism, buying and not considering recycling. The government has not done much in encouraging manufacturers to consider sustainable products. There is no form of incentives for them. The government can do better when it comes to environmental sustainability. 

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What bothers you the most about what you do?

African contributions to the world are not in sciences, information technology or medicine. It is in the art sector be it visual or none visual. Nollywood, for instance, has been contributing because there is investment in that sector and lots of youth could find their way into Nollywood but for the visual art, especially painting and sculpture, there are no incentives. We are having power problems; even some of our collectors from overseas are being harassed by security personnel at the ports and it has a way of discouraging them. Now, we are left to create in an environment that is unfriendly for creativity in the visual art. The younger ones are not really tilting towards the sculptures because it is easier for them to just paint. I fear if sculpture practice will survive another century in this country unless with the technological innovation as we’ve seen with three dimensional arts. 

How would you describe Nigerians acceptance and response to exhibitions? 

Nigerians love the art and they have eyes for good things. I do not mean only visual art. Art also include photography, new media and writings. As regards visual art, visual literacy has eaten into every facet of our society so much that it is even affecting the way we manage our environment and things around us. Nigerians are beginning to accept that art is life and it has a way of improving our lives and take away the stress of every society. The response is getting better and artists are appreciated more as the days go by.  

As regards your next exhibition, which is a group exhibition, what does the artists have in common?

They are mid-career artists that use their works to comment on environmental issues. The artists are focused on mitigating the effects of climate change through sustainable practices using their creative designs as an example to inspire designers and consumers globally.

I produce my sculptures from eco-friendly wood – a material born out of my studio research. My major motivation was a need for a healthy clean environment, free from deforestation. Ecofriendly wood aims at mitigating the effect of climate change caused by deforestation.

Abdulrazaq Ahmed uses his beautiful tropical colours in his palette to highlight the need for the preservation of the beauty of our planet through the promotion of bio diversity. The combination of human forms and plants in his painting attest to the fact that humans need a healthy environment to survive.

Omuedi Friday explores fabric wastes which he collects from landfills and tailor shops to create beautiful layers of fabric collages and tapestries depicting beautiful landscapes from the Delta region of Nigeria where he lives and works. 

Marshall Nwauwa explores acrylic paints in depicting the beauty of rural and urban life in Nigeria. He also highlights the changes in human societies resulting from urbanisation and migrations fueled by mass consumerism. 

How important is this exhibition considering that there are several exhibitions in the country?

At this point in human existence, there is a climate emergency. Nigeria is faced with a climate catastrophe caused by climate change. Sustainable environmental practices are the only way to mitigate the harsh effects of climate change. This show is needed now more than ever and as the theme says, ‘Here is there’s 

What influenced the theme of the exhibition?

For many years, climate experts and activists predicted a climate doom due to a global legacy of reckless environmental practices resulting in pollution, indiscriminate waste disposal and emission of greenhouse gasses.

Today, Considering the high level of climate catastrophe in Nigeria and across the world, we see massive flooding and wildfires. This is the only time to act because the climate doom has just started. 

How do you think artists should approach exhibitions in Nigeria because some just see it as an avenue to make money by selling their works?

Art exhibitions are supposed to be an avenue through which the artist opens fresh perspectives to the appreciation of his works to his audience. Exhibitions should be the artist’s opportunity to display his genuine passionate energy, that drives him in exploring new potentiality of his art making and practice.

During exhibitions, the artist is supposed to get feedback from the public on his works. 

Exhibitions come with enormous challenges, can you tell us some of the challenges Nigerian artists face before, during and after exhibitions? 

The artist is supposed to be the person that mirrors the society. He creates his pieces based on his response to the society. He is supposed to create this works and make them available for the publics but there are professionals who are trained to present works of the artists, they are the curators. But in Nigeria, we have very few of such curators and as such artists have to take that time in some cases, pay for spaces. One is not just a creative, you become a curator and an art dealer because your practice must be sustained. These challenges make the works cumbersome and sometimes discourage artists. 

Art is a continuous creative process where the artist must constantly grow in his/her creative exercise; but, to that, the artist needs an enabling environment to improve and thrive. 

Unfortunately, Nigeria is a country with many vices that make being an artist a big struggle. Lack of government intervention, unstable power supply, unstable market price and inflation are among factors that affect artists. 

An artist would have to endure many of these problems to gather works for exhibition.

In some cases, artist lacks basic social amenities, institutionalized economic instability and mediocrity that defines the educational institutions and the rest of national institutions. Artists’ challenges differ depending on locations. But the general challenges range from unavailability of the information, lack of affordable art materials for the artist to execute his works, unwillingness of the artist to adapt to changes even as the world has been reduced to a global village – some artists lack knowledge of the operation of the social media and other contemporary technology that could be helpful to them. The Nigeria artist like any other artist around the world needs a place to work and sleep which is quite difficult. 

When the artist finally has works for exhibition, he/she might end up having to curate, still no grants and no sponsors. More so, the curators are often interested only in trending artists or those they could rip off.