British Council launches ‘Your Ad Here’, as 3 artistes takeover Lagos billboards

The British Council has today launched Your Ad Here: Nigeria, a major new project exploring the relationship between advertising and daily life in the city of Lagos.

Commissioned by Create in the UK and A Whitespace Creative Agency in Nigeria and funded by the British Council, Your Ad Here has seen artists Karo Akpokiere (Nigeria and Germany), Matt Stokes (UK) and Nick Waplington (UK and US) develop three new works which bring art into an unequivocally public context. The new works are the result of extensive research and conversation with people living in Nigeria.

The project, which follows Create’s inaugural Your Ad Here commission in London’s Olympic Park in 2014 is part of UK/Nigeria 2015–16, a major season of arts in Nigeria aimed at building new audiences, creating new collaborations and strengthening relationships between the UK and Nigeria.

In Nigeria giant advertising hoardings are commonplace with billboard images on a vast cinematic scale. Your Ad Here asks artists to place their own work in these sites conventionally reserved for advertising to pay tribute to the social networks and complex economies of day-to-day life in Lagos found in restaurants and music shops and exemplified by street sellers.

The project asks what happens when advertising space is used to represent the minutiae of daily life on a grand scale, replacing the usual aspirational images of commercial marketing. When scale is shifted from the very small to the oversized, what impact does this have on our experience of reality?

The artworks are:

Karo Akpokiere (In Partnership with Stranger Lagos)

Three Billboards located opposite Voda Paints (after 4th roundabout, Lekki), by 6th Roundabout (Ojomu-Lekki) and after Ojomu (facing traffic to Victoria Island).

This elaborate graphic image celebrates creative freedom and independence in the context of Nigerian cultural identity. The artist presents the work as if it is displayed in a gallery with a spoof text label as part of the work. Akpokiere raises questions about where art and creativity should be encountered, and suggests that in fact, art can exist in the street and that it is the lifeblood of the city.

Akpokiere made this work in response to the the Lagos-based clothing shop Stranger Boutique which for him exemplifies the maverick spirit and cultural energy of Lagos.

Matt Stokes (In partnership with Jazzhole Lagos)

Billboard located opposite Jazzhole, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi (facing traffic towards Falomo).

Stokes’ work occupies the billboard and window of the Lagos music and bookshop Jazzhole. The design is inspired by vintage Nigerian album covers and the legacy of Jazzhole, a celebrated meeting point for music and literature, which also includes a record label that highlights influential, but often overlooked Nigerian musicians. Via the work Stokes introduces a quote taken from a conversation he had with a Lagos musician that questions the relationship between ‘old’ and ‘new’ music in the country, as well as his own slogan suggesting that passers-by should ‘Hear Your Heritage’.

Nick Waplington

Billboard located by Officer’s mess, (towards Onikan, Apongbon, coming from Victoria Island).

Waplington has made two dynamic documentary photographic images portraying daily street life in Lagos. These images capture the cultural processes of street selling in Lagos and the networks of entrepreneurial activity that exist across the city.

A film about the project produced by A White Space Creative Agency will be released on 1 February. Later this month will see the launch of an open call for Nigerian artists to propose a new artwork for the project. Artists from all disciplines are encouraged to apply proposing a work that represents daily life in Lagos or Abuja. The best entries will be selected by a panel, with one work fabricated and installed as an outdoor billboard in Lagos.

Up to 20 runners up will be exhibited at A Whitespace Lagos and online. In February, inspired by these three works, artists from Lagos and Abuja are invited to take part in a workshop to explore the importance of public space as a site for art. The Art of Billboards will explore how art and design can be used to empower and engage wider audiences for art.

Ojoma Ochai, Director Arts, British Council Nigeria said: “UK/NG 2015–2016 is all about promoting community engagement with arts and culture and boosting awareness around programming work in public spaces. Your Ad Here increases access to the arts in this way as well as building new audiences using social media and digital channels.”

Hadrian Garrard, Director, Create said: “We are excited to be working in Nigeria for our first ever international project. Building upon our work in east London, we are delighted to have commissioned three exciting artists to present new works, and to support artists and organisations in Nigeria to bring art to communities in Lagos – in this case on a vast cinematic scale”.

Malaika Toyo, Head of Projects, A Whitespace Creative Agency, said: “Creating a platform for artist to do amazing work is fundamental to the work we do at AWCA. It is apparent to us that those who engage with the work that we do are a very selective audience. The idea of getting art out of galleries or spaces like A Whitespace Lagos into the public realm is very exciting to us because we understand that art is pervasive and can be used as a tool for community engagement and in some cases empowerment.”

Artist Biographies

Karo Akpokiere
Karo Akpokiere is a child of the 80’s born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria on a robust and consistent diet of cartoons, comic books and drawing time. He received a diploma in Graphic Design from the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria in 2006. In his work, Akpokiere attempts to strike an effective balance between the personal and commercial aspects of production in graphic design, illustration and pattern design. Using traditional and digital drawing techniques, he creates works that are experiential and reflective of his interests in employing graphic design, illustration and pattern design to convey messages that are sometimes personal, humorous and social.

Akpokiere has taken part in several exhibitions locally and internationally, including the 56th Venice Biennale, 2nd Berliner Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin, Double Trouble Exhibition, Kunsthalle M3, Berlin, Germany, The Comic-Zeichner Seminar Austtellung at the Comic Salon Erlangen (2014), Another Africa – Contemporary Design in Africa, ULUPUH Gallery, Tkalciceva 14, Zagreb, Croatia (2013), Art Dubai, Markerprogramme (2013), FAX exhibition, South London Gallery, London, England, (2011) and The Green Summary Exhibition, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria (2010). His most recent solo exhibition: “Old Drawings” was held at the Kunsthalle m3, Berlin Germany (2015).

Matt Stokes
Matt Stokes’ practice stems from an inquiry into phenomena and places that provide a sense of collectivity, shaping and influencing people’s lives and identities. His work frequently develops from encounters with people involved in actions that cause a friction with the environments they inhabit.

Their knowledge and skills are brought together, sometimes in combination with outwardly conflicting groups, to create outcomes that invert common or misplaced perceptions. Often this process involves immersing himself in settings, through which collaborations with informal communities arise, resulting in films, installations and events. Recent solo exhibitions include Matt’s Gallery and Dilston Grove, London; Site Gallery, Sheffield; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool; Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville; BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead; De Hallen, Haarlem; and Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel. He was awarded the Beck’s Futures Prize 2006.

Nick Waplington
Nick Waplington received an ICP Infinity award in 1993, and represented the UK at the Venice Biennale in 2001. He has exhibited widely including the Whitechapel Gallery, London and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. His work is held in a number of prominent museum collections including the Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and MoMA, New York.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail