Foreshore School Displays Pupils’ Talents in Art Exhibition

Funmi Ogundare

The Foreshore School, Ikoyi, recently held an art exhibition to showcase the creativity of its pupils.

The exhibition, ‘The Joy of Living: Exploring Mediums,’ witnessed solo performances, orchestra, and drama presentations by the pupils.

Speaking at the programme, Foreshore’s Executive Director, Oyindamola Egbeyemi, stated, “We added creativity to their learning experience. Children ask questions. They are very inquisitive, and they always want to understand why things are being done. We always explain to them in a way they can understand, and creativity is a way to get the knowledge across to them.”

She noted that the non-exposure of Nigerian students to art is the reason many do not appreciate the art.

“Our children are beginning to appreciate the works of art and also express themselves in different ways. Art is an expression of one’s character and personality,” she said.

Foreshore’s Head of School, Helen Oyewole, added that when the school had its Pied Piper play two years ago, she had expressed optimism that the children would display other talents apart from the academic.

“We bring up children at the Foreshore School to be holistic, so we celebrate every aspect of them. We also felt that after the pandemic, there is a reason to live. So art is a representation of anything you feel. The children have expressed themselves with various mediums of what they feel about life. Art is beautiful. What you have inside is what you bring out as art which is life. We celebrate every area because we believe that every child has his talent. So our work is to groom them,” she said.

The school’s fine art teacher, Oyewole Oyeku, said he knew what the children could do.

“Just like the theme of the exhibition, ‘The Joy of Living,’ is to appreciate the fact that a lot of us are still alive despite the pandemic. So, we thought this is a good time to do the art exhibition, and it is also a good time to show the world what the children can do.”

In her remarks, the Director of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Lagos, and chairperson of the occasion, Olufunke Fowler-Ambah, expressed delight about the pupils’ paintings.

“It is quite obvious that we have a lot of innate talents in the children, and we are not able to harness it. Today, I have seen such talents that have been harnessed. It is unbelievable, and I encourage all schools as well to promote art because it is linked to every subject. It is very important,” Fowler-Ambah stated.

A member of the art committee, Tolu Okemien, who worked on the production of the exhibition and presentation, described the pupils’ artworks as “amazing.”

“It is amazing to see five, six, seven, eight, and 10-year-olds creating the quality of works displayed on the walls. I was shocked when I started seeing the works come out of the art room. It’s just them all the way.”

A Year Five pupil, Oghosa Asemota, who made a painting titled, ‘The African Woman,’ described it as a silhouette painting of an African woman in traditional attire, revealing she was inspired by her mother, who tells her always to acknowledge her Africaness.