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| Queen Idia Mask Head (Image source: The Nation) |
•We
need to save the Benin phenomenon for its cultural and commercial values
It
may indeed be a sign of changing times that a land noted for its fascinating
sculptural treasures made in various media is reportedly facing a crisis of
sorts in the production of wood carvings. It is a cause for concern that Benin
in Edo State, which formed the core of a famous ancient kingdom, may be losing
its distinctive wood-carving capacity. This may well be true of carvings in
other media too.
What
makes the development particularly deserving of attention is that it is the
wood carvers themselves that are sounding the alarm. A concerned university-trained
Benin sculptor, Mr. Festus Enofe, who provided a history of the problem, was
quoted in a report as saying: “Wood carving used to be carried out by Wood
Guild called Igbesanmwan, when it was under the control of the Oba of Benin.
Then, the carvers were working for the Oba. It was a part-time work, as the
carvers did their farming occupation to survive.”
Enofe
said: “After the Guild era, when carving became commercialized, it was booming
– tourists were coming to Benin to buy carved works – but it has dropped now.”
He blamed this on, among other things, the lack of an enabling environment for
carvers. “There are no incentives, no encouragement to those involved in
producing artworks,” he said. For a country that aspires to gain from cultural
tourism locally and internationally, this is not the path to follow.
Other
factors in this narrative of decline, according to Enofe, include negative
taxes imposed on art patrons at the country’s international airports where
customs officials allegedly often seize contemporary artworks under the
mistaken impression that they are antiquities. Enofe also said:
“Religion is a barrier to artwork. These days, people tend to see carvings as
images of demons, which can attract bad spirits. It is an erroneous perception.”
Perhaps
more fundamentally, another Benin sculptor, Mr. Emmanuel Uwumwonse, identified
a critical learning gap as a contributory factor endangering the wood-carving
trade. According to him, “When we started learning, we normally did it after
school hours, especially during holidays. We went to the workshop to work with
our father, to raise our school fees. These days, you hardly see children doing
that. Children no longer do so because they do not see any future in
sculpture.”
Clearly,
modern conditions and consequences are at the heart of the problem. The economy
of culture has not been modernized in tune with new realities. The truth is
that the age-old traditional craft can no longer be realistically practiced in
the old ways. The practitioners need new perspectives and fresh approaches.
Furthermore,
the promotion of culture requires promotional space that is sustained by the
relevant authorities. The importance of an enabling environment for the craft
to thrive cannot be overemphasized.
Certainly,
it is not that carving has gone out of fashion, considering that art schools
and centres in the country still teach the skill and students still learn
it. The missing link is that the structures of cultural promotion are
weak and wobbly.
It
is counter-productive that the concept of Arts Endowment Fund remains largely
alien to official cultural managers at the various levels of administration in
the country. That is the right path to take. As things stand, the fortune
of fine art and artists, and by extension, the performing arts and artistes, is
unduly tied to narrow commercialism which stifles a desirable flowering of
talents.
It
is a noteworthy testimony to the rich artistic ambience of the old Benin
Kingdom that the internationally celebrated Queen Idia Mask Head, symbol of the
1977 African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) held in Lagos, is credited
to Benin sculptural tradition. The original artifact was among those carted
away by British invaders in the 19th century, and a replica had to be produced
for the festival.
Regrettably,
this richly creative tradition has been impoverished over time and may yet
further decline without urgent remedial steps
Originally
published as The Nation Editorial
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