Department of Fine and Applied Arts

This paper considers eight artworks selected at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, to understand how these works and art in general shape the prevailing social-cultural atmosphere and influence the built environment. Through the analysis, the role of sculptures and mural paintings is revealed as dual: they enhance the physical identity of the campus and serve as one of the cultural tools for teaching, inspiring, and uniting the members of the university community. By adopting the points of view voiced by Adeyanju, Fajuyigbe, Feyisara, Ijisakin, and other writers, one can place each of the works in the context of the larger story about heritage preservation, identity formation, and communal interaction. The results show that the protagonistic use of these works in busy, iconic or shared spaces serves to incorporate the art in the everyday life on campus, encouraging contemplation, discussions and belonging. Moreover, by incorporating the elements of indigenous culture in their symbolism into the work of more modern architecture, the living story, the transition between the past and contemporary world occurs. The paper provides an argument that the strategy chosen by OAU to integrate art into architecture and landscape reflects the power of encapsulating education spaces into cultural landscapes that will always define the values, memories and identities of all people who experience the spaces.

The paper is an examination of how contemporary Nigerian art is reconfiguring waste as an ecological intervention, as exemplified by Adeola Balogun's sculptural and mixed-media series featuring disposed tires, plastics, and electronic panels. Based on a first-person interview with the artist, the research places his practice within the international clearances of waste, African philosophy, and sustainability. Although recycling of discarded materials in art has been widely applauded as an ecological act, this paper adopts a critical stance: it looks at how Balogun's work both opposes and threatens to recreate global inequalities, especially in the commodification of African waste. The paper compares his practice to artists like El Anatsui and Bright Ugochukwu Eke, and explores theoretical insights into the practice of Nigerian waste art as an ecological statement, as well as, philosophical and political intervention in the paper. Finally, it suggests that future Nigerian artists can reimagine waste to be able to claim back futures of an ecological, cultural, and technological kind, both inside and outside the ashes of modernity.

The first two editions of the Festivals of Blacks arts and culture which owed much to the ideologies of the Pan-Africanism and Negritude that preceded them, no doubt laid legacies that have continued to serve as strong reference points in the discussion of Africans and African descent relationship. Apart from providing an unusual forum that brought to light the diverse contributions of Blacks and African peoples to the universal currents of thought and arts, both editions drew attentions to the expected relationship between the continental Africans and their offspring in the Diaspora. The events reassert the African identity thus creating the platform for continental Africa and the Diaspora to move through the borders of nation state and the psychosocial borders of racism which is central to all Pan-Africanist freedom movements. It is however worrisome that forty eight years after the maiden edition of the festival (FESMAN) and thirty seven years after the second (FESTAC), the achieved cultural integration is yet to translate into much expected economical, political, educational, philosophical and technological advancements of African nations and that of the Diaspora. This paper therefore attempts a review of the Black Festivals of Arts with a view to highlighting how the achieved cultural integration through the arts could be further explored for today's realities and expectations.

The paper examines Ilesa palace's architecture and the artistic objects within the old palace ('afin') constructed around 1079 AD, including the courtyards ('akodi') within the palace. Data was sourced from field work, oral interviews and relevant literature. Purposively selected photographs of the 'Afin' are used in discussing the deplorable state of the architecture, royal paraphernalia and art objects, and thus raises the question of their sustainability and relevance for future generations. The study reveals the dilapidation of the old palace and courtyards were caused by the ravaging effects of urbanisation, poor maintenance attitude and indifference of the royal court to the historical/cultural values embedded in the art and architecture of the Ijesa nation. Of what benefits is urbanisation to the culture and history of a people if the memories of their past fade into oblivion, and their monuments and historical places of pride are neglected and endangered? The paper posits that the neglect of the indigenous arts and heritage architecture in Nigeria has become a natural phenomenon. Therefore, despite the benefits of modern architecture and urban development, elements of culture like art and heritage architecture should be sustained for future generation and entrenching cultural identity.

