As the 13th Lagos Book and Art Festival, LABAF, begins tomorrow, an event that would attract great attention is the conceptual art exhibition that has been built into the programme, and which would hold in the Museum Hall of the Freedom Park, No 1 Hospital Road by Broad Street, Lagos. Titled Do Not Resuscitate, the exhibition will feature work of six artists including a poet. The curator of the show, painter, poet, Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo explains the concept behind the show below:'NKECHI Nwosu-Igbo'sI Am Stillcontinues to portray her favorite role as a Nigerian citizen. Known for her work on identity and educating the Nigerian child, Nwosu-Igbo likens Nigeria (who even after her 51stindependence celebrations) to the shy and nave 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.'Bob-Nosa Uwagboe'sOccupy Nigeriatells 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 strongest new voices in today's art scene. The works here, like all Uwagboe's anxieties, 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 poem for this exhibition, promises to deliver the same response and excitement. She says that her poetry 'is rich in imagery and explores depths of experiences encompassing struggles, pain, passion, womanhood and indeed the hope for a better tomorrow'.'Do Not Resuscitateis a heartening narrative that takes the shape of an exhibition, with all six cultural practitioners serving as advocates for human rights. This socially profound show looks to set models of engagement and collaboration between artists and audience, as a new Nigeria hovers tomorrow...hopefully.'MEANWHILE the event, which runs till November 20, is organised by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), and is the 13th edition in CORA's 20 years of existence. The four days of artistic showpiece with the book as centre-stage will examine modern trends and opportunities in the book business that publishers can tap into to bring the local book scene abreast of global practices with technology as chief driver.The Lagos Book & Art Festival is a comprehensive, four day programme of events, readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies' art workshops and reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance.Remarkably, CORA has, in the past 20 years, been mapping the cultural landscape of Lagos City and Nigeria generally, providing the link between artistic aridity occasioned by a philistinic, anti-intellectual environment and the artistic, creative excellence that richly abounds. It is also at the heart of encouraging a keen return to book reading as first step towards national development.This year's festival is no different as it will afford book and art lovers another opportunity to congregate and do business in books and art. Visitors to this year's LABAF will also find programmes of the festival both stimulating and informative. More importantly, it is a festival that enables all visitors to share and be part of the show in contributing to issues, asking questions or stimulating discussion.Tomorrow, publishers from all over the country will converge at the Goethe Institut at the City Hall, Catholic Mission Road, Lagos to participate in the 2nd edition of the annual Publishers' Forum to examine the role of digital technology and its use in enhancing the business of publishing on the theme 'The Book in the Age of the Microchip'.According to the Forum's director, Ayo Arigbabu 'theForumprovides a concentrated space for key publishers in Nigeria to gain critical insight into their current operations within the context of the challenges facing their industry. It is also for them to brainstorm on their findings and identify key steps that can be taken as individual businesses to improve their bottom line.'Arigbabu, a trained architect who is himself a publisher (Dada Books), expects 'participants to add value to their businesses through the intervention of key facilitators, critical feedback on their processes, input on the most challenging areas they have to deal with, all in the space of the four hours earmarked for this instructive business forum'.The event kicks off at 10am, and will be followed from 5pm to 6.30pm by a conversation (open to the public) tagged: 'Wooing The Mass Market' where two publishers will share from their current work and their future plans, by discussing a selection from their publishing lists. 'This year, we will have two publishers discuss their efforts at publishing online literary journals and what mileage the internet afforded them in their efforts. A digital display of past editions of their journals will be presented.The discussions will be brought to a close with a cocktail. Arigbabu describes the Publishers' Forum as a 'focus group' or a strategy session with key facilitators as guide. 'The forum is targeted at principals of publishing houses who seek to grow their market and are willing to engage in creative thinking towards identifying strategies that can make this possible for them whether within a collective or through their individual operations.
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