The above common riddle joke with the corresponding answer, according to Wikipedia. is in an example of anti-humour, in that the curious setup of the joke leads the listener to expect a traditional punchline, but they are instead given a simple statement of fact. ...The Other Side.
Though a seemingly simple phrase, Getting to The Other Side is bloated with meanings.
The Other Side can simply mean the opposite side. or a completely different
situation and position from the one a person is used to, which can be either
better or worse than it was originally. It can also be a different way of considering
a situation, a different approach to achieving a result, the opposite aspect of
a matter, a deceptive °or changed situation, the afterlife, and so on.
The array of works presented by the artists provides different narratives that allude to the concept of The Other Side. Some of these works are examined below in line with their perceived conceptual approach to probing the theme.
Ajibo Ikechukwu’s The Living and The Spirit World (Mixed Media on Canvas, 2019), Onumonu Richard's Life Reverse 1(Mixed Media Painting, 2019), and Mtamber Janet’s Once Fresh (Dry Mango Seeds. 2019) examines the theme from the angle of Life and death, here and thereafter, the known and the unknown. While The Living and The Spirit World and Life Reverse 1 looked at The Other Side as an idiom that connotes the afterlife, a supernatural realm inhabited by spirits of deceased people. Mtambar Janet's Once Fresh approached the theme from a conceptual perspective, using dry mango seeds that were once fresh as a metaphor for the duality that is true of the interchangeability of life and death. Ebube Onyewe's Irony of Time (Mixed Media Painting. 2019) and Samuel Enejeta’s Big Daddy (Mosaic on Board, 2019) elucidates how the passage of time can provide a clue to the narrative of The Other Side. Both works seem to agree on the constancy of time and the transient nature of human life. Time remains constant from the day we are born, as we grow from infanthood to old age, till the day we die. It seems that even the narrative of our existence is synonymous with the other side of time.
All that Glitters is not Gold (Mixed Media Painting, 2019) by Okoye Onyekachukwu and Decide (Fiber Sculpture, 2019) by Frank Bassey explores the moral angle of The Other Side. Okoye Onyekachukwu's All that Glitters is not Gold a Mixed Media triptych painting portrays a beautifully rendered realistic image of a lady in contemplative mood as the central figure. The somewhat patched background holds symbolic images trapped by cobwebs to the right and left of the panels. On the other hand, the Fiber sculpture Decide depicts a pregnant young woman in sorrowful mood holding a book on her hands. The book and the icons on the base of the stand we possibly signifiers of lost opportunities due to the wrong choices she made. Both works are visual reminders of the other side of the choices we make in life which can either make or mar our future.
The mixed media installation Behind the Journey of Life (Installation, 2019) by Ismaila Jimoh, the metal sculpture Through the Eyes of an Elder (Metal Junk Sculpture, 2019) by Nwugo Jeremiah, Nonliving Sense
(Mixed Media, 2019) by Pollyn Tonye, Hope (Metal Junk Sculpture, 2019) by Ganiyu Ayinde, and Beyond Our Dreams (Motorcycle Chain Scuipture, 2019) by Akinriola Samuel, all touched on the material angle in examining the theme The Other Side. Behind the journey of life presents us with interesting new narratives in composition with metal, cane wood, rope, calabash and cowry, while Through the Eyes of an Elder employed the use of junk materials to buttress the saying that what an elder sees sitting down, the young cannot see even while standing. In other words, age and wisdom are parameters through which we can envision the other side. Nonliving Sense creates a reversed role approach, using the other side of the canvas (the back) as support for its composition. Literally, the work opines that there is sense in every nonsense if we can observe with deep intent to discover the sense in the seemingly nonsense things. Hope provides another interesting metaphorical connect between life and death. The interesting use of “dead” discarded object to create an interesting “living” metal composition of a dog connotes the hope for resurrection that is envisioned in The Other Side of eternity. Beyond Our Dreams, the interesting rendition of a man in contemplative mood appears to be amazed at its own materialization - “So it is possible to achieve me with this level of finesse using motorcycle chain?”
The Other Side of darkness is light! Gabriel Omoniyi captures this thought process in his painting After Total Darkness (Acrylic on Canvas, 2019). The luminous light that welcomes the open door and the child that looks on with renewed hope contrasts sharply with the dark moody representation of the room. The moral lesson to draw from this work is that The Other Side might just be better if we can endure for a little while.
