Artistic Engagement with Constitution-Making Processes: An Intervention with Ewawo - The Awaiting Trial Persons By Jelili Atiku

Visual Artist, Lecturer at the Department of Arts and Industrial Designs, Lagos State Polytechnic, Nigeria and Chief Coordinator, Advocate for Human Rights Through Art (AHRA), +234 802 315 5408, jeliliatiku03@gmail.com, atikuolorunfunmi@yahoo.com

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Abstract The Guerrilla Art Action Group (1970) in its manifesto raised a fundamental concern on artists’ role in political processes; be it lawmaking or representative selections. The Group declared, “Art today negates human values of life and freedom. Art has become a meaningless game for the sole benefit of those engaged in the suppression of human life and values… Is that what art is all about? An elitist game of repression and destruction? Or is it an educational process of awareness, a humanization process that confronts the insanity and violence of our society, and gives relevance to life?” In Gilbert’s (1998:51) statement, it is clear that “everything in life comes down to politics. All worthy emotions – love, honour, patriotism, charity – have at their root a concern with politics, which means simply possessing the power to achieve one’s desired goal. This is not the place to debate whether that theory holds weight or not, but it is certainly clear that a greater portion of the world’s art has had political implications.” This paper therefore intends to examine and discuss the potentialities of artistic intervention or engagement in influencing or transforming legislative decisions. Referencing “Ewawo: The Awaiting Trial Persons” – An installation sculpture, which was exhibited in 2005 at the Lagos State House of Assembly as a protest against “Holding Charge”; it explores the work and its methodology in conversing the Legislative processes.

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Introduction

Some artists are more interested in the freedom to solve the special problem or style or technique which fascinates them. Others seek freedom to use style and technique to express their views about society and political processes. Those in the latter group are sometimes inclined to speak about “artistic responsibility”. For them, art does not exist merely to entertain and gratify the senses; it must edify. It must play a role in the improvement of our collective existence. So long as there are political wrongs to be righted and unjust or ugly social conditions requiring change, art must participate through visual education and persuasion in the development of popular attitudes which can lead eventually to a better society - Edmund Burke Feldman (1972: 280).

The foregoing is one typical view that supplies credence to the predominant role of art and artists in human societies, which is service to the people. However, the manner at which this service is beneficiary to humanity in our modern times has been the concern of art historians and critics. It was held by some school of thought that from 17th Century – an era that witnessed violent change from a pastoral economy to industrial capitalism – to the present days’ financial capitalism; the service of art to man has been watered down and obscured in commercialization. This assertion seems to have been augmented by Hunter (2004: online) when he declared that:

Modern art in its various forms is anti-conceptual, anti-consciousness and anti-life. It brings people down to the perceptual level of cognition, blocking them from rising into the conceptual or truly human mode of thought… Of course, art is not supposed to be a guessing game; nor is it supposed to be mentally crippling. But that is what modern art has devolved into. This does not even take into account the content of contemporary art: mindless cycles of money, drugs, sex, violence and death. Not that money or sex is bad, but these are portrayed as crude, animalistic entities devoid of any

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conceptual context such as arising from heroic achievement or overcoming obstacles to become successful. As a result, modern art exemplifies the worst of all worlds: Bad content, bad style and bad implementation.

Inasmuch as Hunter’s view may be challenged, it cannot totally be discarded. We have been informed through history that majority of modern contemporary artists in the world; are concern mainly in dealing with problem of aesthetic. Modern African artists are also caught in the web of this devaluation of the essence of art in our current era – An era, which the quest for utopia has produced rivers of blood and tears. Pagnes and Stenke (ND: online) in their critical observation of the era discovered:

However, and in light of recent tragic events, it is obvious that those aspects that are bandied about as the success stories of modern technocratic society are also leading to confusion; they are therefore beginning to show themselves to be failures. In fact, what we normally define as ‘competitive attitudes tied to the concept of maximum profit’, must in some way be transformed as the values of growth, power and domination, as they are intended nowadays and are no longer sustainable. If we were to think of the freedom that is implicit in all artistic creation not only as a vehicle and possible escape route, but as an element necessary to uncovering and changing the socio-cultural characteristics of the world we live in, then what should contemporary artistic production be like in order to be able to respond to requests for cultural renewal and change? What new paradigms should contemporary man cum artist assume if he wants to contribute to evicting what has become the materialistic yoke able to make life itself unnatural, reducing it to a useless game that entraps the reawakening of its own soul?

