National Art Competition

The National Art Competition is a dream conceived by the Director of African Artists Foundation, Azu Nwagbogu. With the backing of corporate giants, Nigerian Breweries Plc, this dream has become a reality. It has been a beautiful ride as Nigerian Breweries have not only given financial support but also are actively involved in the execution of the project each year for the past three years.

The first one themed “The unbreakable Nigerian spirit” in 2008 was open to professional artists alone. It was aimed at showcasing excellent artistic talent in Nigeria and beyond. A total of ten winners emerged that year and were each given the opportunity to exhibit their works in Lagos, Abuja and Amsterdam. The 10 winners were Oladimeji Alabi, Emeka Ogboh, Gerald Chukwuma, Segun Aiyesan and Yomi Momoh. Others were Gbolahan Ayoola, Emmanuel Dudu, Adetola Wewe, Emeka Obanor and Adolphus Opara. They were also given N200, 000 each.

By the second year, in 2009, a specific structure was put in place and the competition was better organized. The prize for the winners was clearly spelt out and the genres specified also. The theme was “Nigeria: The future I see”. Boundaries were put in place in a bid to make the competition better. It was open only to artists under the age of thirty and restricted to four genres; Painting, Photography, New Media and Sculpture. As a result, four winners emerged, one in each genre; Christopher Ogbami in painting, Olayinka Stephen Sangotoye in photography, Folami Razaq in new media and Richardson Ovbiebo in sculpture. They each received N750, 000 as winners of the competition.
In 2010, the third edition of the competition was open to budding and emerging artists of all ages as well as all visual art genres including painting, photography, sculpture and new media with the introduction of installation art, video art, mixed media and multimedia. The first prize winner, Sangodare Ajala went home with N1,500,000, Stanley Dudu, N1,000,000 and Fidelis Odogwu; N500,000 as the second and third place winners respectively.

The art competition has been a way to improve and encourage our indigenous artists and in each of the four years, this has always been the motivating factor. The themes have always reflected our desire to make Nigeria better and contribute in our own little way to the society. The first edition had the theme- “The Unbreakable Nigerian Spirit”, the second “Nigeria- The future I see” and the third edition was themed “Chronicles of a Great Nation at 50”.

In 2011, the theme of the competition was “Documenting Changes in our Nation”. Yet again, the joint force of Nigerian Breweries Plc and African Artists’ Foundation worked together in making this 4th edition to be one that would be talked about for a long time. This time, the price money for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place were increased; N2,000,000 , N1.5,000,000 and N1,000,000 respectively. What also made this year’s edition of the NAC stand out was the 1 week retreat in Abraka Resort, Delta, where the Top 12 artists went to finish up their works ranging from mixed media, photography, installation, sculpture and painting. Uche Uzorka and Chike Obialu clinched the 1st prize, Gerald Chukwuma was the 1st runner up while Olayinka Sangotoye came in third at the grand finale held on the 15th of December, 2011 at the Civic Centre, Oumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island, Lagos.