Who is Olabisi Silva?

Recreating the Centre in the Management of Art

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju COWACArt The Cosmos of World Art and Correlative Cultural Forms Collaborative Knowledge Creation A Division of Compcros Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge

Maps of Cultural Creativity Olabisi Silva is a creator of new global maps of cultural creativity. These maps are variable demonstrations of centres of cultural creativity, interpretation, display, distribution and marketing. Cultural creativity spans the entire process from the creation of forms to the interpretation and display of those forms. The character of a work of art, for example, may be understood as defined by its creator, by how it is interpreted, by the physical and ideational contexts in which it is encountered, the implications emerging from the manner in which it is displayed, by the contexts in which it is discussed, and even by its relationship to the commercial contexts in which it operates. The total being of a work of art represented by the convergence of these various factors in the material expression that is the work of art is strikingly evoked by an advertisement by an airline company with the byline Imagine what you could save if you fly with us, above a picture of company representatives sitting beneath one of the iconic paintings of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The advertisement made no other statement, verbal or visual, because within the cultural nexus within which the airline and its audience operate, the symbolic significance of the Van Gogh, its monetary implications in terms of the maximisation of profit by saving operating expenses as projected by the advertisement, needs no elaboration. The Van Gogh says it all, so deeply has the achievement of the Dutch master, one of the founders of modern art, whose life in Paris reinforced significantly the image of the French capital and of France itself as a centre of avant-garde creativity, has sunk into the Western and, to a significant degree, global consciousness.

The punch line of the advertisement is left unstated so it may resonate with visual immediacy into the image and verbal processing centres of the brain-if you fly with us, you will save enough to buy a Van Gogh to adorn your office, a painter whose works are so expensive many museums cannot buy them. The relationship between art, its creators and those who relate with both art and artist is a map of interactions that shifts across time and space, variable from one place to another, from one period to another, but ultimately demonstrating particularly relationships between variables and constants. This dynamic map demonstrates a consensus over time on interpretations of artists in relation to each other, of centres of prestige between artistic centres, and of commercial value in relation to various centres. The West as the Global Centre of Cultural Creativity Within this configuration, the undisputed centre of global interpretation, distribution and marketing of art is the West, specifically Europe and North America. The Western model is the globally dominant paradigm in the management of art. Western cultural systems are the most robust in relation to the interpretation of art in an institutionalised context central to perpetuating its legacy within a civilisation. These cultural systems are also the most robust in relation to the public appreciation of art, their economies the most receptive to the intangible values that art represents and those economies the best poised, with the most current technologies, for the reproduction of art and texts about art. Within this context, therefore, artists from various parts of the world gravitate to the West in order to further develop themselves and gain global recognition because recognition within the West resonates globally while recognition in the global periphery might not have global impact. Some artists , such as El Anatsui remain in Africa, a peripheral zone, but are able to gain significant recognition at the global centre represented by the West, and from there resonate globally. Such examples are rare, however. Remapping Global Cultural Creativity: The Example of Olabisi Silva Positioning themselves with his framework, some cultural managers such as the curator Olabisi Silva have chosen to gain an education with the cultural centre represented by the West, in her case a postgraduate qualification from the Royal College of Art, London, in the Curating and Commissioning of Contemporary Art, but make the centre of their own cultural activity the culturally peripheral continent of Africa, represented by her founding the Contemporary Art Centre, Lagos, described as an arena for new and alternative forms of art, and from there develop a global range. Questions of Vision, Strategy and Evaluation What is her vision? What motivates her choice of strategy? How does she navigate the challenges this vision and strategy imply?? How is he able to access funding for the costs of exhibiting art and of travelling between the various events that help to define the round of the art world as shaped by the West, but increasingly defined by Africa and Asia?

To what degree is she able to contribute to the development of Nigeria, in particular, and Africa, in general, as quasi-independent cultural centres, developing their own mechanisms for artistic interpretation, display and marketing? Centres that acts as the hub of their integrative wheels, interacting, as much as possible, on its own terms, with other centres? Delicate questions implying an overview of the orientation and developing strategies of the cultural manager in question. Should the success of such a cultural manager defined in terms of their active presence representing Africa in art exhibitions outside Africa, showcasing Africa to the world and magnifying the commercial possibilities of African art? Is it best described in terms of her ability to organise art exhibitions that bring the world to Africa? By her management and perhaps writing of texts on African and perhaps other art, in relation to issues of the scope of audience for such texts? The West runs a massive industry of art interpretation and publication, from expensive academic volumes, to costly deluxe volumes for both the general public and academia, to cheap editions at various levels of sophistication, to basic books for children, this entire spectrum being produced at a high level of colour reproduction and of all elements of book production. To what degree is a cultural manager able to contribute to develop understanding of African art in particular and art in general within her primary constituency within Africa and her secondary constituency beyond Africa? These are some questions in terms of which one may examine the success of a cultural manager such as Olabisi Silva, a curator who chooses operate within the global periphery of the art world represented by Africa. Other questions may emerge that might be better oriented to the vision and strategies of this particular cultural manager. Now, let us try and see if we can gain some insight into the vision and strategy of Olabisi Silva, as a globally minded curator of art based in Africa. The Facebook Research Platform A very good source for information for Olabisi Silvas activities and thinking is her personal Facebook page and that of the Contemporary Art Centre, Lagos, because, using this platform, she expresses herself consistently and passionately about her experiences, developing impressions and strategies on her personal Facebook account and using the Contemporary Art Centre account for regular information on the Centres activities.

