Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede: A Dive into Postmodern Art

Tate is a group of art galleries that houses the British national collection. It provides a befitting nexus for contemporary art the world over. It is this unique place that my brother “Aig” has gone to deliver the biggest ever exhibition in the organisation’s 25-year history. A display of modern Nigerian arts, inclusive of paintings, sculptures and other forms of creative art, was on display at the world-famous gallery.

From what I have learnt, over 300 Nigerian works were on display, and such legendary artists as Ben Enwonwu also displayed their works, which spanned from the 1940s to the 1980s.

If I say I understand this area, I am lying, but what I know is the seriousness with which its promoters take the thing globally and the value attached to some of these works. I also know for a fact that the Access/Coronation Group has one of the most valuable art collections in the world, hence the unique need to show the rest of the world, which ended up being lapped up by the largest crowd opening that the Tate had ever seen.

When I see these works, I used to look at them, and the work would look back at me too. I will be wondering at how they arrived at the price tags, but then again, when a true collector like my brothers  Chike Iroegbunam and Robert Mbonu point at a big head on canvas and say, “Edgar, that work is N36 million,” I will look at them and hiss and walk away. They will smile and call me illiterate.

Anyways, Aig at his opening speech at the event talked about cultural capital as one of the three main capitals a nation needs and, on that strength, Nigeria as we have always known, is imbued with a very rich tapestry of beautiful talent that can hold their own anywhere in the world and it is grand gestures like this Tate showing that will continue to shine global sights on our local artistry.

Well done, sir, quite remarkable.