This paper discusses the role of visual art in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015 especially as regards improvement in environmental health in Nigeria. Many urban
dwellers in Nigeria still live in unhealthy environmental conditions occasioned by slums, congested
housing and traffic, poor waste-disposal habits and decaying infrastructures. This paper focuses on the
role of visual arts in the proper arrangement of the built environment and the menace of visual
illiteracy as it affects the wellbeing of the people in Nigeria. It also observes that people are the major
polluters of the environment and that many of them appear indifferent and insensitive to the issue of
environmental health and positive maintenance culture. This buttresses the idea that visual illiteracy is
a serious issue which must be addressed if Nigeria will achieve any meaningful progress regarding the
Millennium Development Goals. As a result of the need to sensitize people to be conscious of the physical
quality of their environment in order to ensure environmental cleanliness and positive maintenance
culture, the paper recommends the teaching of Visual Arts and aesthetics at all levels of the country’s
educational system as a long-term solution; and mounting intensive mass-awareness programmes in
the meantime.

Introduction Art in any form or media is a device used for representing ideas, recording events, tracing physical advancements and capturing fleeting moments and feelings inspired by nature and human activities generally. In this regard, landscape art functions as a tool of historical documentation of the physical environment (and development) and validates the dynamics of human experiences and environmental changes overtime. Landscape painting, one of the visual art genres, is an art that dates back to the pre-independent era in Nigeria. The story of landscape painting in Nigeria is encapsulated within the history of modern Nigerian art, which is traceable to the European influence on Nigerian visual expression. Europe, Britain precisely played a major role in the birth of landscape painting in Nigeria. This is because landscape painting is one of the components of easel painting which was never a tradition in Nigeria until the colonial experience. In addition, the early painters t...

The first two editions of the Festivals of Blacks arts and culture which owed much to the ideologies of the Pan-Africanism and Negritude that preceded them, no doubt laid legacies that have continued to serve as strong reference points in the discussion of Africans and African descent relationship. Apart from providing an unusual forum that brought to light the diverse contributions of Blacks and African peoples to the universal currents of thought and arts, both editions drew attentions to the expected relationship between the continental Africans and their offspring in the Diaspora. The events reassert the African identity thus creating the platform for continental Africa and the Diaspora to move through the borders of nation state and the psychosocial borders of racism which is central to all Pan-Africanist freedom movements. It is however worrisome that forty eight years after the maiden edition of the festival (FESMAN) and thirty seven years after the second (FESTAC), the achie...

The paper examines Ilesa palace’s architecture and the artistic objects within the old palace (‘afin’) constructed around 1079 AD, including the courtyards (‘akodi’) within the palace. Data was sourced from field work, oral interviews and relevant literature. Purposively selected photographs of the ‘Afin’ are used in discussing the deplorable state of the architecture, royal paraphernalia and art objects, and thus raises the question of their sustainability and relevance for future generations. The study reveals the dilapidation of the old palace and courtyards were caused by the ravaging effects of urbanisation, poor maintenance attitude and indifference of the royal court to the historical/cultural values embedded in the art and architecture of the Ijesa nation. Of what benefits is urbanisation to the culture and history of a people if the memories of their past fade into oblivion, and their monuments and historical places of pride are neglected and endangered? The paper posits th...

Every art form reflects the values of the cultural background that produces it, and visual culture in its present state is based on art and values from the past. This paper, therefore, examines the re-invention of culture and distinctive cultural ideals in contemporary Nigerian art. Specifically, it pinpoints contemporary Yorùbá paintings as visual markers of the Yorùbá value system. The study traces the origin of painting in Africa, from its earliest forms in African caves, shrines, and palaces, through the colonial and postcolonial eras to the present. Based on their contexts, eight (8) paintings that portray specific values of the Yorùbá and are ingrained with symbolic motifs, patterns and imageries are selected. Formal and contextual methods in art history are employed in the analysis of the data. The selected paintings serve as a visual document of the Yorùbá belief system; while contemporary Yorùbá artists are shown to consistently draw from their culture and design resources to establish a connection between the past and the present. The paper concludes that contemporary Nigerian art, generally, reveals new perspectives and meanings regarding art, culture, and identity in a fast-changing, multi-ethnic society like Nigeria.

