Having featured a coterie of West Africa’s visionary artists, the exhibition, Unleashing West Africa’s Creative Economy, it turned out, was a roaring curatorial success, much to the delight of discerning aficionados. With its eclectic mix of innovative installations, vibrant paintings, and thought-provoking sculptures, the exhibition showcased the sub-region’s vibrant creative potential, perfectly complementing the recent two-day West African Economic Summit (WAES). What could have been a logistical and artistic challenge proved to be a masterclass in synchronising diverse ideas, earning pats on the back for curator Nduwhite Ndubuisi Ahanonu and his team, which included the innovative Lagosbased Mathew Oyedele, among others. Owing to Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar’s high octane idea of adding art exhibitions to his soft diplomacy menu – a bold move that birthed the Atrium Gallery at the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s quadrangle – the exhibition’s venue at Abuja’s spruced-up International Conference Centre (now
rechristened after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) attracted a veritable Who’s Who of dignitaries. These included the president himself, a handful of his ministers, monarchs, parastatal heads, and diplomatic corps members, who came to pay homage to the creative genius on display.
With the curatorial team’s skillful striking of a delicate balance between the featured artists’ diverse aesthetic idiosyncrasies, the exhibition stood head and shoulders above the rest, outshining most group shows in the federal capital city and beyond. This triumph was all the more notable given its deft sidestepping of those numbingly predictable offerings that often leave viewers with the feeling of having seen it all before – a sense of déjà vu that can be as dull as a spreadsheet.
