Nigeria, the land of plenty

Diseye Tantua, Demas Nwoko and the Demas Nwoko's seats African Pop Art, fascination for transportation in Nigeria and a great friendship and a partnership with artist and architect Demas Nwoko are the words that come to mind when talking about Diseye Tantua. Both of them were are at the opening of Diseye Tantua's latest exhibition S'Art in Victoria Island curated by Arthouse at the Kia Showroom on Akin Adesola street.  A giant wooden chair with both of their faces painted in pop-art colours on the backrest was welcoming visitors on the parking lot. And not far from it was the huge blue pick-up from Diseye with a pirate-faced logo and a " D Artist" licence plate. All was told about the exhibition inside the hall. Cars and other transport means are essential to humanity, pop-art is fun and the nigerian roads are an endless source of common wisdom based upon the countless slogans painted on commercial vehicles that are plying the roads. Traditional par...

the peak of Idanre Hills Idanre Hills are a potential touristic jewel, and a Unesco listed site. Located 25 kilometres south-west of Akure in Ondo State, it is an unusual rock formation rising a few hundred meters above the forested flatlands. The area covered by the hills is probably 20km by 20km. Initially, inhabitants settled on the hilltop plateau. There are still traces of the settlement: a school built in mud bricks at the end of the 19th century, a few huts with rusted corrugated iron roofs and the Owa's palace. Nowadays, people have migrated to the foothill to create the city that has swallowed up all the flat space available between the rocks. The migration happened in two steps. In 1928 newly converted Christians left the hilltop settlement to avoid harassment from and confrontation with the Traditionalists and settled in Idanre Alade, a village on the outskirt of the hills. The second part of the settlement moved to the foothill in 1933. It is the first time I see ...

"Total Help From Above" from the Divine Appointment Ministry Int'l Lekki is a part of Lagos that grows insatiably. It extends eastward from Victoria Island. It is an urban sprawl, that has a feeling of Conquest of the East as it gluttonously expands towards Epe. It spreads over the stretch of sand that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Lagoon of Lagos. Development goes unabated as developers turn unused and cheap land into shopping malls, residential estates and progressively displace eastward poverty and informal markets and replace them by a more organised form of commerce. As a result the value of the area appreciates and the Nigerian middle-class flock there with their cohorts of cars, that have to commute over one single highway. Traffic can be terrible, progressively rivalling with the one of the Mainland. To accommodate this new influx of life in the area, schools, new shops, restaurants, entertainment areas are mushrooming not to mention worship centres (...

Ladies in pink from the northern procession The Yoruba traditional festival of Egbe Alaso Osun celebrates the celestial community of humanity a nd marks the communion of the world of the living and the “spiritual realm” (the world of the Spirits). During the day, celebrations consists in processions coming from two compounds and going to the palace of Alaafin before returning where they originated. The night before until early morning hours, sacrifices and offerings of food, among other things, are made throughout the town to feed the Spirits. We participated to a procession from the compound o f Ile Adedeji. The procession came from the North towards the palace of the Alaafin to pay him homage and it was joined by another one coming from the South. Both converged at the roundabout in front of the palace walls. The processions where essentially composed of women. The colour code of the southern one was pink while the northern one was blue and brown. ladies in blue from ...

Masters, Landlords and Bosses Kelechi Odu, Boss or Master? Saturday evening, last minute announcement, Kelechi Odu is presenting his autumn/winter fashion collection under the title "Masters, Landlords and Bosses" in reference to the traditional clothing of british aristocracy of the past centuries. Iconic elements of traditional clothing were re-interpreted with new materials - a lot of transparency - like a veil of the past put on modern clothes. The rather stately theme seemed to me a natural choice for Kelechi who likes to upset conventions and mischieviously question the established order (his signature is the neckless shirt, looking as if someone had just torn its neck to breath better). He used transparent material to provide colours and texture to jackets, shirts, robes and waistcoats. The lightness of the fabric is well adapted to Lagos hot and humid weather. He also produced some ruffled pieces. A black transparent robe with a white ruffled collar includin...