The study examined the effects of two and three dimensional visual objects on learners' drawing skills in junior secondary schools in OsunState.Nigeria.It also determined students' ability to identify visual objects. Furthermore, it investigated the comparative effectiveness of two and three dimensional visual objects on drawing skills of junior secondary school students.The study employed the pretest, post-test experimental design. The study population consisted of all junior secondary school one students in Osun State. Three junior secondary schools were purposively selected from Atakumosa Local Government Area of Osun State. A sample of 120 JSS1 students was selected from the three schools using stratified sampling techniques with sex as stratum. These were later randomly assigned into two experimental and one control groups. The first experimental group was taught drawing using three-dimensional visual objects; the second experimental group was taught using two-dimensional visual objects, while group three the control group was taught using conventional method. The research instrument was a Visual Object Achievement Test (VOAT). This was administered as pre test and post test. Data gathered were analyzed using ANOVA and t-test statistics.The results showed that there was a significant difference in the basic drawing skills of learners taught with visual objects and those taught without visual objects (F = 14.163, p< 0.05). The results also showed that there was a significant difference in the identification ability of learners taught with two and three dimensional visual objects and those taught with conventional method. (F = 4.599, p< 0.05).The study concluded that the use of two and three dimensional objects will anhance drawing skills. Furthermore, the results showed that there was no significant difference in the acquisition of drawing skills between male and female students who were taught using two and three dimensional visual objects (t = 2.02, p< 0.05). The study concluded that the use of two and three-dimensional visual objects significantly enhanced students' drawing ability.

The Òndó people are known for their consistent use of the old aso-òkè types, over the yea. which perhaps must have influenced the thought in some quarters that the Òndó people have a long history of the narrow strip weaving tradition. This study however reveals that the Òndó indigenes are not weavers of aso-okè, the narrow strip cloth, but good merchants and patrons of the old aso-òkè types. It also attributes the sustenance of the weaving industry that thrived in the town in the early part of the 20th century to the migrant weavers from Iseyin and Ilorin.

Traditional African artists, as prominent members of their communities interpret their people's thoughts and conventions through their expressive forms: hence their interpretations of nature rather than its imitation in their works. This phenomenon may account for the deliberate distortion of forms particularly noticeable in the traditional African sculptures. These forms of distortion vary from society to society, as do the philosophies or beliefs they attempt to interpret. Among traditional Yoruba artists, the disproportionately large visual representation of the head in human figures is a common feature in their sculptures and understanding this distortion requires a focus of attention on the indigenous beliefs and philosophical concepts of the Yoruba people, which give meaning to such representation. The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify and use appropriate oral traditions in unveiling the mystery surrounding the Yoruba sculptors' deliberate disproportionate visual representation of the head-Ori-in human images.

This study is an attempt at identifying the stylistic variables as evident in the treatment of forms and features of the Owo terracotta sculptures with a view to determining sameness and differences (of hands) in the production of the sculptures. Efforts made so far have basically identified either, features that can be linked with styles of other art traditions (of Ife and Benin) in the sculptures or those characteristic features that differentiate Owo terracotta arts from these traditions using the "group theory". This study focussed mainly on the distinctive traits that are indeed peculiar to Owo and cannot be found even in the neighbouring art traditions. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources with the study relying heavily on primary sources of data. Critical observation of the sculptures were made for proper formal analysis while heads and fragments of heads were purposively selected for a meaningful stylistic analysis, since the available heads and assembled head fragments do not merge appropriately with the headless bodies and other assembled fragments. Interviews were also conducted with the head of the local artists' guild in Owo. The secondary sources provided information on previous studies on art traditions acclaimed as having noticeable stylistic similarities to the Owo terracotta sculptures (i.e. Ife and Benin). The paper posits that, despite the diversity of styles or sub-styles in the sculptures, they generally depict mood and movement, a trait found to be distinctive of Owo terracotta sculptures.