Perhaps rethinking and discussing again ourselves as men who can determine their own existence through the ethics of doing might be a first step towards that much desired path that could possibly save us from the furious insanity of our current era.

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However, there are numerous artists who have distinguished their work from commercialization to promote and advance as well as the notion that art is an efficacious human endeavour capable of appraising societal values and “influencing the direction of man’s inter-relationship.” It was Barr (1954:9), who observed that “artists and their champions may indeed seem a squabbling banderlog of ism. But, actually, they are not; their differences are real and significant, slowly developed, passionately believed in, and expressive not simply of artistic convictions but often of deeply-felt philosophies of life”. Even granting that such philosophies may endanger their lives, they would proceed to express their feelings on such matters that are affecting the collective lives (existence) of the people. Their works thus serve as “means of enhancing experiences and thoughts”, communication, instructive and didactic (Yusuff (2010:3). This principle in whole, with its several components closely connects, recurrent and guides the works of social protest artists. Oftentimes, their insolence in revolting against the status quo could propel them to use guerilla approach and expressing their subjects in an insurgent manner. It could be concluded that the political, military and social turmoil of the twentieth century which midwife the second and third world wars influenced the emergency of social protest artists; as it has never been in the previous centuries. The likes of George Grosz (American, born in Germany in 1893), David Alfaro Siqueiros (Mexican, born in 1898), Otto Dix (German, Born in 1891), Candido Portinari (Brazilian, born in 1903), Reg Butter (British, born in 1913), Renzo Vespignani (Italian, born in 1950) to mention but a few enrich the role of art and artists in political orientation and the campaign for social reform. In higher sense, their goals were pursuit with vigour, fearlessness and humanistic tendencies “without being banal or sentimental”. They show embroilment along with assailment of status quo. In 1890s, a period, which according to Selze (1981:9) characterized by profound trouble and human rights abuses; artists like Henri de touse-Lautrec-Monfa produced Lithographs in France that “affected by a macabre sentiment that fevers fin de siecle” (Barr). The print, titled “Hanging Man” (Figure I) was made in 1895 and printed “somberly in black and green” concurrent with the trail and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde on charges of

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homosexual.

Figure I: Toulouse- Luatrec-Monfa, Hanging Man, (1895), Lithography, Printed in Black and Green, 30 ¼ x 22”. Source: Barr, A. H. (1954). Master of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Page 32.

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Selz said:

Most artists of the period identified with the establishment, enhancing and glorifying it with their own conservative works, but others refused to accept bourgeois values which dominated their lives and frustrated their careers. It was especially the scientifically oriented Neo-impressionist, such as Camille Pissarro, Maximilien Luce, and Paul Signac in France, who adhered openly – at least in theory – to the anarchist movement.

The above preamble is to give a profound insight into the consciousness of social protest artists. Barr echoed a question that makes one to probe with inquisitive the works of these artists. He asked, “Why is it that at the sight of certain works of art we are aware of receiving ‘an immortal wound’? This question will first of all serve as the premise of this paper. Secondly, it hopes and perhaps; will broaden an understanding of the works of social protest artists in employing effectively the psychological effects of visual art works on audience and society. An instance of works that could readily supply impetus to the above question are Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937) (Figure II) - A painting created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italianwarplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces on the 26 April 1937; Susan Crile artworks based on images of torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (2005) (Figure III), andKiran Jayaram’s performance of anti-war in the movement against the Vietnam War (Figure IV); and recently,Mideo Cruz’s multimedia installation work, titled Poleteismo (Figure V). Displayed in “KULÔ” - A recent group exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Gallery shown from June 17 to August 21, 2011; it was the artist’ response to CCP’s celebration of Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday and connection as well to the 400th year of the University of Santo Tomas. According to CCP (2011: online):

All the artists present themselves as Thomasians, products of the same institution, and thus regard to share a particular history and educational experience with Rizal. As the curators organized it, the exhibit called for direct or indirect representations, portrayals and recollections of Rizal as explored through traditional mediums, multimedia installations and graphic design. It hopes to contribute to the discourses of the pen and the sword, and of education and revolution— topics that continue to implicate Filipino artists and thinkers, who are conscious of the historical occasion and dialogue between Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday and

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the country’s oldest university’s 400th year celebration as an educational institution. This is more than a showcase of new or past works; but more of a gathering of ideas and ideologies, principles and disciplines, and past and present dialogues.

