BIC announces Nigerian winners of its flagship 2021 ‘Art Master Africa’ competition

BIC, a world leader in stationery, lighters, and shavers, recently announced the winners of its ‘Art Master Africa’ competition. The competition encourages talent across Africa and the Middle East to create a piece of art, using the famous BIC ball pen.

Amongst the winners, two Nigerian artists were announced in third and fourth places – proudly presenting Nigerian talent amongst the top ten Art Masters of Africa.

The ‘Art Master Africa’ winners included one continent-wide winner as well as 11 winners from countries within the region. Nigerian artist Odaro Franklin osaivbie was announced the third-place winner with his art piece, ‘Entranced’. Artist Andrew Nathan came in fourth place with his art piece ‘Value’.

Both artists have been rewarded with a cash prize of USD500 and USD300 respectively amongst other branded gift items at an event held at the BIC head office in Lagos, Nigeria. The event saw the attendance of the 2020 BIC Art Master of Africa, Fatiou Aboudou.

The piece ‘Entranced’ was created using five BIC Ball Pens and took a total of 200 hours to complete while Nathan’s piece ‘Value’ was created using five BIC ball pens and took a total of 180 hours to complete.

Continent-wide, Ugandan artist Gayi Eric was named the 2021 BIC Art Master of Africa. His portrait is titled ‘Circle of Life’. Announced as a second-place winner, was Kamgaing from Cameroon, who developed the art piece titled ‘In My Room’.

Expressing his delight and excitement, third place Art Master of Africa, Odaro Franklin osaivbie, said: “I am a big fan of BIC pens because of their unique ballpoints. I use them to write and draw. I am grateful to BIC for running the Art Master Africa competition which allows talent across the region to express themselves through art and creativity. I am blessed to have been rewarded at such a meaningful competition. This is a very proud moment for me.”

Commenting on the occasion, Senior Sales Manager West Africa, Guillaume Groues, said: “We are proud of the impact that the Art Master Africa competition has had on talent across the region, and are even more proud to have two winners from Nigeria amongst the top ten artists in Africa this year. Human expression and creativity are core values of BIC, and the inception of the Art Master Africa competition is a testament to that. The competition has allowed us to support thousands of talent in Nigeria and across the continent. We are proud of how far we’ve come and we look forward to recognizing more Nigerian talent in the future.”

The Art Master Africa competition is an annual competition that invites artists to creatively develop art pieces using the iconic BIC Ball Pen. The competition fosters creativity in Nigeria and across the region.

BIC has long been connected to art and regularly celebrates the creativity and originality of talented individuals. In 2018, BIC hosted the first of its kind exhibition with 150 creations of art by 80 international artists. The collection, which started in the late nineties at an exhibition in Italy devoted to the life story of Marcel Bich today consists of more than 250 works by internationally recognized or upcoming artists. BIC has a number of established partnerships with art institutes around the world and has its products displayed in a number of renowned museums around the world.

From left, The Trade Marketing Manager, BIC Nigeria, Patrick Bello; 4th Place 2021 BIC Art Master Africa, Andrew Nathan; 3rd Place 2021 BIC Art Master Africa and National Winner BIC Art Master Nigeria, Odaro Franklin; Senior Sales Manager, BIC West & Central Africa, Guillaume Groues; and Marketing Manager BIC West Africa, Leonard Ehouabolet at the BIC Art Master Press Conference/Prize Presentation held at BIC head office, Anthony Lagos.

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