Talking funding, cultural rights in honour of Anikulapo

 

Talking funding, cultural rights in honour of Anikulapo

For about four hours, Quintessence Gallery’s hall was filled to capacity by friends of the arts and other guests. In the famous Art Stampede manner, the gathering, while celebrating the former Editor The Guardian On Sunday, Jahman Anikulapo’s recent UNESCO Defender of Cultural Rights Award 2024, spoke to issues of funding in culture sector in the light of the USAID ban by Trump administration, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

 

 

 

It was an evening of celebration and conversation on Funding culture, defending cultural rights by friends of the arts who converged recently on Quintessence Gallery at Parkview Ikoyi, Lagos. The audience was a mix of artistes, collectors, creative entrepreneurs, publishers, music promoters, financial experts, culture advocates, journalists and enthusiasts. They included Pa Benson Idonije, Kayode Aderinokun, Muyiwa Majekodunmi, Joke Silva, Theo Lawson, Steve Ayorinde, Ayo Sadare, Molara Wood, NseObong Okon-Ekong, Makin Soyinka among others.

But, the gathering was organised by Quintessence and Friends of the Arts to honour the former Editor The Guardian On Sunday, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo who got global recognition of the UNESCO Defender of Cultural Rights Award 2024. The recognition was made by International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights with the support and guidance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The award was a forty-year devotion to advocacy and promoting the arts.

The session, which was anchored by a close pal of Jahman, Mr Toyin Akinosho, kicked off with a poetry performance by Sage Hasson followed by an insight by the ‘Man of the Moment,’ Anikulapo who recalled how the award came to be, particularly the insistence of ace filmmaker Femi Odugbemi who convinced him to respond to calls of the Argentines. Leading the pack of speakers was Managing Director Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), Ojoma Ochai, who gave the keynote, Anwuli Ojogwu, Chike Maduegbuna of AfriNolly Creative Hub and Lanre Lawal, a music promoter.  

Ojoma, a former staff of the British Council, who spoke on Funding culture, defending cultural rights, used her personal experiences to unmask the complexities and assumptions associated with funding in culture sector, saying that beyond internal sourcing, fundraising also comes from networks and people that are not necessarily in the culture sector.  She stated that there is a huge gap between cultural rights and it realization, which she said, is where the creative economy comes in.   

“The problem with cultural rights is that there is a massive gap between having the rights and the realisation of those rights. And that gap is the creative economy.

“The pathway through, which the singing I am doing in my bedroom or the writing and the scribbling I am doing in my house translate to an enterprise that somebody pays for, we find that there is a massive gap between the two. And that is where the funding problem comes in,” she added.

Ojoma stressed that ‘talent is a key resource, whether it's artistic talent, technical talent, or business talent, or whether it's support, infrastructure, access to audiences and access to markets. And the single thing that enables those things is money.’

According to her, funding means many things and not just bulk of money only, as many often think of funding as a massive, homogenous thing that is there and locked in a vault.

Lanre Lawal, aka Consultant, who specialises in Talent Management, Music and Brand Development, Strategic Marketing, spoke on the growing new music and its opportunities for funding. He lamented that over the years, the development and growth of Nigerian music and musicians have largely depended on self-help, because there has never been funding or grants in the music sector.

He disclosed that lots of musicians pay Alaba music marketers to pirate their works in order to distribute their music and make it popular. “They pay them to put their music on mix tapes back in the days. That way, they distribute those mix tapes which a lot of people buy. Till date, we still do not have funding and grants in music sector. I don't know of any grant that comes to us,” he said.   

He however described as worrisome the entitlement mentality of many Nigerians who don’t want to pay to watch a musical performance. This, he said, amounts to carnibalising of musical performances.

“Now, the system in the sector is cannibalising. People are expected to pay to watch musicians perform. But, in Nigeria, not many people are willing to pay for such service. They are always expecting that works of art, particularly music, should be offered free,” he added.  

Anwuli Ojogwu, a publisher, who spoke on financing issues in publishing industry, admitted regrettably, that pirates do more than publishers in terms of packaging pirated books, saying it is costly for publishers to undertake.  “So it's free money for them because they haven't invested in the production of the works,” she added.

But, she said publishers are constantly fighting the pirates in partnership with the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to protect authors’ rights. However, the challenges of publishers are beyond piracy. According to her, financial publishing doesn't exist in the industry, because banks think ‘we are too high risk.’ “Banks don't see us as viable,” she added.  

“Our inventory is what we can present as our collateral. But, the return is too slow and they don't produce the kind of money that tech and oil produce,” Anwuli noted.  

Reacting to why British Council allegedly removed publishing from its budget, she said there are sectors that are more visible and glamorous. “And once you succeed, the returns on investment (ROI) of such sectors are very great. Unlike publishing, you don't get that. Culture takes more time to generate returns. And that is the same thing with publishing,” she said.

In his remark, Managing Director, Quintessence Gallery, Mr Jude Oni-Okpaku said: “As cultural heritage and creative expression face increasing challenges, this gathering served as a call to action. It emphasised the need to prioritise funding, protect cultural spaces, and champion the rights of artists and cultural practitioners throughout Nigeria.

“Quintessence remains dedicated to fostering collaboration among stakeholders and building a more inclusive and vibrant cultural landscape where creativity can flourish and cultural rights are protected.” The session went into the night as friends of Jahman continued to feast and interact while savouring the melodious tunes from Dee Multy, Adio Oyedeji.