Why I established The Artists’ Hangout —Abiola Adeleye

Abiola Adeleye is the founder of The Artists’ Hangout. In this interview with Adewale Oshodi, she speaks on what propelled her into coming up with the idea, as well as how it would benefit artists. Excerpts:

 

How did you start Artists’ Hangout?

I started with the intent of organising a three-day seminar for artists, where we could all come to address issues about the industry and the growth of artists. But while planning, I met with the likes of Oluwole Omofemi, Olatoye David, and a few others in the industry to discuss my intentions further. The discussion led to the birthing of The Artists Hangout, which maiden edition was held on June 24, 2021 and it had the likes of Dr Ellis Oyekola, Prince Tunde Odunlade, Oluwole Omofemi, Olatoye David, Kola Akintola, Quazeem Animasahun, among many others in attendance, and the rest, they say is history.

 

What do you hope to achieve by bringing together artists to discuss issues relating to the industry?

Over the years, I have realised that only one out of several art graduates stays through to the point where he/she makes a breakthrough. Most people either stay on the low doing menial jobs or venture into something else after graduation. Art school teaches no student how the art market is until one steps out to figure things the hard way.

The rate at which the art world was competitive was so bad (emphasis on was because it’s getting better by the day) that your trainer does not want you to be better than they and if you are by any means better, you will never get any recommendations from them with a collector or gallery.

Another thing is, art has, for as long as I can remember, been centered around skills, paying less or no attention to discussing the livelihood of the artist who wants to make a living off the profession, hence the frustrations, mental and emotional distress, among others.

Also, art is an egocentric world. The idea of ‘everyone is a boss’ makes it quite uneasy to learn from each other, especially if they are not in the same ‘clique.’ Unconstructive criticism is another thing that gets them to move farther away from each other.

Our goal is to be an open/common ground for all artists, where grey topics can be discussed in a civilised manner; everyone gets to talk about their ideas and ideology, and is also open to accept and respect the ideology of others in a friendly atmosphere. Also, where relationships are facilitated for collaborations and good partnerships.

I must also acknowledge the fact that the industry is fast-growing and more people are outgrowing the old sentiments/beliefs.

 

Organising any event must have come at a cost, what has The Artists’ Hangout taken away from you?

I like to work behind the scenes while my name and work could fly around the world and that is one big thing organising The Artists Hangout has cost me. But we are here now; I might as well get used to being outside.

 

From the editions you have had, what do you think is the major problem facing artists?

There’s a clear-cut difference between knowing and understanding the existence of a problem, knowing how to solve it or finding out how to solve it, and not knowing that there is a problem that needs to be duly attended to.

I believe that coming to the understanding of the existence of a problem or challenge as the case may be is the first major issue here because that is where the solution starts from.

Also, the issue of money in exchange for artworks has for too long been used to battle skills, hence making artists get almost uncomfortable raising conversations in the direction.

 

Are you focusing only on Ibadan at the moment because you have held the three earlier events in the city?

No. The last event had artists from various parts of the country present, also with international audiences via live streaming.

Ibadan is my base and my initial findings or assessment for starting The Artists Hangout was based on Ibadan art and the artists here hence, it makes sense to start from here before spreading out to the other parts of the world.

We are spreading our tent across the globe, but of course, we will take it one step at a time.