Squiggle is the movement of lines of watery polymeric medium or paint that are drawn and painted in a care-free way of divine scribble of twist and curl

. : Sulsimsn D.I.: African City, Medium: Polymeric on Board, Dimension: 80cm x 120cm, Technique: Crack-Kico as an Embodiment of Squiggle-ism, Year: 201

Squiggle is the movement of lines of watery polymeric medium or paint that are drawn and painted in a care-free way of divine scribble of twist and curl. “Ism” is a morpheme that defines a system or movement in forming certain idea in the area of giving a body of techniques: Drop-Pico and Crack-Kico. The figures in terms of object and subjects are normally released in two forms; Squiggle-ism with Pure Enjambment in Painting and Squiggle-ism with pigment diffusion of Melted Plastic of Enjambment in Painting. In view of this, the similarities between the Squiggliest Sulaman Dauda Ishola’s painting style and Ellis Adeyemo’s style of painting can be artistically seen in the areas of using divine lines informing the bodily structures of some of the figures, the arrangement of lines in depicting African natural patterns and their themes in the area of African art.

Many works of Ellis Adeyemo in the early period of his studio art practice were painted with colours of dark tonal values and applied heavily with the fluid of different pigments, suggesting the moody and romantic expressionism of African generations. This was based on his Ghanaian master’s ideas of interest in his earliest training process. However, Ellis Adeyemo also gradually developed a commitment to the representation of contemporary life, painting the African scenes he observed without concern for thematic idealization or stylistic affectation.

The most significant influence on the works of his early maturity proved to be acculturation of his masters both within and abroad. The masters do not only provide the moral encouragement that secure him to withstand the act of requiring the necessary knowledge and skills for pursuant of his studio art practice. But they also introduced him to the newest ways of doing things in order to meet the demand of his milieu.

Fig. xiii: Sulaiman Dauda ishola, Mum’s Kitchen, Medium: Melted Polymeric, 150cm x 210cm, 2012, Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State

Analysis

This piece of polymeric painting shows the essence of reading and writing in studio practice as an act of research for the development of media, technique of usage and style of presentation as an embodiment of artistic ideology in an academic setting. The use of this developing medium in painting is practically different from the conventional known media in painting studio practice: Oil Paints, Pastels, Water Colours, Tempera, Gauche and the likes in the aspect of technique of application, style of operation and presentation. Besides, the aesthetic component is tent to be unique. This will give divergent areas of interest in writing for many Critics who may like to talk with their pen in other to bring to the hearing of many citizenries the happenings in the studio of the current studio practitioners.

CHAPTER SEVEN

DIVERSITY OF ART AS A CULTURAL BASE FOR ART AND TOURISM INDUSTRYAND ITS PEOPLE
Sule Rabiatu Efueoghena, Department of General Arts and Industrial Design, School of Arts and Industrial Design, Auchi Poltechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Nigegeria e-mail address: [e-mail] [phone]

The continent of Africa with its varying physical features presents a great diversity of cultures presenting a unity shared by all Africans within the continent. These include belief in a Supreme Being, respect for the ancestors, and the importance attached to the ‘rites of passage’ performed at birth, marriage and death. The arts and artifacts of Africa present a corresponding diversity, with styles ranging from the naturalism of Ife to the geometric abstraction of Gabon. Nigeria has been referred to as the ‘Greece of Africa’, a tribute to the achievements of her artists, whose creations have touched the sensibility of the world. Nigeria in Africa stands supreme in the creation of artists who demonstrate mastery of technique and beauty of form.
Nigeria's greatest contribution to world culture so far has been its traditional art. As knowledge of West African cultures increases, it may be that European civilization will be influenced in the future by African poetry, religion and thinking. So far, it is only the art of West Africa that has made a real impact on Western culture. The influence of this art, however, has been so strong that it caused something like a cultural revolution. Around 1907 a small group of artists in Paris 'discovered' African art. Masks, carvings and bronzes from West Africa had of course been known in Europe for centuries, but nobody understood their importance. It was only when Vlaminck, Derain, Picasso and Modigliani tried to free themselves from the stale and sterile conventions of European art that they could suddenly read the important message of African art.
Here was an art form at last that was not content to copy nature, but in which forms were being invented freely. Not representation, but creation, was the function of this art. Here was an art that was unselfconscious, and uninhibited by irrelevant theories about techniques and perspective and anatomy. And what an incredible wealth and variety of forms the subsequent study of African art revealed! There is no style in the world that does not find expression some- where in West Africa. African woodcarving has pro- vided the most important stimulus to European art since the Renaissance.
Nigeria Traditional Art in Relation to Tourism

