Over 140 years after French impressionist, Edgar Degas, painted a piece in honour of the famous 19th-century circus artist, Miss Lala, entitled ‘Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando’, a Nigerian artist will join eminent academics at an event discussing the work.
ON October 6, 2023, at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom, artist Lanre Olagoke will join author and former board member of the British Museum, Dr Bonnie Greer, and Professor of History of Slavery and Memory of Enslavement at the University of Bristol, Olivette Otele, in a poetry and conversation forum.
The event will include a painting session by Olagoke, where he will visually interpret Greer’s book, ‘Miss La La’s Hanging By Her Teeth.’
“Miss La La had many names. She can be who you want her to be, just as her real name, Anna, my youngest daughter’s name also,” Olagoke explained ahead of appropriating the Degas painting.
The founder of the UK-registered charity Art Alive whose career started 40 years ago, has paid his dues and earned his spurs as an established artist. Some of his old paintings adorn the walls of galleries and private collections worldwide. The same applies to his more recent figurative, equally fascinating paintings.
For Miss La La, whose other stage name, according to Olagoke, was ‘African Princess’, appropriating her character will depict a woman with a strong fighting spirit.
“This painting depicts a warrior, fighter, a winner, powerful human being, which makes her recognisable and stands out, stands tall, unique, a master,” he said.
In her days as a famous circus artiste, Miss La La’s signature acts involved being pulled up to the height of the circus tent by biting down on the rope with her teeth.
Olagoke described Miss La La’s career as one that rose from humility to praise, “pulled up to be recognised, stands out among her peers such that you have to look up to her as an example, epitomised strength by holding up to the rope, shows she is in a place of vulnerability, and also strength but yet hanging on by her teeth.”
More interesting, she became famous at a very young age. “She was known to hoist other people at age 21, which was symbolic for a teenager.”
The Miss Lala event before another engagement in Mauritius attests to Olagoke’s penchant for using art to engage with communities and issues. He will feature in ‘Inspire Grand Gaube: Art Against Addiction’ in Mauritius on September 12. This will include talks and paintings on the social aspect of the community. The community-driven initiative is organised by Mythic Suites & Villas in collaboration with the artist and a duo of female wall painting artists Emmy & Marine Ng.
Though registered in the UK, his Art-Alive Arts Trust has done some works in Nigeria, including a workshop for less privileged youth in Lagos. “Art-Alive has mentored over 5000 young creatives with varying disciplines in the arts across the UK and beyond,” Olagoke disclosed.
In 2017, he attended a Creative Health Conference where he met the then Secretary of Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock. They exchanged ideas on how art can be used to relieve the anguish of those struggling with mental health. One of Olagoke’s long-held ambitions for Art-Alive has always been to have an Artist-in-Residents (AIR) program.
“The facility will be where artists can get a permanent studio, particularly for many of the charity’s transiting young creatives,” he explained.
Towards the end of 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, his ambition became a reality. Lutz Strangemann, CEO of Land Union, supported Olagoke’s vision. He established the AIR Programme in a five-storey building with 20 rooms on the Strand, in the heart of London.
Back home in Nigeria, Olagoke works with a culture infrastructure company, Lumin-Artica, on a rare project, a Museum of Black Women in History. To be built in Oyo town, Oyo State, the museum was announced by the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, in 2020. Founded by the Oranyan Heritage Foundation (OHF), the museum is the legacy of Chief Mrs Titilola Orija-Adesoye, Olagoke’s late mother and the Alaafin’s cousin.
Among Olagoke’s most ambitious projects is ‘Reclamation’, formed from ‘The Era of Reclamation’. It’s a concept born out of conversations held by intellectuals and academics, including Dr. Greer, Dr. Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum and Prof. Otele. The talks focused on Africa extending to its Diaspora, encompassing black history, emphasising the role of black women, and relaying the importance of the African identity in general.
Olagoke worked as a young artist with the late Prof Ben Enwonwu in the 80s. He was privileged to paint inside the studio of the renowned artist at Fellows Road, Belsize Park, London and has prioritised mentoring young ones.He is intensely expectant about the Miss La La event.
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