Figure II: Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, 1937, Oil on Canvass, 349cm x 776 cm, located in Museo Reina Sofia, Mardid. Source:

Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italianwarplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned Picasso to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Paris International Exposition at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_%28painting%29

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Figure III - Susan Crile artworks based on images of torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (2005).

Figure IV -Kiran Jayaram’s performance of anti-war in the movement against the Vietnam War. “Dressed as Uncle Sam, Kiran Jayaram, a Kansas University graduate student, slings fake blood onto war protesters. Protesters who participated in the "Die-In" blocked Massachusetts Street on Friday for a brief period of time. Lawrence police broke up the blockade at 11th and Massachusetts streets shortly thereafter” - (http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0308/ljw42.html).

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Figure V -Mideo Cruz, Poleteismo, Installation, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Main Gallery 2011

Mideo Cruz’sPoleteismo in this exhibition provoked series of protest from individuals and groups. Notably among the dissent voices is that of Archbishop Oscar Cruz’, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, who called for a boycott of the exhibit. Other organizations also called for the removal of Cruz’s work, and even for the closure of the exhibition. The intention of this paper is not to discuss the contents and context of the exhibit but rather to show how visual art forms can garner reactions from beholders and hence;

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promote “counter-thinking about the fabric of society itself”. This of course is the psychological role of art and it is the crux of this paper.

The Psychological Role of Art Hunter (2004:1) raised pertinent questions that could easily broach over the psychological role of art in human life. He asked emphatically, “Why do people search the world for art and pay upwards of one million dollars for a single work of art? Hunter’s response to this question may as well be taken as an exposé to the underline precepts of the question. He declared that “art provides pleasure and inspiration to its beholder”. He went to say:

People attend a concert, view a play, observe a sculpture or read a novel with the implicit goal of experiencing a sense of pleasure or even awe. In this sense, art can be said to satisfy the soul the way a delicious meal satisfies the stomach or the way a massage satisfies muscles. People from all over the world in all different cultures produce and observe art in its various forms for the delight, inspiration and pleasure it provides.

Thirty two years preceding Hunter’s statement, Feldman (1972:280) have exposed the salient motivating factor that serve as bound between visual art object and its viewer. Feldman said:

People see images, not things. Sensations of light falling on the retina are transmitted as energy impulses to the brain, where they are almost simultaneously translated into a meaningful entity called an image. Not that there is a picture, an optical projection, in the brain itself. The optical processes are in the eye, of course. But perception is a function of the mind. We cannot experience sensation without characterizing it in some way, giving it a label, loading it with meaning. An image, therefore, can be defined for our purpose as the result of endowing optical sensations with meaning.

The core value of Hunter and Feldman’s views seem to have re-echoed and succinctly aligned with the fact that art is being accepted as an essential instrument for the formation and expression of human personality - Arnheim (1966:18). Perhaps, through their contextual-drive one could come to terms with yet another

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fact that artistic image could help in influencing decision making. As said by Sy (1995:235):

The visual arts, like other media which are based on sight, are the most effective aids to leaning how to experience and therefore how to understand and act, as much for the artists as for the spectator. In this respect, art is also a powerful weapon; in a century dominated by pictures and sounds, it can be help to discredit inhuman, puppet regimes. Art revitalises and restores: this is also worthy of attention.

As to this, visual art work that can readily supply a convincing credence to the above is an installation sculpture, Ewawo: The Awaiting Trial Persons (Figure VI),which, incidentally, is the focus of the paper.

