Thesis Abstract

<p> </p><p>The work of this thesis contributes to debates about cultural representation as it<br>relates to the exhibition of contemporary African art works. The central themes of<br>enquiry are the qualification and quality of Nigerian curatorship, and what<br>contributions Nigerian curators are making in the redefinition of contemporary African<br>art works, in light of the current debate into the misrepresentation of African art works<br>by Western curators. The focus of investigation is the extent to which provision for<br>curatorial scholarship is considered within course curriculums at institutes of higher<br>education within Nigeria, and the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary Nigerian<br>curatorial practice. The central questions taken for analysis are Why are so few<br>curators of Nigerian decent internationally recognised? Whose values and tastes<br>unfluence the Nigerian curators selection criteria? What is the value of indigenous<br>curators in the organisation of international exhibitions of contemporary African art<br>works? What can be done to encourage a new direction in the reception of<br>contemporary African art works? The hypothesis of the study is that “an indigenous<br>curator is best informed to curate exhibitions of contemporary art derived from his or<br>her own culture, and therefore should dominate in the organisation of such<br>exhibitions”. This hypothesis is examined with reference to the educational and<br>curatorial practice of Nigerian art lecturers working within Nigeria, and Nigerian<br>curators working both within and without of Nigeria.<br>The overall analysis is divided into three principal areas of investigation<br>“Education and Curation in Nigeria”, which addresses the question of what actually<br>7<br>qualifies someone as a curator of contemporary African art works in Nigeria. The<br>section refers to the personal views of Nigerian curators, the development of tertiary<br>course curriculums [and their content] in the visual arts and art history since their<br>inception, and concludes with a discussion of the relevance of current course content<br>to the area of curation and exhibition; “Experience and Curation in Nigeria”, then<br>looks at the experience of Nigerian curators, and the demands of the national<br>exhibition, with specific reference to the areas of location, identity, and aesthetic<br>values. Changes in exhibitionary practice is also addressed with particular attention<br>paid to the funding of projects, and the effect of both local and international patronage<br>on the art exhibition in Nigeria; the third area, “Nigerian Curators in the West”,<br>examines the curatorial practice of expatriate Nigerian curators, again with reference<br>to the areas of location, identity, and aesthetic values. The views of both national and<br>international curators are then given in reference to the role of African curators in the<br>diaspora and the exhibition of contemporary African art.<br>Findings indicated that although there exists a considerable exhibition culture in<br>Nigeria today, that professionality in the field is lacking. Although those interviewed<br>for the study were considerably active in the field, and exhibited a knowledge of<br>contemporary Nigerian art, the education and experience of these artist-curators was<br>inhibited by the limitations of current post graduate education in curation or related<br>fields of study, such as cultural representation, and also inadequate facilities and<br>funding for the actualisation of professional exhibitions. Finally, recommendations<br>centred on the provision of post-graduate courses in curation and related fields of<br>study, most appropriately as a masters degree programme, and further emphasised the<br>obligation of the Federal Government of Nigeria to encourage a greater professionality<br>in exhibition through the provision of repositories of art suitable for both national and<br>international exhibitions.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>

Thesis Overview

<p> NATURE OF THE RESEARCH<br>1.0 Introduction<br>This chapter provides a synopsis of recent discourse concerning cultural<br>representation, from the late nineteen seventies to present. The information provided<br>clarifies the position, and genesis of the study, “Nigerian Curatorship and the<br>Exhibition of Contemporary African Art Works”, with specific argument regarding<br>cultural representation as it relates to the display of non-Western art works.<br>1.1 Background<br>It is generally recognised that Western scholarship (including art history) has<br>developed out of a history of conquest and expansion (political and commercial)1,<br>beginning with the first colonial initiatives of the eighteenth century2. This has left the<br>West in a dominant, central position, as opposed to the peoples [and their cultures] of<br>the South who are seen as peripheral. Although all societies create ideas of the “other”<br>to validate their own social boundaries and individual identities, the West is accused of<br>using concepts of a distant “other”3 in an effort to maintain its authority. By<br>designating the other as “underdeveloped”, “primitive”, “different”, “exotic” and<br>“static”4, the West has effectively denied any active or critical participation in<br>prevailing cultural practices. Today racial stereotypes continue to nurture unequal<br>power relations between the West and the “other” principally by means of receptacles<br>of modern learning, such as academic institutions and the popular media.