Michael Olajide's Little With a Broad Mind (Drawing, 2019) is somewhat disturbing. It gives an insight to The Other Side of social media. Though social media has contributed to the growth and dissemination of information and knowledge globally, when inappropriately explored, the other side of it can lead to unimaginable decadence and consequent destruction. The current rise in number of suicide cases among young people are linked to improper use of social media, or wrong assimilation of negative information disseminated through some manipulative social media sites.
Mudashiru Nurudeen's Imule – Covenant (Acrylic on Canvas, 2019) is a panacea to The Other Side of Peace by Gafer Ibrahim (Mixed Media Painting, 2019). The crux of the matter here is religion which the political elite in Nigeria has mastered how to deploy in order to create division among the populace and achieve their selfish gains. Mudashiru suggests a Covenant, a realization and agreement that both religions at war emanated from the same source. Once this understanding is established, the things that bind us together will be greater and more potent than the things that divide us.
Rabbit Hole (Mixed Media Sculpture) by Daduut Judith captures the condition we have got ourselves in as a Nation. Her use of fragmented pieces of calabash stitched together to form a globe-like structure with a warped human form holding the Nigerian flag, surrounded by newspaper cut-outs with troubling headlines, is enlightening. How did we get to this side? Why did we abandon the other side of peace and progress? Who put us in this complex Rabbit Hole? These are some of the questions demanding urgent answers. As posited by an Igbo proverb, “If a man is not aware of where the rain began to beat him, he will not know when, where and how it stopped to beat him, and how he dried his body”. There are two sides to the fixing the coin. We can stay and work to achieve a better country, or we can also choose to move to “The Other Side” by adopting Kembukem David's work I Hide from What My Eyes See (Mixed Media Painting, 2019). This might not be the most viable option because if we all adopt to hide from the reality on ground rather than confronting it, who will salvage the situation? But again, another school of thought might look at it from The Other Side of the saying that “He who runs from a fight today will live to fight another day”.
While Anyanwu Emmanuel in his work Mirror (Mixed Media Sculpture, 2019) adopted a conceptual approach in reflecting the concerns raised by Daduut Judit's Rabbit Hole, Damola Adeyemo opted for a metaphorical examination of the root cause of those concerns in his work Reflection (Mixed Media on Canvas, 2019). Anyanwu's piece, a severed human head tortured with spikes and hung on a framed wooden gallows is horrifying. I see oil and blood – the two elements synonymous with the Nigerian problem. Could it be that the distinctive design on the tortured face is deployed as a symbol of our once lush green white and green flag that is now tainted with crude oil and blood?
Okoroafor Ordinalachi's Disparity of Life (Mixed Media Painting, 2019) presents a form of social disparity evident in our society. Each side of the canvas contrasts in mood with the opposite side to portray a happy-sad divide. In a system where majority of the massed are saddened by the condition of living, another group is happy because they are positioned to gain from the workings of the same system. Udoh Victor, in his work Enriching the Rich (Mixed Media Sculpture, 2019), used a humorous composition to capture in essence the situation evident in the dealings between the two predominant social classes in Nigeria. The two children with plates represent the elite and the ordinary citizens. The income inequality between these two social classes is alarming.
The boy's plate is full, yet he hides it behind his back and extends a hand to collect from the girl whose plate is virtually empty. This scenario plays out between the shrewd rich and the vulnerable poor in Nigeria. The work points up the moral corruption that has eaten deep into the system. With the very low minimum wage that government pays the workers, survival has become difficult. The system is structured in a way that money is siphoned through dubious and multiple taxes, inflated charges, unfair and inefficient allocation of resources, misappropriation, and many more. This is The Other Side of a country that is seen as Africa's largest economy.
The 100 finalists presented in this exhibition are drawn from a pool of over 500 works submitted nationwide.This is a remarkable feat having gone through different levels of selection process in the nine zones across the country. Though these young vibrant creators have made it thus far to this side of the competition through their creative dexterity, there remains a final grand jury hurdle to determine those who will finally cross to The Other Side of history.
Chike Obeagu
Curator, LIMCAF 2019