The Nigerian sculptor found his inspiration in human and animal forms, which he treated in a variety of styles according to the traditions of the group to which he belonged. The cool composure of a Yoruba carving can be distinguished from the dynamic tension of an Ibo work, which is different again from the severely simplified figures of the Plateau peoples. In the Kalabari area sculptures are design to evoke the status and dignity of the departed. The Ibibio people carved imposing ancestor-figures from single blocks of woods. The Ijo people represented forest spirits in a form, which evoked the trees with which they are made. Limbs are made into narrow cylinders and rectangles and modeling the heads with stylized human features. The Igbos carved figures called ‘ikenga’, which are the emblem of a man’s physical strength, vital for survival in an agricultural society. Amongst the Yorubas, ‘Eshu’, the unpredictable mischief-maker, is represented as a man wearing a long wearing a long, drooping cap like the cap of a hunter and often has strings of cowrie’s shells hanging down his neck.
Benin artists produced bronze sculptures. Finely cast bronze plaques and sculpted heads and figures were remarkably delicate and finely decorated. Bronze art can also be found in many other parts of Nigeria in places like, Jebba, Igbo Ukwu, Ife and Tada. Masks are one of the most common forms of African art. They have many different kinds of significance. Some were worn to evoke the spirit of dead people. Others represented mythological symbols. Some were worn for marriage or initiation rites. This sixteenth century ivory mask was a symbol of divine kingship.
Not all masks are naturalistic in appearance. Some versions are made with stylized human feature; the face may be made rounder, squarer, longer or broader. In Nupe, doors are decorated with a rich variety of birds, lizards, snakes, horses, camels, and geometric patterns in random order all over the surface. When clay (Terra-Cotta) is chosen as the medium for art, the artist creates his form by molding and adding pieces on while the clay is still moist. This is a very ancient form of sculpture and the earliest examples are found in the village of the Nok in old Zaria, Ife, Mbari, Benin and the Western Ibos.
Since the obtaining of elephant tusks was such a dangerous process, objects carved in ivory were rear and their use was restricted to kings and priests of imperial court or important cult. Stone sculptures are rare in Nigeria, probably because stone is such a hard substance and difficult to carve, but its very hardness makes it suitable for making lasting memorials. In the Cross River area, stone figures commemorate clan heads, which died hundreds of years ago. These figures resemble natural boulders with facial features and tattoo patterns carved upon them. No two figures are exactly alike, differing in facial features, hairstyle
Benin Art in Relation to Tourism

Benin art is the art from the Kingdom of Benin or Edo Empire (1440-1897), a pre-colonial African state located in what is now known as the South-South region of Nigeria. Benin art was produced mainly for the court of the Oba of Benin - a divine ruler for whom the craftsmen produced a range of ceremonially significant objects. Aside from producing work to promote theological and religious piety, Benin Art includes a range of animal heads, figurines, busts, plaques, and other artifacts. Typical Benin art materials include bronze, brass, clay, ivory, terracotta, and wood. During the reign of the Kingdom of Benin, the characteristics of the artwork shifted from thin castings and careful treatment to thick, less defined castings and generalized features. One of the objects unique to Benin art is an Ikegobo, a cylindrical object that celebrated the success of an individual.
A common consensus among historians is that the art of Benin served to narrate events and achievements, actual or mythical, which occurred in the past. It was grounded on traditional values and religious beliefs and displayed iconographic affinities. Although only made popular after the Punitive Expedition in the 19th century, Benin art has been in existence since at least 500 BCE (Andrea & Overfield, 2005). They used their art to depict religious, social and cultural issues that were central to their beliefs such as ceremonial weapons, religious objects and masks (Blackmun, 1988).
The culture of the Benin people was that of religious sentiment which can be seen in a lot of their arts? They viewed their kings or obas as unearthly, in the sense that they were closer to the gods than the average human was. In a popular story, Ewuare, a ruler in the 15th and 16th century, goes to the river and steals the beads that belong to Olokun, god of the waters. He brings them back to Benin and in the process establishes the palace of the oba as the earthly counterpart and the kind of dry land (Ben- Amos, 1980). Stories and events like these inspired many of the beliefs and art of the early Benin people.
Characteristic of Benin Art for the Understanding of the Tourists

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  The Benin art are naturalistic and idealistic in approach like that of the Ife.
  
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  Some of their figures bears sly ration marks on their forehead,
  
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  Marks figures were decorated with beads, piles of necklaces elaborate headdresses and long elephant tusk.
  
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  They execute household utensils such as pots, cups jugs traditional trays for giving kola nut, necklaces, bronze ball, chains for hands, legs and jewelries and brackets.
  
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  The head of the Oba and some prominent chiefs are in portraits, heavily decorated with coral beads of different types of necklaces and anklets.
  
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  The figures are symbolic.
  

Characteristics of Benin Art “Casting” for the Benefit of the Tourists

Busts depict beaded collars snugly around necks which were delicately rendered facial features. See awareness of bone and flesh. It has are colurful treatment of hair. Queen mother busts with distinctive coral headdress (curving cone) are common. MIDDLE/PLAQUE/TURMOIL PERIOD: 400-300 B.P (1600-1700 AD). Portuguese soldier Retainers of the Oba (ruler). Late/Restoration Period: 300-100 B.P (1700- 1897 A.D).




Fig. v: hppt//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file.Edo-salt-cellar.jp
Bust of king Ivory Tusk Characteristics: Casting is thick and not carefully done. Faces become inflated, the headdress has winged extensions, and flanges appear on the bottom of the busts. Beaded collars rise above the mouth. Eyes are more un-realistic. Ivory objects are common. Quiz?!? Early Period vs. Late Period can you distinguish between the early and late periods of Benin art? What are some of the stylistic nature of some of the Benin bronzes art work?




Fig. vi: hppt//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file.Edo-salt-cellar.jp
The Nok Culture in Relation to Development

The Nok culture appeared in Nigeria around 1000 B.C. and vanished under unknown circumstances around 500 AD in the region of West Africa. This region lies in Northern and Central Nigeria. Its social system is thought to have been highly advanced. The Nok culture was considered to be the earliest sub-Saharan producer of life-sized Terracotta. It has been suggested that the Nok civilization eventually evolved into the later Yoruba civilization of Ife based on similarities seen in the artwork from these two cultures.



Fig. viii: hppt//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file.Nok-salt-cellar.jp 0001






