A studio visit to artist and craftsman, Robinson Olafisoye, showed that the 63-year-old stroke survivor has not stopped working. He is, in fact, planning to build an art and craft centre in addition to holding a solo exhibition later this year.
ARTIST and craftsman, Chief Robinson Olafisoye, is the ‘comeback man’. A ceramist, sculptor, painter and spiritualist, Olafisoye had things going well for him – a thriving practice, innumerable patrons, and commissions within and outside Nigeria, until tragedy struck. He suffered a stroke about 10 years ago and was wheelchair bound for over two years.
The 63-year-old artist from Ondo town, Ondo State spent the better of two years seeking treatment in Nigeria and abroad before relief eventually came. But by the time the succour came, Olafisoye’s strength was gone. He couldn’t make sculptures or ceramics again. But rather than mope, the OND holder in ceramics from Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), reinvented himself by diversifying into bead arts and crafts.
Commendably, he has since become a master of the art and not only does he make bead paintings, he also uses the item to make beautiful shoes, sandals, bags, royal crowns and staff of office.
During a recent visit to his studio in Ikorodu, Lagos, the artist shared his inspiring story which contains deep insights into why most artists will do well to incorporate crafts into their repertoire in case they don’t make headway with art. It was a rewarding time as he bared all about his art and life whilst also revealing a forthcoming art exhibition happening in August.
Explaining why he took up art, Olafisoye who attended St Ann’s Catholic Primary School, Ondo; St. Ambrose’s Catholic Modern School, Ondo and Progressive College, Lagos said it was a decision he took right from childhood, with a push from the ‘holy spirit’.
The last child of his parents disclosed that: “When I was seven years old, the holy spirit in the form of three beings would come and start using traditional chalk to draw on the wall and I would start copying them. My father would be saying ‘why don’t you come and sleep’, not knowing that some people were with me. I was seeing them physically and sometimes they would come and wake me up. That was how I started drawing. Till now they still monitor me. They’ve been part of me from when I didn’t know there was anything called art. I would catch a bird, put it down and start using clay to mould the bird. It won’t fly away till I finish what I’m moulding.
“When I finished primary school, I attended St. Ambrose’s Catholic Modern School, Ondo. It was a secondary modern school and they didn’t teach art there. During the Independence Day celebration, we had art competitions. Whereas I don’t do art in my school, I still went ahead to represent my school and the Western State and won awards. Later, I was introduced to the art teacher at Ondo Boys High School, [Prof] Bruce Onabakpreya. After we close in school, I would go to him at Ondo Boys High School where he taught us. When he was transferred from the school, I started doing things myself. I had developed an interest in ceramics, I could mould pots and my mother would say, ‘men don’t mould pots’. But I liked it. I would mould a lot of items and other children would come and buy it. That was how I started making money.”
From Ondo, Olafisoye moved to Lagos and enrolled at Progressive College where he was still moulding crafts. He would use candle wax to mould tortoises, chameleons, and cats and sell to the public.
The artist, who is also a mystic, thereafter resolved to further hone his skills. He attended an arts and craft training centre at Shomolu and took an Ordinary National Diploma in Ceramics from Yabatech. Still not satisfied, he proceeded to an arts and crafts school in Bombay, India from 1979 to 1980 and then the Free Academy, Holland where he spent two years.
Olafisoye, who had earlier become acquainted with a royal crown maker called Baba Ijesha at a workshop held at the National Museum, Onikan and who was already aspiring to take up bead arts then resolved to fully delve into it. His break with bead arts and crafts came when the boss of one of his friends wanted to take a chieftaincy title and needed an irukere (decorative fly whisk). He recalled that “I went to see the man and he gave me N2000. I went to Oyingbo, bought beads and made the irukere. The man was impressed with what I made and I was assured that I could make bead arts and crats. That was how I started, combining bead art with ceramics and sculpture.”
By this time, Olafisoye had become a regular on the Lagos art scene, showing at exhibitions within and outside the country. He participated in a group exhibition in Holland in 1983, another in Warsaw, Poland, in 1988 and yet another in the US that same year. The artist also showcased his works at exhibitions at Didi Museum, Nike Art Gallery, the late Art Alade’s Art Place at Yaba and NaiwuOsahon’s Gallery at Apapa. Things were going swimmingly well when he suffered a stroke and was out of action for well over two years.
“After my illness, I couldn’t do sculptures again because I couldn’t lift heavy objects,” he explained. “I decided I could still survive on bead arts which I have been doing since. In fact, that’s why I decided that my forthcoming exhibition will be on beads arts alone; paintings, bags, and shoes amongst others,” he said.
Paintings, wall decorations, royal crowns, shoes and bags celebrating his Yoruba and African roots fill Olafisoye’s studio in Ikorodu. Paintings like ‘Oba n ki e’, ‘Eye Okin’, ‘OkoIyawo’, ‘Orisha Oba’ and ‘E je ka lobe Orunmila’, all made with beads showcase his African heritage which he is desirous for the younger generations to know and embrace. Instructively, a number of his artworks serve the dual purpose of being decorations and also has practical uses, a development he attributes to his successful merger of arts with crafts.
So, almost 20 years after his last exhibition, Olafisoye is ready to show again. And the venue, incidentally, is Didi Museum, Victoria Island, where he had his first solo exhibition in Nigeria. The yet-to-be-titled exhibition, he disclosed, “is going to be exclusively on beads. I’m promoting African culture through beadworks and it’s going to be an arts and crafts show. It’s going to last one week in August and the purpose is to let people know I’m still alive whilst also promoting African culture through beads.
“After the August show, I intend to have another outside the country in 2019 and thereafter open an arts and craft training centre and a gallery here in Ikorodu. The youth of a nation are its future and my intention is to empower interested youth and the needy by training them at the crafts centre so that they will be able to fend for themselves. They wouldn’t need to wait around for anybody before they earn a livelihood whilst also knowing more about our arts and culture,” he stated.