Figure VI - Ewawo: Awaiting Trial Person, installation at University of Lagos, November – December, 2005.

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In review the sculpture, Nnabuife(2006:89)declared that:

Ewawo further illustrates that many artists have failed to tap an healthy opportunity that only them can utilise effectively. Its success therefore posed a challenge for artists to create art programmes that would play practical (not just idealistic) roles in the socio-political transformation. The exhibitor made it clear that if political leaders are looked upon to serve the society with all they can offer artists equally owe the society a responsibility to seek out every chance available, even if it takes going to exhibit in unusual quarters to effect enduring change.

Figure VII - Ewawo: Awaiting Trial Person (Detail), 2005

Introducing Ewawo: The Awaiting Trial Persons Ewawo: Awaiting Trial Persons is an installation sculptural piece I produced in 2005 as a response to Nigerian penal system. As rightly described by Yusuff (2006:2):

It is a conceptual analysis of the devastating conditions in Nigeria prisons, especially in the awaiting trial cells. It is also

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terrifying documentation of despair, resignation and degradation of the Awaiting Trial Prisoners. In composition, it consists of 61Maquette-sized of male figures. Each of the figures portrays different story line and title. These titles include: Conservation, Prayerful, Timorousness, Relaxation, Valourless, Adaptation, Endurance, Pains, fright, Genuflection, degradation, Hope, Self Sympathy, Hopeless, Sober, Cramp, Rest and sadness, Sleep and Sleeplessness, Conversation, Remorse, Meditation, Reflection, Brood, Respondent, Submission, Boredom, Haggard, Hardihood, Starvation, Expectation, Down-Trodden, Crouching, Responsiveness, Fortitude, Emulgent, Despair, Hypnophobia, Idleness, Pusillanimus, Infortune, Temporary Freedom, Induration, Harsh Reality, Lethargy, Anxiety, Stoicism, Tolerant, Suffering, Penance, Defecation, Creepiness, Gazing at Tomorrow, Cold Moment, Sorrow, Terminal Ailment, Deicide, Psychological Torture, Suspense, Leadership, Death-point, Acceptance and Rejection among others. The psychic effects of unjust imprisonment, as a result of abandonment and the non-challant attitude of Nigerian government and its penal system are portrayed by this sculpture through the simplified forms, rough texture and deliberate tactical manipulation. The figures were deliberately created to have placid and vegetable quality. The indistinctness of the bodily parts, the attenuation of the forms and their general lack of corporality suggest the inhuman conditions1 which the inmates are going through. Importantly, the following items were also created as part of the installation objects: i. Large cage, constructed with metal rods (mild steels) and sheets. It looks like local chicken cage and represents the awaiting trial cell. A heavy chain and padlock were welded to it, symbolizing bondage and inaccessibility to conditions that could end captivity. ii. 30 rectangular flat shapes created with modeling board. Each of the principles and articles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was written was

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written on each of them. In addition to these 30 pieces of rectangular shapes of Nigerian emblem (coat of arm) were designed on green and white background; and pasted on the modeling board. The word, Adopted was written boldly on the placards. iii. A big and wide fabric of green and white colour representing Nigerian flag. iv. A wide black fabric symbolizing the prevailing gloomy mood of the prisons inmates and; v. wooden Signpost of about 110cm (height) with inscription, NIGERIAN PRISON. An image of arrow was carefully drawn on its front side (top-right), while graffiti were also drawn with brown colour on it’s the (sic) backside. vi. Two wide-fabrics were spread on the ground while with (sic) the black one covered with Nigerian flag. The whole configuration: the large cage – where all the clay figure (green ware) are mounted on the entire cloth. The 30 rectangular flat shapes (placards) were displayed on the ground and distributed around the large cage. The signpost stood afore of the other object.

