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Prologue
When Overcoming Maps 3 being put
together, one did not appreciate the extent to which
this great idea by these selfless young artists would
impact on the art world of the West African
sub-continent.
However, as a close observer and participant, one clear
thing that struck one in the unfolding of events
targeted at re-integrating West Africa through the
process of culture assimilation and bonding, was that
not even a single African leader considered the efforts
of these young artists worthy of attention as they
crisis-crossed West Africa from country to country. The
only place where they were given some possible
recognition was in Burkina Faso.
More ironically, in Ghana when we gathered together to
actualise part of the dreams of these young artists, the
only people that gave us some recognition were the
Italian Ambassador to Ghana and his amiable wife. Alas,
there were no Ministers, no Executive Secretaries, no
Directors of Culture and no national or local television
stations to give recognition to this selfless effort by
these young artists. This makes one wonder whether it
was worth the effort.
However, as it was with Van Gogh who put so much into
art and got virtually nothing out of it, I am confident
that the efforts of these young artists will not go
unnoticed when history is written about the development
of art in the West African sub-region.
In this vein, I give kudos to Krydz Ikwuemesi, Ayo
Adewunmi and Hamed Ouattara. I must also acknowledge the
efforts of Professor Joe Nkrumah in Ghana, among many
others who contributed to the success which covered a
total of over 4,000 kilometres through bad roads,
hostile environment and governments agents across Benin,
Nigeria, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
One must also acknowledge the efforts of Peter Areh, the
Director of Pendulum Art Gallery in Lagos, who put in so
much of his resources in the packaging of the Nigeria
angle of Overcoming Maps. History will, without doubt,
acknowledge the role of these young artists who tried to
re-integrate the artificial boundaries of the common
culture of the West African sub-region.
Engr Yemisi Shyllon
Patron, The Pan-African Circle of
Artists
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