Ten Unforgettable Moments for Arts in 2021

2021 is a year filled with a flurry of activities and great developments in visual arts, music, literary and popular culture, says Yinka Olatunbosun

A whirlwind of change permeated the art scene in Nigeria in 2021- and it was loved. Earlier in the year, the leading Afro-fusion artist, Burna Boy broke the jinx associated with the World Music Album category at the Grammys when he won in the renamed Best Global Music Album category.

The award had eluded the likes of King Sunny Ade, Femi and Seun Anikulapo-Kuti. Wizkid also won the Best Music Video at the Grammys alongside American singer, Beyonce in the collaborative track titled “Brown Skin Girl.’’

Jesus College, part of Cambridge University returned the Bronze, a statue of a cockerel known as Okukor, which has been held at the College since 1905. It became the first institution to return a Benin Bronze having presented it to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

An all-female art exhibition called “The Invincible Hands’’ was unveiled at the Pan-Atlantic University’s Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art (YSMA) in Ibeju-Lekki. Featuring 40 contemporary Nigerian women artists, the 70 pieces were selected from the permanent collection of YSMA and from temporary loans by artists and collectors. The whole idea was to celebrate the contribution of underrepresented female artists in Nigeria and it turns out to be –perhaps- the longest running show of the year from August 28 to January 25, 2022 with Olufisayo Bakare as guest curator.

One of the most memorable moments for Arts in 2021 was when the Tanzanian author, Abdulrazak Gurnah was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. With the win, Gurnah became the first African to clinch the prize long after Wole Soyinka did in 1986, Egypt’s Naguib Mahfouz in 1988 and South Africa’s Nadine Gordimer in 1991. Gurnah was featured at this year’s Ake Arts and Book Festival.

The National Festival of Arts and Culture, NAFEST 2021 was a seven-day avalanche of cultural feasting in drama, archery, traditional board games, essay writing, workshop, merchandising which climaxed with the host state, Ekiti being declared as the overall winner.

Jelosinmi Art Centre, a first community art centre, privately owned was established in Oshodi to empower children who are out of school. For the philanthropist, artist and founder of Jelosinmi Art Centre, Abolore Sobayo, the centre is a step towards achieving his goal of reducing crime and the number of youthful street urchins in Lagos. The centre has been a hotbed of masterclasses, exhibitions, community outreach programmes and more since it resumed operations.

Film stills from the 1971 movie, ‘’Things Fall Apart produced by Francis Oladele were installed at the Madam Tinubu Square in the heart of the Lagos Business District to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie which was screened for the first time in Nigeria this year. The screening and outdoor installations were a part of the month-long ‘Festival of Forgotten Films’ curated by Didi Cheeka and Mareike Palmeira.

In November, the Smithsonian’s Museum of African Art launched its global presence in Lagos, Nigeria with an immersive art exhibition titled ‘Taste! 24 Hours of Smithsonian in Lagos.’ The collaborative interactive art experience in partnership with Art X Lagos, the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF), the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) and David Adjaye designed venue Alára brought together the international, Nigeria and African diaspora through the worlds of film, art, photography, and fashion.

A meeting of town and gown was organised by Prof. Niyi Coker to commemorate the golden anniversary of Ola Rotimi’s Ori Olokun Theatre and legacy of its founding members like Peggy Harper, Akin Euba and Prof Wangboje.

Art X Lagos reopened its physical venue for West Africa’s premier art fair, parading the works of renowned artist, galleries and holding talks on cultural restitution and other front-burner issues in the sector.