Fig. viii: hppt//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file.Nok-salt-cellar.jp 0002
The refinement of this culture is attested to by the image of a Nok dignitary at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The dignitary is portrayed wearing a "shepherds crook" affixed with an elastic material to the right arm. The dignitary is also portrayed sitting with flared nostrils, and an open mouth suggesting performance. Other images show figures on horseback, indicating Nok culture had tamed the horse. Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appears in Nok culture in Africa at least by 550 BC and more probably in the middle of the second millennium BC (between 1400 BC and 1600 BC depending on references).
Nok sculptures also depict animals and humans. Their function is still unknown, since scientific field work is still missing. For the most part, the terracotta is preserved in the form of scattered fragments. That is why Nok art is well known today only for the heads, both male and female, whose hairstyles are particularly detailed and refined. The statues are in fragments because the discoveries are usually made from alluvial mud, in terrain made by the erosion of water. The terracotta statues found there are hidden, rolled, polished, and broken. Rarely are works of great size conserved intact making them highly valued on the international art market.
The terracotta figures are hollow, coil built, nearly life sized human heads and bodies that are depicted with highly stylized features, abundant jeweler, and varied postures. Some artifacts have been found illustrating a plethora of physical ailments, including debilitating disease and facial paralysis. Other associated pieces include plant and animal motifs. Little is known of the original function of the pieces, but theories include ancestor portrayal, grave markers, and charms to prevent crop failure, infertility, and illness. Also, based on the dome-shaped bases found on several figures, they could have been used as finials for the roofs of ancient structures.
Margaret Young-Sanchez, Associate Curator of Art of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania in The Cleveland Museum of Art, explains that most Nok ceramics were shaped by hand from coarse-grained and subtractive sculpted in a manner that suggests an influence from wood carving. After some drying, the sculptures were covered with slip and burnished to produce a smooth, glossy surface. The figures are hollow, with several openings to facilitate thorough drying and firing. The firing process most likely resembled that used today in Nigeria, in which the pieces are covered with grass, twigs, and leaves and burned for several hours.
Characteristics Distinguish the Nok Style

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  The treatment of the eyes in their art form is either a segment of a circle, sometimes or a triangular form, with the eyebrow above balancing the sweep of the lower lip, sometimes making a circle.
  
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  The piercing of the pupils, the nostrils, the lips and the ears.
  
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  The careful representation of elaborate hairstyles, with complex constructions buns, tresses, locks and the profusion of beads around the neck, torso and waist.
  
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  The realism in the modeling of the curled lips, the straight nose with flaring nostrils and the large overhanging forehead.
  

Fig. viii: hppt//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file.Nok-salt-cellar.jp 0003
Ife Art Culture in Relation to Tourism

Between 700 and 900 A.D., Ife began to develop as a major artistic center. Important people were often depicted with large heads because the artists believed that the Ase was held in the head, the Ase being the inner power and energy of a person. Their rulers were also often depicted with their mouths covered so that the power of their speech would not be too great. They did not idealize individual people, but they tended rather to idealize the office of the king. The city was a settlement of substantial size between the 9th and 12th centuries, with houses featuring potsherd pavements. Ilé-Ifè is known worldwide for its ancient and naturalistic bronze, stone and terracotta sculptures, which reached their peak of artistic expression between 1200 and 1400 A.D.
After this period, production declined as political and economic power shifted to the nearby kingdom of Benin which, like the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, developed into a major empire. Bronze and terracotta art created by this civilization are significant examples of realism in pre-colonial African art. In his book, "The Oral Traditions in Ile-Ife," Yemi D. Prince referred to the terracotta artists of 900 A.D. as the founders of Art Guilds, cultural schools of philosophy, which today can be likened to many of Europe's old institutions of learning which were originally established as religious bodies. These guilds may well be some of the oldest non-Abrahamic African centres of learning to remain as viable entities in the contemporary world.
Characteristic of Ife Art in the Entertainment of the Tourists

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  Ife art is naturalistic and stylistic approach
  
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  The head are decorated with head gear, with some holes along the hair lines for fixing the natural or artificial hair.
  
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  The figures has facial scarification marks ie. Finely lined face.
  
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  The works are in terracotta, bronze and stone. It is greatly connect with traditional rulers-king or cult.
  
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  Their works are heavily decorated with beads.
  

