July 09, (THEWILL) – The 2023 edition of Life In My City Art Festival (LIMCAF), the largest annual gathering of artists and shareholders of visual art in Nigeria, has begun on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
LIMCAF, with its theme “Fix It”, is calling for a holistic response from all as humanity appears to be at a critical stage of launching into the future.
While emphasising making the 2023 award-winning prize more attractive, the Art Director of LIMCAF, Dr. Ayo Adewunmi, who gave the hint, also informed that the dates and venues for the regional exhibition are July 10th in Zaria; July 15th in Lagos; July 18th in Uyo; July 22nd in Abeokuta; July 22nd in Awka; July 25th in Abuja and July 28th in Jalingo.
Other dates and venues of the exhibitions include August 1st in Ondo; August 4th in Benin; August 5th in Enugu; August 11th in Owerri and August 12th in Port Harcourt.
Adewunmi made the disclosure on Sunday, just as he added that there were 13 regions in which the exhibition will take place this year. While stating that only eight regions were used in 2022, he pointed out that some of the regions may overlap the others.
“Last year, the entry was low and it was low because of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. Places such as Zaria, where we usually host it, were squeezed into the Abuja region.
“It affected us generally because our base for public sitting is usually at the campus because we are looking for people less than 35. It is not secondary school level, so most of them are usually in the university or they just graduated one to five years ago.
“There was an ASUU strike for most part of 2022. Besides, we were also affected by COVID-19,” he stated.
Adewunmi had recently pointed out that entries the organisation received would determine the outcome and also inclusiveness.
Noting that the physically challenged would be involved, Adewunmi said, “We have received entries and the quality of the entries is superb, so it is going to be a tough task for the jury to be able to bring out 100 out of almost 600 entries.
“So, we have to go ahead with that one. where the problem lies is our idea to bring the top 100 to Enugu now that fuel prices have gone up. So, if we are going to bring one artist maybe for 20,000 to and fro from Lagos, then you can imagine what will be the cost now. That is where our greatest headache will be now that everything has gone up more than 100%.
“We had a promise to bring the top 100. Bringing them will make us pay for their transport to and fro, and pay for their hotel for two days minimum, but if we have enough funds, they will stay more than that because they are critical aspects we normally miss. It forms the part whereby we have a workshop where we brainstorm why some people fail in entries, artwork and other things. There should be a day where we have such a conference because we can keep them in Enugu for three or four nights.”
On the partnership with airlines, he said, “We thought of it in the past. We have made efforts but you discover that in Nigeria, when you don’t know somebody, who knows somebody, you hardly can get anything. We have tried Arik and Air Peace in the past but never succeeded.”
On the quality of entries this year, Adewunmi noted that the entries were massive this year with quality. According to him, they are a lot of excitement moving forward, as they had a lot of support from the past government. He, however, expressed hope that the new government would support them.
Applauding Pinnacle Company for sponsoring (LIMCAF) in 2021, Adewunmi advised that the government support might not only be in cash but also in kind such as making their physical presence at the exhibitions.
Emphasising the need for the government’s support, Adewunmi said: “It is important that we have government support because the plans we have for this project are bigger than the way it is happening presently. We are looking at something that can attract tourism and then bring people all over Africa and around the world, so we can’t continue to do this on this small scale.
“There is something they call the Dakar. It happens every two years and we are trying to mirror such an event. We should have such an event every October. We know that you are going to Nigeria to see African Art but to do that involves a lot but not necessarily increasing our number of entries.
“For example, taking like 100 artists. They should be in town for one week so that when visitors come, you don’t only see their work, you also see the people that created it. It is different from when they come today, by the next two days they are gone, that won’t attract tourism.
“Since 2008, I have been going to Dakar every two years with my own personal sponsorship and each time I go, I make sure I stay one week plus to feel the environment. So, we should have events on various dates of the year. However, we are thinking along that line this year, that is if our plans work out.”
About the Author
Janefrances Ebere Chibuzor is a Tourism Writer at THEWILL
