A GROUP art exhibition staged over the weekend as part of the 13th Lagos Book and Art Festival capture the role artists can play as interventionists. It is as unconventional as it is thought-provoking.Curated by the poet and painter, Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo, who was also one of the exhibitors the show which took place at the venue of the festival, Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos held under the title, Do Not Resuscitate. It probed the catalyst role of artists as harbinger of change in the society.Do Not Resuscitate , as the curator explained functions as a social gathering that explore how artistic interventions can be used to reform or be the catalyst needed to take decisions about finally moving society forward especially with the recent security threats and continuous economic conditions. The curator said the show's title was taken from the legal order written by patient under health care, giving no power of attorney to anyone to put him or her on life support should the heart happen to stop beating. 'The exhibition seeks to propose ideas on how to let go of some old pains, regrets and anger of what Nigeria is at 51, either 'vocally agreeing' to use these pains positively or letting them die a natural death. Featuring individual projects, this site-specific conceptual show, taking its life from the political and cultural history of the festival venue, Freedom Park. It reflects on history, memory, and identity through the video art, found objects, installations, poetry, paintings, performances, and open air discussions,' states the curator and co-exhibitor.On display were conventional and non-conventional pieces from mixed media to installations to new media and film.Aderemi Adegbite's video, Ghetto Games, lies on the philosophy of a ghetto which is 'all for one and one for all.' He captures a highly narrative one-minute story that catapults the viewer to the ghetto in one loop. The image of a scantily-dressed boy playing badminton with his makeshift bat and ball stays with one for a long time.Another exhibitor, Tolu Aliki, served a work titled, We Are Patient People. The piece, very unambiguously presents new habits of engaging the disorders of current times and preaches tolerance as the only way. He believes that even with the overload of social ailments, all can still find significant and persistent techniques to relate peacefully. Jelili Atiku's Rawson's Boat is about the Benin Massacre and 1897 British plunder as well as vandalisation of Oba of Benin's palace. It depicts the critical role of public performance as a far-reaching means of communication which will hopefully, boost the scope political performance in contemporary Nigerian art. His visual commentary on the politics of the event of January 12, 1897 when Rear-admiral Harry Rawson and his crew landed in Benin city to capture the Benin King, looted thousands of Benin artifacts and destroyed the city. It elicits national pride in the viewer but tends to make the spectator actually pity the thieves and letting healing start.Nwosu-Igbo's I Am Still Nkechi continues to portray her favourite role as a Nigerian citizen. Known for her work on Identity and Educating the Nigerian Child, Nwosu-Igbo likens Nigeria (even at 51) to the shy and naive bride on her wedding night who just lies on her back and is expected to take all the prodding. In her set-installations the artist invites the viewers to ponder on the flexibility of identities while looking at self and also national personality. In another exhibit, Occupy Nigeria, Bob-Nosa Uwagboe, not too subtly hints of an on-going wave of resistance of harsh capitalism worldwide. His work tells a story of an imaginary musician who walks through the global phenomenon, that started from Occupy Wall Street, offering hope and jobs to the all the citizens protesting against corruption and elitist greed with his music. The paintings reveal the brilliance and vision of this elusive artist who is arguably one of the forcefully emerging new voices in today's art scene. The works are both disturbingly honest and echoes the global economic inequalities.Iquo Eke's emotive recitals usually take the shape of an art happening where she typically engages her audience by soliciting for choruses and chants to accompany her music and poetry. Cleansing, her poetry lives up to her self-appraisal as it comes 'rich in imagery and explores depths of experiences encompassing struggles, pain, passion, womanhood and indeed the hope for a better tomorrow'.Do Not Resuscitate is a better deemed a narrative than as an exhibition, even as it is a group showing with all six acts on display serving as advocates for human rights and social order through varied genres of art.
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