To encourage art and creativity among youths, leading art gallery, Fobally Art World, has announced that this year’s edition of the Lagos State Secondary School and Undergraduate Art Competition, is open.
Managing and Creative Director, Fobally Art World Africa, Folashade Abiola, said the competition is for young minds of Lagos State to portray their envisioned Lagos State in the next 12 months with the use of art and literature. Adding that it will provide a platform for students to express their hopes and expectations for Lagos and Nigeria, improvements and transformations they wish to see within the next 12 months in their immediate communities; she said the aim of the competition is to empower students to use art as a voice to communicate their perspectives on necessary changes and innovations that should be implemented in Lagos and Nigeria.
The outcome she said, will help to guide government actions based on the aspirations of the youths as they contribute to shaping the new realities in alignment withdeveloped cities across the globe.
Abiola, who said the competition is now in its third year, said it is geared towards exposing the young artists to express themselves via nation building. “We want the young artists to use art to advocate for change. The theme of the first year was Invigoration- motivating young ones to play their role in nation building. Last year’s theme was ‘Paint Your Aspired Lagos’ and ‘Paint Your Aspired Nation’; the latter was for undergraduates and the former was for secondary school students.”
She said this year would be a continuation from last year with the theme, ‘Paint Your Aspired Lagos Series 2’ for secondary school students and ‘Paint Your Aspired Nation Series 3’ for undergraduates. “We want the students to be creative, speak to their community’s needs and what they want the government to do for them as well as their communities. We want the youths to have a voice on the community they want, the Lagos they want and the Nigeria they want to see.”
She said the works will be documented at the end and shared with the Lagos State government through the ministry of education. “The competition is open to all secondary school students in Lagos, both private and government-owned schools. For the university category, it is open to students across all students across Nigeria including colleges of education and polytechnics. It is free to participate and entry opens from May 1 and will close July 31, 2024. It is very important to register and submit within the time frame as no entry would be allowed after July 31.”
She added that all art forms are welcome and is not limited to painting alone. “Sculptures, ceramics, mixed media and drawings are welcome, you just have to be creative. Each artwork submission must be accompanied by a compelling essay titled “My Aspired Lagos State,” for secondary school students or “My Aspired Nation,” for undergraduates, detailing the inspiration behind the artwork and the specific changes the participant wishes to see.”
She added that three winners will be selected from each category of students while the top 50 would go home with consolation prizes. “We need sponsors to make this a reality however, as we wish to compensate the top 50. The winner in each category last year smiled home with a million Naira which was split into cash, laptop and internship.”
She added that when the top entries are picked, the youngsters would come down to the gallery for a live presentation speaking on the theme and a demonstration. “It would be for a week, the first six days dedicated to demonstration and the grand finale on the last day. This would help ensure the artist did the work themselves. They would also be judged on how well they speak on the theme, creativity, relevance, detailing and presentation and finally, their essays. The panel of judges would be drawn from the academia, practicing artists and art enthusiasts.”
Gallery promoter, Larry Segun-Lean, praised Fobally for putting together the competition, saying it was needed to shape and guide society. He added that the world is guided by creatives and Nigeria must begin to appreciate artists and creativity. “The artists will tell us what they aspire Lagos and Nigeria to be and I strongly believe that the government would have a lot to learn from the young ones because they are going to be speaking to them through art. They are the leaders of today and tomorrow and it is important to know what they think.”