Further recognition came the way of celebrated and renowned artist, Victor Ekpuk at the ongoing Lagos Book and Art Festival, LABAF as prominent artists, collectors and curators queued up to shower plaudits on the iconic visual artist at the official launching of his much-awaited book: Connecting Lines Across Space and Time.
According to Toyin Falola, PhD who edited the book, Ekpuk has taken the interpretation of Lines and symbols from a cultural perspective into a more modern interpretation.
The book captures the full essence of Ekpuk’s work as an artist of global reputation, “a master of mysterious scripts, and ancient signs and symbols. His messages, encrypted in symbols and signs inspired by Nsibidi, find expression in paintings, illustrations, cartoons and murals.”
This presentation features a conversation featuring the artist and a few other art historians and curators.
In her words, “Lines and symbols are hardwired in Victor Ekpuk’s genes because he has taken it from a cultural perspective into a more modern interpretation” she said.
On his part, Otunba Yemisi Shyllon applauded Ekpuk for blazing the trail for several others to follow.
“Victor blazed the trail for several others who have used iconography,” he said
Similarly, Toyin Falola showered encomium on Victor for doing very little in a loud voice.
“Victor has mastered the art of what I term as a minimalist extravagance. Doing very little, in a loud voice” she said.
The book launch was followed by a discussion by the artist; Victor Ekpuk, Publisher; Toyin Falola PhD., Jumoke Sanwo, Art historians; Kunle Filani PhD. & Jerry Buhari PhD.
According to the man of the moment, Ekpuk, he expressed his gratitude to everyone who made his career what it is.
“I am quite fortunate to have 13 notable scholars put together essays about my work,” he said.
The ongoing book festival which is in its 21st edition themed Emerge… Breaking into the new is dedicated to the memory of the master artist, Dr. David Herbert Dale who recently passed on after a protracted illness.
Also, according to the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), eleven books have been selected to headline the Festival
Michelle Obama’s Becoming and Keith Richards’ Not Quite an Insider are two of the 11 books selected for the main panels at the 21st Lagos Book and Art Festival, running from November 4 to 10, 2019.
Rutger Bregman’s Utopia for Realists; Tunde Leye’s Afonja: The Rise; Tosin Gbagi’s Locomotif and Ta-Nehi Coates’ “We Were Eight Years in Office” are up for discussion by reviewers and some of the authors at the Festival Symposium, which tackles the possibilities of hope.
At the Readers’ Assembly, which engages with the subject: ‘Obstacles to Emergence’, the featured books include Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift, Pat Utomi’s Why Not? and Dele Farotimi’s Do not Die in Their War.
Obama’s Becoming and Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land are the resource materials for the panel conversation entitled: ‘Narratives of Emergence’.
The Festival’s colloquium will tackle the subtheme Breaking into the New and discusses two books Nnamdi Ezeigbo’s memoirs: The Rise and Rise of Slot and Dan Senor & Saul Singer ‘s Start-Up Nation.
The Festival’s increasingly popular talk shop: Keys to the Knowledge Economy, features, this year, a conversation around Keith Richards’ new book Not Quite an Insider, By Keith Richards
The weeklong festival opened with several events including a Seminar with the theme: Literature in Indigenous Languages and Translation @Kongi’s Gallery, a Book Trek @Amphitheatre featuring readings and conversations around the Newest Books on the Nigerian Shelf. The CORA BookTrek features over 15 writers, reading a passage each from their books while a Writers-Readers Convention at the Foodcourt which was an eye-opening evening of exchanges between writers and their audiences featuring performances and conversations was patterned after the African cultural setting of storytelling in evenings.
The festival will also include Books Display, Art Exhibitions, Craft making, Performances, Children workshops, Youth Empowerment Art parties, and Networking.
With fifty-one {51} events in seven {7} days, little wonder LABAF is dubbed as the “biggest cultural picnic on the continent”.