Thematic Contents and Relevancy of the Sculpture

At the period when the sculpture was produced in 2005, the agitation for prison reform in Nigeria was popular and therefore, it was pertinent for political and justice motivated artist like myself to support and respond to the call. Probing into the cause(s) and as well as my visitation to Ikot-Ekpne Prison in 1998; I discovered that a clause in the Constitution of the country is one of the contributing factors to the derogatory conditions in the Prisons. This clause is known as “Holding Charge”. Yusuff (2006:1) beamed a search light on the practice when he described it thus:

Holding Charge is an obnoxious practice in Nigerian Criminal Justice System. It is a form of human rights abuse, which permits a remand of criminal suspects in a (sic) prison custody indefinitely. Reaches a level that many suspects may remain in detention as Awaiting Trials Prisoners for several years

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without their cases being heard in courts… it is sad to note that Awaiting Trial Prisoners constitutes 93% of the total population of Nigeria prison’s inmates. These people, while in prisons’ confinement face various untold inhuman and degrading conditions, ranging from starvation and abandonment to physical, emotional and psychological torture. These conditions became heightened with the fact that the country’s prison system itself is generally destructive, debilitating and lacks the stipulated-minimum conditions for prisoners’ welfare as are obtainable in modern civilized societies. Indeed Nigeria prison system lack both deterrents and reformatory values. According to Professor A.A. Adeyemi it has become very costly to the economy, it is physiologically, psychologically and emotionally destructive, it is socially damaging, it is culturally abhorred, and it is judicially disastrous.

Haven understood the consequential effects of this practice; the sculpture presented analytical and representational realities in the Awaiting Trial Cells. With its conceptual ideals, it explicitly used visual imagery of prison and prisoners “to engage the viewers in intellectual discourses and urged them to ponder and take positive action to avert the destructive practices in Nigerian justice administrative system, especially the practice of Holding Charge” - Yusuff (2006:3).

Artist’s Methodology The idea that art possess enormous power to influence people in decisions and personalities formation, guided my direction in this project. The strategies deployed here involved identification and deep understanding of the cause and effects of problems, dialogue and proffer solution. In the agitation for penal and prison reform it was clear that an effective legislation was required. Therefore, this understanding influenced my decision to address Lagos State Legislature. In the words of Omoyele (2011: v) the “Legislature all over the world is unquestionably the touch bearer of representative governance. Its interactive, participatory and consultative nature, deep tradition and practices have made it the most involved and experienced arm of the government in the art of civil governance”. Through series of consultation and correspondence, the Lagos State House of Assembly granted me permission to install (exhibit) the sculpture at the Assembly premises. It is pertinent to mention at this juncture that the Assembly’s “Covenant” is to “strive at all times by way of motions, resolutions and Legislations to enhance

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the quality of the living condition of the people in all the forty constituencies of Lagos State...” – Omoyele (2011: iii).

The exhibition

Yusuff (2006:2) captured the essentials of the exhibition when he reported that:

The exhibition “consciously seeks and campaigns for the removal of the practice of holding charge in Nigeria statutory books especially in Lagos State…The exhibition began on the 28thNovember 2005 at the premises of the Creative Arts Department, University of Lagos. At the venue, a large number of people, especially students, lecturers and scholars had the opportunity to view the state of human rights abuse in Nigeria prisons. About 2,057 persons passed by while 1,963 persons stopped to behold the sculpture. The show lasted till 2nd December at the Department before it moved to Lagos State House of Assembly.

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Figure VIII - Ewawo: Awaiting Trial Person, Installation at University of Lagos, November – December, 2005

Figure IX - Ewawo: Awaiting Trial Person, Installation at Lagos House of Assembly, Lagos, Nigeria, 13 December, 2005. The (then) Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Jokotola Pelumi commenting on the sculpture.

On the 10th December 2005, the exhibition began again at the lobby of Lagos State House of Assembly; but it was officially declared opened on the 13th December by the then Speaker of the House, Hon. Jokotola W. Pelumi. As observed by the Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Public Petitions, Hon. Abdulhakeem Mobolaji Abdullateef the show is an innovation in Lagos State legislative processes. It is the first time in the history of Lagos State House of Assembly –if not the first in the entire legislative parlance of Nigeria, where visual artistic work is brought to form part of the house proceeding. Needless to say that, the exhibition presented to the legislators adequate information on the derogatory conditions which the awaiting trial prisoners are subjected to in the prisons.

