Breaking the Bias for Women in Arts

In Nigeria, it has been reported that some female artists have stopped practicing and showcasing their gifts due to their husbands’ disapproval. In commemoration of the International Women’s Day with the campaign theme ‘Break the Bias’ the President, Female Artists Association of Nigeria, Chinze Ojobo revealed how the association is advancing the interests of women artists amidst the challenges that are peculiar to the gender in art practice in this interview with Yinka Olatunbosun

How has the association projected women artists in Nigeria in recent years?

As the current president of FEAAN, we have been able to do quite a lot for female artists. We have had a series of exhibitions and made it a duty to do at least three exhibitions every year. During the time of Covid lockdown, we had an online exhibition. FEAAN is an old association. We started in 2001 with just a few artists but now we have over 300 artists. We try as much as possible to do exhibitions to promote female artists. We do it every March 8 and speak against violence against women. But on October 1, we have a September show that flows into October 1 celebrations. We have done cultural exchange programmes and workshops. We have done it with China. We have had scholarship opportunities which we have given to three of our members at the Nile University and they have taken advantage of this for self-development and have graduated. We have done workshops where the French embassy sponsored 40 of our female artists to Agbarha Otor, Delta State for the Harmattan workshop by Bruce Onobrakpeya. We have the International Child Arts Olympiad DC. It is for children but then women are given the opportunity to travel to DC. We did a workshop for children. We have an exhibition that opened on March 5 in Port Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos. The one in Abuja is at the Korean embassy, the one in Lagos is at Olori gallery and another one in Port Harcourt. The good thing about our exhibitions is that it empowers the female artists to sell their works and get connected with collectors.

It is quite discouraging to see the trend of gender inequality in the visual arts sector. At most group exhibitions, you’d find more male than female artists. What factors are responsible for this?

Art is considered as a male-dominated field and there is a lot involved. Yes, there is inequality but I also think that the main cause is the way society is. When you graduate, people try to encourage you to go look for a job and teach instead of being an artist. You must be very daring as a woman to say that you want to be a full time artist. It is more or less a society that makes it easy for men to overshadow the women. The main essence of our association is to make women come together and show their works. Even if you don’t have a lot of work, you will at least have one. I know some women artists that their husbands did not allow them to paint since they got married.

Some even paint but hide their paintings from their husbands, and when their husbands find their paintings, they restrict them from participating in exhibitions. That’s also part of the problem.  There is also a case of getting married and having children. While taking care of the family, you don’t have time to paint. But the male folks practice more and because they do, they tend to get better. For women, it is a huge sacrifice. So, if you say I want to do this full time and I am not getting married, it is a huge sacrifice. That is why it appears that the men are outshining women. 

How can women artists then strike a balance between career and motherhood in this regard?

It is a lot of work for us women because the UN statistics say 70 percent of 1.8billion people living in poverty are women. Now, how can a woman with several jobs and her art keep up? I know female artists who are selling food stuff and painting, still participating in exhibitions, taking care of the family and still have full time government job. She couldn’t even stay long on the exhibition opening because she has to go and attend to other things. There are those who actually pushed towards their career but they had to sacrifice a lot. Due to gender bias, a lot of women can’t reach their career potential. Then it depends on what you are looking for.  Some people want the money, some want the recognition so it depends on what you want. Some people want artistic excellence. Define what your career potential is, where you are going and you will get there. 

What role has female mentorship played in nurturing winning women in arts?

Dr Ngozi Akande, Chief Nike Okundaye-Davies, Prof. Bridget Nwanze and many other leading female artists have given us a lot of support. Mama Nike has mentored a lot of female artists. The mentorship has been very good. Also, Dr. Stella Awo and Prof. Peju Layiwola have also helped female artists develop an identity -to have their own style and know who they are, what they can do and how far they can go. It helps them develop a network to get to know art buyers, where to buy materials and the various art schools and you’d know where the exhibitions are, what to do and how to get there. It helps you gain high level career insight. 

Women should be given credit when they perform very well. And when you are evaluating performance, be fair. We need to learn to empower women. Men should not deny women money. They shouldn’t say you have to do something for me to get this done. Women should be empowered. Some banks give lower interest rates to the women than the men which is very good. Work distribution should be even. We need our women to do works that are bold so that they can be on the same stage with the men.  Women are divergent thinkers and they do better under collaborative settings.