The invention of Handmade Paper is considered as an important stage in the Life Cycle Grade of Human Beings,which is in continous progress, by means of information transfer. Due to accessibility of materials and technological develeopments, paper production has reached to a good level of economy. The word paper comes from Papyrus in its roots. The Production of Paper explained in its history, today can be examined in two types: Commercial and Artistic. The aim of this paper is to learn and develop the production of artistic hand made paper with texture of plants which is used in plastic arts, and to set up a similar workshop in the Faculty of Fine Arts, to inroduce this production especially to the print making studuents would widen their perspectives, while providing a medium to work experimentally.

The first two editions of the Festivals of Blacks arts and culture which owed much to the ideologies of the Pan-Africanism and Negritude that preceded them, no doubt laid legacies that have continued to serve as strong reference points in the discussion of Africans and African descent relationship. Apart from providing an unusual forum that brought to light the diverse contributions of Blacks and African peoples to the universal currents of thought and arts, both editions drew attentions to the expected relationship between the continental Africans and their offspring in the Diaspora. The events reassert the African identity thus creating the platform for continental Africa and the Diaspora to move through the borders of nation state and the psychosocial borders of racism which is central to all Pan-Africanist freedom movements. It is however worrisome that forty eight years after the maiden edition of the festival (FESMAN) and thirty seven years after the second (FESTAC), the achie...

Since the pioneering efforts of Frank Willett that examine the Yoruba arts, there remains a yearning gap to holistically investigate the material contents and classification of Yoruba art objects. For proper documentation, information and placement of Yoruba arts, the need for a scientific material compositional analysis of Yoruba arts cannot be overemphasised. This discourse employs a qualitative and evaluative mode of research to emphasize the need, importance and prospects of proper scientific material investigation of Yoruba arts. The study provides information on Frank Willett, the Yoruba people, and relevant studies on the Yoruba arts. It further discusses compositional analysis through the lens of literature, art authentication, and makes a case for authenticating Yoruba art collections. Considering the elegance and importance of African arts and antiquities, the findings of this study show that the provenance of Yoruba art objects has not received adequate attention; this ha...

The paper examined the place of Aso-Oke among the Yoruba. It viewed the use of aso-oke and its economy, which has been enhanced by the cloth’s prestige status over time. It observed that the elevation of aso-oke as the symbol of Yoruba national identify has been a strong factor in the sustenance of its usage thus making it essential to the social, political, economic and cultural life of the people. The study noted the nationalist renewed appreciation of interest in African culture in their struggle for political independence led to their search for cultural emblem. It viewed that the search led the Yoruba elite, like their other educated Nigerians from the main ethnic groups to consciously identify themselves with cloths and mode of dresses peculiar to their areas. It concludes that as long as aso-oke remains a material of value and prestige and more importantly an identity of the typical Yoruba person(s) home and abroad, it shall continue to be a relevant binding factor among the ...

The paper examined the place of Aso-Òkè among the Yoruba. It viewed the use of aso-òkè and its economy, which has been enhanced by the cloth's prestige status over time. It observed that the elevation of aso-òkè as the symbol of Yoruba national identify has been a strong factor in the sustenance of its usage thus making it essential to the social, political, economic and cultural life of the people. The study noted the nationalist renewed appreciation of interest in African culture in their struggle for political independence led to their search for cultural emblem. It viewed that the search led the Yoruba elite, like their other educated Nigerians from the main ethnic groups to consciously identify themselves with cloths and mode of dresses peculiar to their areas. It concludes that as long as aso-òkè remains a material of value and prestige and more importantly an identity of the typical Yoruba person(s) home and abroad, it shall continue to be a relevant binding factor among the Yoruba and of a strong social and economic significance.