Category: Art, Media & Entertainment

Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga received the Belgian Art Prize 2017, the oldest contemporary art award in Belgium. The prize is accompanied by a reward of 25,000 euros.

Otobong Nkanga, 42, is a visual artist and performer who handles drawing, photography, installation and video. It focuses on the interconnection between environment, architecture and history. Political themes that are explored with poetry, between narratives and memories. For the Belgian Art Prize, she presents a sculpture and three textile works that intertwine awakened dreams and visions of the world.

The exhibition Belgian Art Prize is visible until 28 May [2017] at the Palais des Beaux-Arts.

The Nigerian fine artist, Otobong Nkanga, in 2015 emerged the first African to win the Yanghyun Foundation Artist Award in Seoul, Korea. She was selected for her outstanding creativity in media and motivational photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and video.

The Lagos State Government (LASG) has inaugurated a Board of Arts & Culture with distinguished members of the Lagos State Arts and Culture Board [2017] inducted by the Governor Of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, as follows:

Arts enthusiast, Mrs. Polly Alakija as Chairman

Veteran thespian, Mrs. Joke Silva

Award winning actor, Kunle Afolayan

Visual artist, Mr. Kolade Oshinowo

Foremost artist & designer, Chief Mrs. Nike Okundaye

Mobee of Badagry, High Chief Patrick Yodenu Mobee

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Adesina Adeyemi

Director of Culture at the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture, Mrs. Saidat Otulana

The Lagos State Arts and Culture Board seeks to fulfill the following responsibilities:

1. To explore private sector support to nurture new talents and generate events for a sustainable development of the creative arts sector in the State.
2. To drive tourism, create employment & increase the contribution of the non-oil sector to the State’s gross domestic product.
3. To ensure the sustainable management of arts and culture facilities and infrastructures in the State.

Purple Hibiscus by award-winning Nigerian author and MacArthur Genius Award recipient Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been selected winner of the 2017 One Maryland One Book.

The novel was chosen by a committee of librarians, educators, authors, and bibliophiles in February [2017] from more than 120 titles suggested last fall by readers across the state under the theme, “Home and Belonging.”

Purple Hibiscus is an exquisite novel about the emotional turmoil of adolescence, the powerful bonds of family, and the bright promise of freedom.

Ubiomo Chinedu Ogheneroh and Ayooluwa Nihinlola are technically gifted and creative graphic artists and illustrators evident in their culturally rich works ‘Facial Series’ & ‘Nollywood Legends’.

Ubiomo’s Facial Series, features blues eyed African women with traditional Uli design drawn on their faces. A graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ubiomo acknowledges influence and inspiration by the Igbo cultural Uli symbols, which gave birth to what he calls ‘kpuri’ which simply means ‘the act of using African symbols’.

Nihinlola’s Nollywood Legends immortalises some of Nollywood’s greats including Pete Edochie, Sam Loco Efe, Bukky Ajayi, and Patience Ozokwor. The project is a 48-page e-book featuring illustrations and brief biographies of the oldies in Nigeria’s film industry.

The book, Nollywood Legends, is targeted at youths who believe Nollywood begins and ends with the new generation of actors. Ayooluwa says he hopes to enlighten and remind them of the impact and legacy of these legends.

The book can be downloaded for free here.

Ifetayo Ali-Landing, a 14-year-old cellist, recently won first place in the junior division at the prestigious Annual Sphinx Competition with her performance of Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor.

Her win includes a cash prize of $10,000, performances with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, participation with the Sphinx Soloist Program Partners, solo appearances with major orchestras, and a radio interview on “From the Top,” a nationally-broadcast music program.

The national Sphinx Competition provides young Black and Latino classical string instrument musicians the opportunity to compete under the guidance of an internationally-renowned panel of judges and perform with established professional musicians.

Ifetayo Ali-Landing is the Junior Division 1st Place Laureate of the 2017 Annual Sphinx Competition and performed as soloist with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in Detroit.  She is also the Junior Division 2nd Place Laureate of the 2016 Sphinx Competition. She was selected as one of the winners of the 2016 DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers competition and performed as soloist with the Festival’s Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, she has placed or received honorable mentions for the Society of American Musicians (SAM) competition, Depaul Concerto Festival for Young Musicians competition, and the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius competition.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has emerged the 2017 One Book, One New York Winner with her book; Americanah.

One Book, One New York is a program in which residents of all five boroughs are encouraged to read the same book at the same time. Because it is challenging to choose one book for eight million readers, the organizers held a vote. The five contenders included:

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Sellout by Paul Beatty, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.  The five finalists make a wonderful set of books with much in common. They are all moving, thought-provoking, seriously well-written reflections on race, identity, society and culture.