<br>In relation to the reception of non-Western art works, the feelings of superiority<br>that emerged with colonialism are said to have privileged European collectors and<br>curators the authority to judge and define art works by their own criteria of value.<br>The conditions of visibility – what is seen, and how and when the other is seen – are<br>largely in their control. The tastes influencing such decisions have in turn been subject<br>12<br>to the racial and cultural stereotypes developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth<br>centuries, when artifacts were first brought as bounty to the ethnographic halls of<br>Western museums5.<br>These artifacts were initially incorporated into Western art culture by means of an<br>anthropological presentation, and grouped art works would be contextualised with<br>labelling and visual aids to stress their function and [“tribal”] origin. Information<br>pertaining to an individual artist, such as name and date of production, was usually<br>omitted. Clearly, the emphasis was on the “authentic” artifact and how it relayed the<br>timeless traditions of a particular “tribe” rather than an individual work of art to be<br>appreciated as such. As anthropologist James Clifford (1997) concludes from literature<br>concerned with the early history of the exhibition of non-Western art: “It reveals the<br>racism, or at best the paternalist condescension, of spectacles which offered up mute,<br>exoticised specimens for curious and titillated crowds”6.<br>When the art of non-Western cultures was finally recognised as art rather than<br>artifact, at the beginning of the twentieth century7, it was still on Western terms.<br>Private gallery owners and art museum directors began to look to the formalist<br>aesthetics prescribed by the Western canons of “modernism”8 when judging, defining<br>and displaying art works. Selected art works were presented in isolation within the<br>white space of the modern art gallery in order that they would be appreciated as<br>individual pieces. However, again art works often remained authorless. For example,<br>the exhibition “Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the<br>Modern”, curated by William Rubin (1984), art works were left to speak for<br>themselves with contextualisation limited to ethnic labels alone.<br>These dominant positions to the exhibition of African art were most often applied<br>to the display of mainly “tribal” sculpture during the nineteenth and early twentieth<br>centuries. It was not until the 1980’s that the exhibition of modern African art was<br>13<br>given greater attention, dispite its considerable development within Africa since the<br>1960’s. Unfortunately, the majority of Western curators, have continued to show a<br>preference for art works that comply to the racial stereotype of an “authentic” African<br>art. That is, an art that would give the impression of an eternal, traditional culture very<br>different and distant to that of the progressive, advanced West. This authenticity has<br>largely been translated as the works of naive or self-taught artists in a perpetuation of<br>neo-primitivist exoticism9. As Emma Barker (1999) confirms, “Museums and galleries<br>are not neutral containers offering a transparent, unmediated experience of art”10.<br>Today, although in the guise of cultural recognition, “post-modernist”11<br>approaches to the exhibition of art from non-Western cultures continues to perpetuate<br>the stereotypes pertaining to the “other” in an active promotion of “difference”. Whilst<br>art critic Thomas McEvilley (1992) complains that Modernism fetishisizes sameness,<br>he also warns of a fetishization of difference in post-modern approaches to the<br>exhibition of art from non-Western cultures. Art works of non-Western cultures<br>appear to be little more than commodity, which if compatible with such stereotypes,<br>are highly marketable. As curator Richard Hilton (1999) says of the recent exhibitions<br>“Zero Zero Zero” and “Cities on the Move”: “Celebrating the other, be it global or<br>local, is tantamount to aestheticising difference for market expedience and, as such, it<br>has little to do with real empowerment”12.<br>1.2 Statement of the Problem<br>Since the mid 1980’s there has been a noticeable increase in the popularity of<br>temporary exhibitions of contemporary non-Western visual arts (including that of<br>African origins) in the West13. Today, contemporary African art can be viewed at a<br>number of international venues, including: museums, galleries, art workshops and a<br>number of public spaces. The majority of these often high-profile exhibitions14 have<br>continued to be shaped by a select group of Western curators, some of whom do not<br>even have qualifications in the field of art history, much less any specialisation in<br>14<br>African art. Curators currently influencing international art markets are largely made<br>up of anthropologists, and art collectors from the West. This is confirmed by art<br>historian Sidney Kasfir-Littlefield (1999): “. . . the tastes and preferences of a handful<br>of private collectors and the curators who work closely with them have had a great<br>influence on the way in which contemporary African art is being defined for its various<br>publics”15.