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Peju Layiwola Quotes
born 1967 Nigeria
Peju Layiwola (born 29 September 1967) is an art Historian and visual artist from Nigeria who works in a variety of media and genre. She is listed as a "21st Century Avant-Garde" in the book Art Cities of the Future published by Phaidon Press.
Random Peju Layiwola quote
14 quotes
Funding is a major issue for every artist; people want to watch a good play; people want to get entertained and they don’t want to pay for it.
People producing arts, all along the roads, on the streets; everywhere and you begin to know that this is a city of Art.
People do not recognise that there’s a lot of talent; a lot of energy that go into putting up a production.
For example, the visual arts which is my own forte, has been totally ignored in Nigeria.
Art draws material largely from the archives and historical episodes in Africa.
If education should be salvaged in this country we cannot leave it to the government alone. There has to be an inclusion of the private sector.
But the Federal Government has not looked in that direction; I think that the grants should be given across board.
And the fact that Nigeria is world acclaimed for arts because of the artifacts that were stolen in the 19th century and taken away to different parts of the world.
There are several challenges facing education generally in Nigeria. There has been a steady decline in standards in the visual arts, as in other disciplines. Today, there are very poor facilities for teaching art in almost all art schools in Nigeria.
Nollywood is very well known and I think because of the acclaim it has beyond Nigeria; it has drawn a lot of attention, but there are a lot of other areas that are being ignored.
First of all, it is one thing to identify a problem. Secondly, it is another to have the power to effect those changes. Poor funding of universities is a key problem. It also seems to me that there is an unspoken practice of privileging the sciences over the humanities.
So we have these artifacts standing in our stead and showing that we had a very rich tradition that is enviable.
It needs to be rewarded; you don’t come watch a play and then just go away without putting something down; we need to get grants for artists, we need to support them.
Government has to give grant and also individuals have to do that as well, so that the art industry grows because there are so many talented people in this country and I think they need to be encouraged.
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