The Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE) is set to create opportunities for children to express themselves with the discovery of young talents in cultural drawings and paintings.
This is as the WSICE unveiled an art gallery for the younger minds in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, as part of activities marking the 89th birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka.
The art studio, it was learned, accommodates works of both local and international artists, promoting the cultural heritage of Nigeria and Africa in general.
To develop the artistic abilities of the younger generation and equip them with tools to pass powerful messages with drawings, paintings, and sculptures among others.
A lecturer of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan and official of the WSICE, Dr Tunde Awosanmi, said a gallery signifies symbolically, the memory bank of a nation.
Awosanmi, however, regretted that the government over the years, have not shown the political will to institute the consciousness of a gallery in the sense of it being a memory bank.
He said the allocation for art and culture in the annual budget is always very low, asking the government to do more in promoting art and culture.
Awosanmi, who was Wole Soyinka’s Personal Assistant from 2000 till 2010, maintained that there are specialised galleries all over the world, clarifying that the Soyinka gallery “is distinct because it is dedicated to children,” with 95 percent of the artworks produced by secondary school children.
He said the project was tied to the life vision of Soyinka, “whose weakest point is his love for children.”
While addressing pupils of different primary and secondary schools who were at the event held in Omida, Abeokuta, the Producer of this year’s Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange, Joy Nweje, said the gallery was the artistry part of the WSICE.
“We compiled those works to unveil the gallery. The majority of what you see here are from students who have participated in WSICE events years ago,” Nweje said.
She explained that the main idea behind the Wole Soyinka art gallery was to explore the visual artistry embedded in school children.
She added that it is for the unification of the visual artistry embedded in individuals from different backgrounds, national and international, so as to be able to express themselves using works of art.
“Each artwork means something. They mean different things to different people, depending on your mindset, geographical location and others. These artworks speak something to you, and compiling them artistically in a gallery speaks volumes,” she submitted.
In his words, Gabriel Emmanuel, a German artist, said the gallery was to extend the cultural programme from just essay writing, so as to display artworks.
Emmanuel disclosed that the focus of the WSICE is on education and developing talents in children.
“So many children have talents in painting and drawing. That’s what we are encouraging, that’s why we are inviting different schools and children to let them see what artists do, to let them have the feeling of artist’s work and to spark their interest in creating artwork.
“I want children to be bold, to be brave and to embrace that certain talent they have within themselves. We are going to support them, encourage them to bring their talents out,” the German explained.