<br>Often with little specialist knowledge of African artistic practice, and African<br>aesthetics, these curators are prone to rely on personal preferences when approaching<br>an exhibition, and these are in turn influenced by the social values of their own<br>cultures. Such personal decisions, based on Western tastes, values, and assumptions,<br>can give a misleading representation of contemporary African art that often<br>perpetuates racial stereotypes of the “other”. This is manifest in the constant stream of<br>survey type shows that confine the African artist to exhibitions of the “ethnic”<br>category, as representative of a homogeneous Africa. Selection processes for these<br>exhibitions further show an obsession for the art of the naive [non-academic] artist, at<br>the expense of artists who have passed through higher institutions of learning. The art<br>of the naive artist seems to demonstrate the sought after distance between the art of<br>Western scholarship and that of the African artist. This bias does not only give a<br>misleading portrayal of African art to the international viewer, but can also put<br>pressure on artists to invent identities that comply with the aesthetic values of the<br>dominant Western art market. As artist and critic Olu Oguibe (1993) contests: “ . .<br>African artists are either constructed or called upon to construct themselves”16. Critics,<br>including Picton (1993), Appiah (1997), and McEvilley (1992), [although they do not<br>dismiss the Western curator completely from partaking in the exhibition of non-<br>Western art], condemn those curators from the West who have used their own cultural<br>tastes as a standard to judge others [often with inhonourable motives], and ask for a<br>greater criticality of ones own tastes as well as an appreciation of those of others.<br>15<br>Until African artists are brought into the mainstream, as artists rather than African<br>artists, then these exhibitions of the “ethnic” category will persist. Many critics<br>[especially those of African decent] call for the increased participation of indigenous<br>curators in the exhibition of the art of their own cultures. The presumption is that selfdefinition<br>will open up the diversities of African art to the public, challenging and<br>expelling racial stereotypes, and subsequently recognising the individuality of artists<br>and allowing them to enter the mainstream. However, the current trend in exhibitions<br>of contemporary African art works seems to support the participation of African<br>artists and art historians only as co-curators or advisors, subordinates of their Western<br>counterparts. This seems to imply that Western curators are aware of their deficiency<br>in knowledge concerning African artistic practice. Despite this, few African curators<br>are seen to be challenging this inadequacy and making any significant impact on the<br>international exhibition circuit in their own right.<br>Patronage within and without of Africa has increased and diversified over the last<br>decade17, and therefore the assumption would be that indigenous curators have<br>emerged alongside these developments, with the capabilities, qualifications and<br>experience to supersede Western curators and begin to redefine African art on the<br>international circuit. The reasons for the lack of African curators working<br>internationally remains unclear, whilst Oguibe18 blames a closed circuit of Western<br>curators, others such as Nicodemus and Ogbechie19 seem to imply a lack of sufficiently<br>qualified or experienced professionals from Africa.<br>From within Africa complaints are arising over not only the rarity of<br>internationally recognised African curators, but also concerns are being voiced over<br>those curators who are currently visible, the majority of whom are made up of those<br>who have lived and worked in the West for many years. These curators are accused of<br>being unaware of current trends in the visual arts within Africa, instead promoting<br>African artists working outside of the continent, who are more conversant with, for<br>16<br>instance, the popular art of installation. This suggests again that a Western criteria of<br>value is taking preference. In view of this, the study will examine curation in Nigeria<br>largely by means of the evaluation Nigerian curators themselves, including the<br>individuals’ background and education, as well as his or her approach to curation and<br>experience in the field. The views of internationally active Nigerian curators will also<br>be assessed, especially in relation to differences between national and international<br>curation.