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After a long and rewarding view of the exhibit, the legislators proceeded on a special session, designed to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The issue of the practice came to fore and became the only prominent topic in the floor of the house. The House went on lengthy deliberations and discovered that the practice is actually inhuman and dangerous to human existence. Therefore, Hon. Abdulhakeem moved a motion for it to be expunged from Lagos State’s statutory book. The motion was seconded by Hon, O.I. Odesanya and unanimously supported by the other legislators. Hence, it became a Bill waiting to be signed into law by Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.2

The exhibition once again proved that artistic expressions have great visual communication ability to disseminate symbolic message to large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audiences.

Summary of Findings

Exhibiting the sculpture, Ewawo: The Awaiting Trial Personsat contested spaces such as Legislative-premise, it has proven as corroborated by Atiku (2006:127) that through the interjection with visual art forms engagement with viewers “one can discover the fundamental forms and process of one’s universe and “can give them new energy and function”. It was discovered that artistic forms and cultural endeavours could:

i. Effortlessly instigate curiosity and dictate emotional responses to their forms

and contents; hence, they influence behavioural patterns; ii. Have the ability to arrest attention and indulge beholders in a face-to-face

communication or interaction; iii. Have effective abilities to gratify, educate and enlighten senses and mind. iv. Enlist sculpture is an efficacious instrument for social protest, which can

influence social principles, collective behaviors and modernize the logic that rules them;

v. Intensify human faculties and bodiesinvolvement in life and develop the faculties in order to vivify human experiences; and

vi. provides a framework for “retinal orientation”, which represents the physical reality of an object, ideas, phenomenon or highly complex issues etc.

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Recommendations/Conclusion

Pfohl (2007: online)has reminded us once again that “our society is losing touch with the human values which have typically been spilled over into our organizations. Since then these values have eroded and have left our followers feeling alone and uncertain about their future and their role within our organizations. According to Hans Joas in The Genesis of Values this values erosion has been influenced by the negative effects of capitalism, the influence of a liberal upbringing, the loss of role models and the courage to demand discipline… Values are being lost within our society and those who have the responsibility for casting values are either too busy or too tired to make it happen”. Pfohl’s view signaled Pollack’s (2003:1) pragmatic idea, who quoting Connie Julian said, "People look to the arts when the world turns very, very dark…"In the same vain and as responding to the two discussants, Pagnes and Stenke(ND: online) averred that “Art has to attack conformist society like a powerful acid…” In a total concurrence with the foregoing, this paper would recommend as a way of conclusion that visual artists should direct or redirect visual forms to investigate, question and combat all those “things” that endanger the existence of humanity. They should concentrate less on “consumerism” and campaign vehemently for a better and conducive environment – Atiku (2006:130). Pagnes and Stenke (ND: online) have also reminded that:

The currently dominant and prevaricating social form is everything that belongs to the concept of ‘capital’. Capital, metaphorically, could be defined as a sort of ‘enroller’ who is able to transform individuals into vectors of desire in that it acts on factors that are linked to the concept of privation and, by organising individuals as vectors of desire, they are subjugated at will. In fact, what were once considered determining social forms (territory, group, etc.) have all ‘morphologically’ been transformed into the concept of capital, the arch enroller able to apply totalitarian surveillance schemes and therefore control all signs of potential change… If we were to think of the freedom that is implicit in all artistic creation not only as a vehicle and possible escape route, but as an element necessary for uncovering and changing the socio-cultural characteristics of the world we live in, then what should contemporary artistic production be like in order to be able to

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respond to requests for cultural renewal and change? What new paradigms should contemporary man cum artist assume if he wants to contribute to evicting what has become the materialistic yoke able to make life itself unnatural, reducing it to a useless game that entraps the reawakening of its own soul? Perhaps rethinking and discussing again ourselves as men who can determine their own existence through the ethics of doing might be a first step towards that much desired path that could possibly save us from the furious insanity of our current era.

Reference

Arnheim, R. (1966). Towards A Psychology of Art, Faber and Faber, London.