Olabisi Silva : Four Major Areas of Focus. A brief glance at her activity may suggest four major areas of focus. Repositioning Discourse on African Art One of these is the development of discourse on African art in a context in which Africans are able to establish themselves as centres of institutional authority with global power in the discipline. This aspect of her activity is still in process of achieving full development, as suggested by her posts, but her expressions of what is at stake, her statements of vision and of the challenges involved in fluffing that vision, however, indicate a depth of understanding of the relevant issues and commitment to addressing them in fulfilling her vision. She addresses this subject in terms of the need for the writing and publishing of literature on African art that are free of the limitation of publications on African art as managed by cultural managers based in the West and the challenges of developing within Africa the knowledge base represented by a solid grounding in the study of art. Production of Texts on African Art Her status update of Saturday 22 June 2013, on her personal Facebook account, states the vision and challenge of publication of texts that privilege the distinctive needs of publics beyond the limitations represented by publications on African art managed by the cultural industries based in the West. In quoting her, I have added paragraphing to distinguish the points presented: Hi People. Has anybody used crowd funding successfully for their arts project? Also welcome advice on which is the best one to use for arts projects. I am working on a major publication and want to self publish as well as explore different avenues which will allow us to publish in and from Africa with less of a dependency on foreign publishers who currently have a stranglehold on the publishing and distribution of literature on contemporary Art in Africa and consequently determine what is written, who writes and when it is written as well as the shelf life. Superb. Those lines suggest an understanding of the politics of knowledge in relation to art and a resolve to build oneself as a defining player within that framework in relation to the cardinal value of scribal literacy, writing and its complementation, in generating the discourses in terms of which cultures are understood and created. African art is indisputably one sector of creativity, in comparison with all sectors, from the sciences to scholarship, where Africans, on and outside the continent, for decades have consistently demonstrated a level of individuality and excellence that can take its place among the finest achievements in the repertoire of global civilisations.

Yet, newer, some would say, modern, African art is understudied, and the texts available about it are not readily accessible from within Africa since most of them are produced in Europe and North America at prices not readily affordable for many Africans. Silvas cry of intent, in its passion and clarity, suggests the critical character of the challenge to develop a vigorous publishing industry on African art that serves the needs of Africans and those outside Africa in terms of more open parameters of access and greater scope for determination of content and orientation. The post also demonstrates Silvas appreciation of the flexibility offered by the breakdown of traditional financial and information hierarchies through the Internet, as represented by her exploring the novel method of crowdsourcing and her vigorous use of Facebook. The Empowering of Researchers on African Art in Africa Institutional Structures in the Study of Art in Africa In the Face to Facebook Art talk with critic and information management expert Susan Preston Blier at the University of African Art, Olabisi Silva lamented the difficulty of getting a degree in Art History on account of the narrow definition of qualifications required for this study in that country. Her comments inspired discussion on the state of art historical study in Africa in relation to the quality and scope of the research libraries and academic processes available on the continent to promote the study of art . The Economic Empowerment of Researchers on Art in Africa In her personal account Facebook status update of 24 April 2013, she outlines challenges faced by researchers on art in Africa and urges the need for Africans to stop acting as unpaid or ill paid labour for researchers from more developed countries: the information [on African art] is not as easily accessible over here. One can do some fairly indepth research in the very developed and very very developed world and at least get an idea of what is available or not. It is the opposite here. You are going to get little or no information if you don't get out there to dig it up. Research is still very much at the field or primary level here. The information does exist - sort of - but a lot of it resides with individuals. So it is very much 'face me I face you' research strategy and that is time consuming and complex. That is why I want to encourage less of the free stuff which remains at the superficial level and more of the in-depth stuff that can unearth incredible information. Exhibition Strategies While demonstrating sensitivity to questions of art appreciation and study as primary value in developing art appreciation, she works vigorously in the exhibition of art within and outside Africa. The second but primary platform of her activity is in curating exhibitions, a field in which she has achieved significant progress across continents. This platform of activity is demonstrated in terms of a range of interrelated exhibition strategies.

Exhibitions within Africa The most fundamental of this is exhibitions within Africa, specifically Nigeria, where Silva is based. The most recent of these seems to be Adolphus Opara: Emissaries of an Iconic Religion was organised by Centre for Contemporary Art, at its Lagos grounds, in June 2013. Collaboration with Agencies Outside Africa to Deliver Exhibitions in Africa Her second exhibition platform involves collaboration with agencies outside Africa top deliver exhibitions in Africa, such as the exhibition, No One Belongs Here More Than You, of 15 June14 September 2013 was organised by Silvas Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, New York, in relation to the Fulbright Scholar and Guggenheim Fellowship Awards. Exhibitions Outside Africa with other African Cultural Managers Another exhibition strategy is that of exhibitions outside Africa such as such as the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos presence wat Marker, Art DubaiArt Dubai 2013, while Silva acted as one of the jurors of the Venice Biennale, 2013. Conclusion : The Future Olabisi Silvas passion and knowledge of the challenges for African art in the global space make her a person whose trajectory should be closely watched by anyone in order to follow the development of the field.