Igbo Ukwu Art

Igbo-Ukwu (Igbo: Great Igbo) is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra which was the site of three famous archaeological sites that revealed a highly sophisticated metal-working culture. The first, Igbo Isaiah, was uncovered in 1938 by Isaiah Anozie a local villager who stumbled upon the bronze works while digging beside his home. Subsequent excavations by Thurston Shaw in 1959 resulted in the discovery of two other sites, Igbo Richard and Igbo Jonah containing the remains of an ancient culture, including jewelry, ceramics, a corpse adorned in what appears to be regalia, and many assorted bronze, copper, and iron objects. Radiocarbon dating placed the sites around the 10th century or earlier, which would make the Igbo-Ukwu culture the earliest known examples of bronze casting in the region centuries before the more famous Ife bronzes.
Archaeological site actually three sites in southeastern Nigeria, associated with the Nri-Igbo. The three sites include Igbo Isaiah (a shrine), Igbo Richard (a burial chamber), and Igbo Jonah (a cache) . History Bronzes Main article: Archaeology of Igbo- Ukwu Alice Apley says:" The inhabitants of Igbo-Ukwu had a metalworking art that flourished as early as the ninth century. Three sites have been excavated, revealing hundreds of ritual vessels and regalia castings of bronze or leaded bronze that are among the most inventive and technically accomplished bronzes ever made. The people of Igbo-Ukwu, ancestors of present-day Igbo, were the earliest smithers of copper and it’s all.
Characteristics of Igbo Ukwu Art in the Entertainment of the Tourists

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  The igbo ukwu art works have fine and detailed decoration.
  
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  It is known for its alloys of copper, tin lead and bronze.
  
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  Their art works are ranges from realistic to abstraction of object and figures.
  
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  The masks are characterized with facial marks making the mask to appear fearful.
  
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  The excavation reveal some ancient burial chamber, bronze works, ritual object like gongs, beads pedestals, roped bronze container like snail shell all decorated in rococo like manner.
  

Esie Art in Relation

Esie is a a small village in Igbomina Yoruba town in kwara state. They became known in sculptural when archaeologist named Loe Frobenius (German) at about 1910-1911 discovered the greatest and largest piece. About 800 art works were discovered. The figures were that of men and women sitting on the stool while some are kneeling down. Most of them are elaborate coiffures. These stone sculptures were probably buried in the ground and later earthed by erosion. The origins of their stone figures were not known, but there are some theories developed by the villages, that the gods of the villages turned the Nupe warriors who came to invade the village into stone figures. According to Mukoro 2005 said the figures were discovered between 1933 and 1935 by simon Authee and frobenious respectively.
Characteristics of Esie Art in the Entertainment of the Tourists

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  The figures have three facial marks in between the eyes and ears while some have vertical lines on their chin and a host of scarification mark on their face.
  
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  Some figures are dressed with necklaces and bracelets.
  
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  Some of the stone figures are fragmented ie. Broken without heads and hands
  
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  Nearly all the works are soap stone media.
  
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  Most of the figures are sitting, standing & kneeling.
  
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  The eye is in oval shape, pointed navel and protruding mouth.
  
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  The treatment of forms is entirely out of proportion.
  

Ibiobio Art in Relation

The Ibibio are from akwa-Ibon state of Nigeria. They specialized in wood carving and other ancestral figures; they have a more homogeneous culture and artistic style than the Igbo’s they use geometrical shapes as motifs, spheres, cones and cylinder etc. for their masks carving. The carved masks are use to celebrate Ekpo festival and on the top of the masks is usually designed with one or more animals or human heads making the mask three in one face, also it has a painted leather ears and eye which has been struck on it. The mask has linear decoration and abstract design. They are also good in cane and raffia work. They also weave cloths for special occasion like initiation ceremonies, new yam festival& age group ceremonies. In Ekoi area there are about three hundred stones monoliths carved in very low relief, these carving have human forms and they are among the few stone carving found in Africa.
Characteristics of Ibibio Art

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  Their figures are made up of geometrical shapes, cones, cylinders spheres oval shape etc. The faces of their figures are bearded and the head is attached to the body with a thick short neck.
  
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  The legs are de-emphases by making them shorter that the arms.
  
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  The shoulders are wide muscles round the arms with anatomical perspectives.
  
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  The abdominal region is roundish in shape.
  

All these features often entice the tourists in order to take them home away from home.