Asaba Memorial, Exhibition will heal past through arts ---Committee
The organisers of the memorial, at a recent
event to usher in the memorial, described it as “A captivating selection
of work by Nigerian artists that provokes awareness and recognition of the
tragic event in Nigeria’s history and aims to support the development of the
Asaba Memorial Park, a cultural monument in honour of the victims of the Asaba massacre
of 1967.”
Speaking at the event, Nduka-Eze
explained the importance of using art as a powerful catalyst for bringing
awareness to important issues that receive only marginal attention.
He said: “To date, there has been no proper
explanation or official apology from the Federal Government for the
humanitarian crime.
“We encourage everyone to come and explore
the exhibition. It will challenge people not only to ask, ‘what could have been
done, but also, ‘what can we do?’ This is the first step to creating a memorial
site that is accessible and dignified in its representation to honour the
victims, a place that will be a community symbol of all the lives lost and
extend to encompass a cultural and recreational attraction for both local and
international tourists.”
The Asaba Memorial, produced by A
Whitespace Creative Agency, opened, on Sunday, in Lagos.
The exhibition, which will also take place
till December 7, he disclosed, would offer a rare insight of the Asaba massacre
of 1967.
According to him: “It covers the
emotional complexities of a forgotten peaceful community with compelling
stories on the trajectory of the horror and the growing realisation of the
extent of the massacre during the Nigerian civil war. It simultaneously
critiques the government and global communities' inaction to the atrocities
that took place and will question commonly held assumptions about the massacre,
and challenge visitors to consider the responsibilities and obstacles faced by
those who managed to survive, from the young widows, women and children to
soldiers, who made difficult choices, to effect change and in a few cases,
took significant risks to help victims on that fateful day.
“The exhibition features work from over 20
artists, including IN MEMORIAM, a monumental canvas piece with the names of
some of the victims by a 12-year-old artist, Kanye Okeke, who created this work
for this show, and Victor Ehikhamanor’s Black Peace (2022), part of the series
which was featured as the book cover of Elizabeth Bird and Fraser Ottanelli's
book titled: ‘The Asaba Massacre: Trauma, Memory, and the Nigerian Civil War.”
At the event, the curator, Otsholeng Poo,
said: “As a South African, who calls Nigeria home, I understand the importance of this
exhibition on a very personal level. I am inspired by the people of Asaba’s
continued survival and resounding call for the massacre to be given
its proper place in the telling of Nigeria’s history. I’m also hopeful that as
this project gains supporters from across the continent and the world, we can
keep telling the story of Asaba through art and community.
“As the exhibition travels across
locations, we intend to invite more artists’ contributions and keep expanding
the Park’s collection.”
The exhibition is part of a series of
remembrance activities to support the development of a permanent physical space, a
world-class nature park, monument, artistic and cultural centre in honour of
all those who lost their lives and were displaced by the Asaba massacre.
The Memorial Park will have, as its
foundation, 1,000 trees as a symbol of all the lives lost. It will be a legacy
project that finally gives homage to the victims, their families and becomes a
place for reflection on healing for Asabans and all Nigerians.
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