Atiku, J.O. (2005). Holding Charge: An Obnoxious Practice in Criminal Justice System and a Form of Human Rights Abuse in Nigeria. In: the exhibition, Ewawo –The Awaiting Trial Persons, held from 10-13 December, 2005 at Lagos State House of Assembly, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. Atiku, J.O. (2006). An Expository Analysis of Sculpture as an Effective Tool for the Protection of Human Rights Abuse, Unpublished M.A Thesis, University of Lagos, Nigeria. Barr, A. H. (1954). Master of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

CCP (2011), http://culturalcenter.gov.ph/page.php?page_id=545. Feldman, E.B. (1972). Varieties of Visual Experience: Art as Image and Ideal, Prentice – Hall Inc. et al, New York.

Gilbert, R. (1998). Living With Art (Fifth Edition), McGraw Hill, New York.

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Guerrilla Art Action Group (1970). Manifesto, In: Battock, G. (1973). Towards a New Humanism, In: The New Art, E.P & Co. Inc, New York.

Hunter, D. L. (2004). Art and its Relationship to the Human Mind, Local Group. (http://www.localgroup.net/articles/art.html). Nnabuife, C. (2006). Ewa wo… Jelili Atiku Takes Art to Lagos Assembly, In: Guardian Newspaper, Tuesday, March 14. Omoyele, O.A. (2011). Lagos Legislative Fact Finder, Straight Path Communication, Lagos, Nigeria. Pagnes, A. and Stenke, V (ND). On the Ethical and Social Role of Art; http://www.972art.com/?page_id=84. Pagnes, A. and Stenke, V. (ND). The Meaning of Art Truth,http://www.972art.com/?page_id=84. Pfohl, R. (2007). Returning to Values to Make an Impact, http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=1176. Pollack, B. (2003). A Brief History of Protest Art: The Art of War, in Village Voice, April 2 - 8, 2003.

Selz, P.H. (1981). “Art in Our Times: A Pictorial History 1890 – 1980”, Harry N. Abrams, New York, page 9. Sy, E. H. (1995). Art Against Apartheid, In: Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa, Flammmarion and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.

Yusuff, A.O. (2010). Expressis Ver-bis: Artists of the People, in: Expressis Verbis, catalogue of exhibition by Uba, W. et al, Ateckhu Forms Limited, Lagos, Nigeria. Yusuff, A.O. (2006). Art Against Holding Charge, Advocate for Human Rights Through Arts – Press Release, Lagos, Nigeria.

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Notes 1. Quoting Feldman, E.B. (1972). Varieties of Visual Experience: Art as

Image and Ideal, Prentice – Hall Inc. et al, New York, page 19. 2. See Proceedings of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Fifth Assembly,

13th December, 2005.

Biography Jelili ATIKU is a renowned Nigerian multimedia artist (sculptor, video and performance artist), who focuses on human rights issues. Doing drawing, installation sculpture, photography, video and live art performance; he strives to help viewers understand the world and expanding their understanding and experiences, so that they can activate and renew their lives and environments. In 2008/2009, his performance video, Victim of Political Assassination was showcased in Video Library section of Rencontres Internationales in Paris, Berlin and Madrid. He also featured at the Geisai #12 Contemporary Art Fair, Tokyo – Japan (2009), 16th Festival International D’Art Video de Casablanca, Morocco (2009), Old News #6, Malmo, Lagos and Copenhagen (2009/2010) and Freedom to Create Prize, Singapore (2009). Recently, he was among participating artists in the just concluded International Video Art Festival in Yorkshire, UK: VAF 1: From Africa (2011). Similarly, his video, Red Bug was among the video that was screened in woodland at the Kurt Schwitters Summer School, Merzbarn Estate, Lake District, UK (23rd July, 2011). For over decade, Jelili has put his art at service of the prevailing concerns of our times; especially those issues that threatening our collective existence and the sustenance of our universe. Therefore, the contents of these concerns ranging from psychosocial and emotional effects of the traumatic events: violence, war, poverty, corruption, climate change, etc., associated with our warring world dominate his artistic forms. Born in 27th September, 1968 in Ejigbo (Lagos), Nigeria, he was trained at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria and University of Lagos, Nigeria – Where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) and Master of Arts (Visual

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Arts) respectively. He presently teaches sculpture in Department of Art and Industrial Design, Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos, Nigeria.