Water as Installation (review)

Water as Installation Goethe-lnstitut, Lagos, Nigeria 8 - 1 5 May, 200 Wi t h a huge col l ect i on of f reshly f et ched bamboo; saw s of dif f erent t ypes; sizes al ongsi de canoes; mot or i sed and manual hand t ool s coupl ed wit h at t endi ng art ist s of all shades; gender; exper i ence and t r ai ni ng, t he st age [ land and wat er] was set for an unf amil iar cont ext f or a creat ive encount er : a bamboo i nst al l at i on scul pt ur e sy m p osi um , i n/ on and ar ound t he l agoon wat erf ront of t he Goet hel nst i t ut , Lagos, Nigeria - f rom 8 t o l 5 May, 2000. The uni que mat erial f or creat i ng scul pt ure as wel l as t he diversit y of par t i ci pat i on succi nct l y gave succour t o t he nat ure of par t i ci pat i on, accommodat i ng bot h men and women art ist s and/ or swi mmer s as well as 'l eads' [ non- sw i mmer s] . 19 art ist s in all, am ongst w hom are Olu Amoda, Tonie Okpe, Mike Om oi ghe, Di l ompr i zul i ke and Kazeem Adel eke. Some ot hers incl ude Jos Edigbe, Osit a Agu and a vi si t i ng German i nst al l at i on art ist Ar mi n Angel and t he i ni t i at or of t he proj ect Theodore Ogbonna under t he auspi ces of Wat er Inst allat ion, 2000, phot o Tonie Okpe t he Goet he Inst i t ut , Lagos and t he suppor t of t he t hen direct or but now lat e Renat e Al ber t senMar t on. Al t hough i t was meant t o be a scul pt or s 'par ade', t he sym posi um accommodat ed paint ers, art writ ers, print makers and seem t o have gi ven a t hor ough vi si bi l i t y t o young and up and comi ng art ist s. The diversit y of expressive cult ure encour ages t he w i l l i ngness t o t ry out new t hi ngs i n mat erial expl orat ion w i t hout any i nhi bi t i ons or curat or i al cont r ol s. The sit e of t he symposi um had pr evi ousl y host ed, Float ing Calabashes, an i nst al l at i on of paint ed and f l oat i ng cal abashes i ni t i at ed and coor di nat ed by t he Ger many-based Nigerian paint er [ Emeka St al i n Udemba] in 1999 whi ch agai n recent ly in June 2000 received accl amat i on duri ng it s second show i ng at t he Af r i can Pavi l i on i n Hanover , Germany on t he occasi on of t he huge gl obal f iest a of art and t ech chr i st ened Expo 2000. The bam boo experiment was al so sequel t o a lect ure on f emale art ist s and i nst al l at i on by Kat y Deepwel l whi ch drew a lot of shar p crit icism by t he purely gal l er y-spaceart orient ed art ist s commune of Lagos, mainl y because t emporary , sit e-specif ic, publ ic space, non- sal eabl e art t r adi t i on i s compl et el y unf ashi onabl e in t he Nigerian art experience and market . During t he days of t he non...