A Cultural Heritage Engraved in Stones

Yinka Olatunbosun 

White sculptures arranged in a large circle come into view upon entrance into the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos where Nigeria’s leading sculptor, Oladapo Afolayan is currently staging a retrospective solo exhibition.

With the theme, The Stone Speaks, this exhibition is a display of invaluable craftsmanship from the artist who polished his skills in stone sculpture at the Lynn Stretter’s Marble and Art Workshop at Pietrasanta (Lucca) Italy in 2007 and later at Carrara, an Italian city renowned for being the home of the best marble in the world.

This graduate of Ahmadu Bello University  demonstrated unusual techniques from his carving to polishing to celebrate the beauty of nature while inspiring a renewed commitment to the preservation of these histo-cultural assets.

While reflecting on this on-going show, the Curator, National Museum Lagos, Mrs Nkechi Adedeji said: “The exhibition is more than just a display; it is a platform for dialogue and education, discussion and interrogation about the future of stone craftsmanship and it’s evolving role in contemporary art and design.”

Born in Osi-Ekiti, a place with historical footprints in stone carving, Afolayan’s early influence may have buoyed his curiosity in this art form that would be the cornerstone of his career.

Afolayan revealed that his personal journey into stone exploration dates back to 1986. For this exhibition, he made painstaking effort to select stones from the broken pieces of large stones in some Nigerian quarries, unlike the machine-driven large deposits that are available outside the country which allow for more flexibility in shaping the size of every sculpture.

For this show, he has created 12 garden stone sculptural pieces mostly in calcite marble.

“The concepts went through a wide range of time and years of contemplating,” Afolayan explained. “Some took months for the concept to emerge while others resulted from spontaneous exploration of forms.”

The works include titles such as “Royalty,” “Agbajo-Owo Lafi Nsoya,” “Despident” “Veiled Damsel” and “Mother Care.”

One of the works titled “Tributes to Chibok Girl” is a visual homage to the memory of Leah Sharibu, a secondary school student who was kidnapped in Chibok at age 14. Sharibu who turns 21 this year is still in captivity by terrorists for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.