<br>1.3 Objectives of the Research<br>This thesis sets out to examine the position of the Nigerian curator in relation to<br>the development of temporary exhibitions of contemporary African art. It is hoped that<br>this examination will suggest possible reasons why so few African curators are<br>recognised internationally: Whether this is a result of a lack of relevant experience or<br>education, or a deliberate exclusion on the part of Western art institutions [determined<br>to uphold the Western canon of art]. The manner in which Nigerian curators approach<br>the organisation of exhibitions will also be addressed, at both the national and<br>international level, in order to establish the values and tastes influencing the decisions<br>of these curators. This will help the researcher to determine the possible value of<br>indigenous curators in the organisation of international exhibitions of contemporary<br>African art works, and to suggest ways in which the status of the Nigerian curator may<br>be improved. The study hopes to answer these questions by:<br>1. Analysis of art course curriculum and content of the foremost institutions of<br>higher education in Nigeria.<br>2. Analysis of exhibition catalogues, journals, newspapers, internet sources and<br>official publications.<br>3. Analysis of supplementary secondary data, including that found in appropriate<br>textbooks.<br>17<br>4. Interviews with a sample of art lecturers and heads of departments of art at the<br>foremost institutions of higher education in Nigeria.<br>5. Interviews with a sample of Nigerian curators practising within Nigerian.<br>6. Questionnaires to be filled by a sample of Nigerian curators living and<br>working in the West.<br>1.4 Justification of the Research<br>Concern has been voiced over the way in which African art is being shaped by<br>exhibitions organised by an elite of Western curators. Many scholars have concluded<br>that local values and tastes must be recognised in order for a more honest<br>understanding to be proffered in exhibitions, freeing African artists from the pressure<br>to conform to Western preferences. This is endorsed by Barker (1999), who states<br>that: “The context of display is an important issue for art history because it colours our<br>perception and informs our understanding of works of art”20.<br>The authority of the curator: Who has the right to curate and how they curate,<br>must be addressed. It has been suggested that the way forward for exhibitions of non-<br>Western art is in a greater contribution to their curation by indigenous curators, art<br>historians, and artists themselves. However, although curators of African decent have<br>emerged over the last decade, such as the Nigerian born Okwui Enwezor, they remain<br>few in number, and under-represented at the international level. Through the opinions<br>and efforts of Nigerian artist-curators it is hoped that the study will be able to<br>determine who is best informed to curate African art, and if the way forward is in a<br>greater participation by African curators then why are so few curate internationally.<br>1.5 Significance of the Research<br>The temporary exhibition has become the principal medium for the distribution<br>and reception of art works, and largely determines the ways in which art is talked<br>18<br>about, understood and debated. The value of this study lies in the growing popularity<br>of exhibitions of contemporary African art.<br>The study will be of interest to all those involved in the study of non-Western art<br>markets, or concerned with the collection and display of contemporary African art<br>works. It is hoped that it will encourage institutions to become more sensitive to<br>issues pertaining to the reception of contemporary African art, such as the possible<br>potentials of a local knowledge, and to consider such issues when selecting curators<br>and curatorial teams. Furthermore, it is hoped that the study will encourage those<br>responsible for academic programmes in African institutions of higher learning to<br>consider the importance of courses in the field of cultural representation, such as<br>curation, and to review programmes where they are found lacking.<br>1.6 Research Questions<br>The questions to be addressed in this study are:<br>1. Why are so few curators of Nigerian decent internationally recognised?<br>2. Whose values and tastes influence the Nigerian curators selection criteria?<br>3. What is the value of indigenous curators in the organisation of international<br>exhibitions of contemporary African art works?<br>4. What is being done to encourage a new direction in the reception of African art?<br>1.7 Scope and Delimitations of the Research<br>The study will be delimited to Nigerian curators, and educators responsible for the<br>development of art programmes in Nigeria. The study will concentrate on the field of<br>curation from the 1980 to present, a time in which African art has become increasingly<br>popular in the West and questions of representation have been prompted. These<br>delimitations have been made in order to limit the problem and achieve a more potent<br>analysis as a result.<br>19 <br></p>