Rahma Ahmed
By Ahmed Rahma
To celebrate and support Nigeria’s metal artists, Nigeria foremost virtual bank powered by VFD Microfinance Bank, partnered with Thought Pyramid.
The partnership, based on a month-long art exhibition titled Anjorin Dancemetalphor, is the first metal art-only exhibition to be held in Nigeria.
The event, which started on Monday, December 7 at the Thought Pyramid Art Center and showcased 20 exquisite pieces only, featured five notable metal artists; Adeola Balogun, Collins Abinoro, Dotun Popoola, Fidelis Odogwu and Steve Ekpensi.
For the exhibition, the artist presented truly captivating metal spectacles that tell inspiring tales as well as raise questions around the malleability of metal and the possibilities of talents, thereby cementing a positive shift in the perspective of metal art, the artists, and art in general.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the exhibition, Ovie Omatsola, an art enthusiast and convener of the exhibition, stressed that the inspiration of Anjorin: Dancemetalphor is a musical allegory that should not be seen as a reaction.
“Since we want to believe those who use aforementioned aphorisms are not stakeholders or art lovers with sufficient understanding of the creative industry, nonetheless, Anjorin; Dancemetalphor should be seen as a proactive response to purify the reputation and future of this remarkable sub-genre.
“At Thought Pyramid Art Center, we interpret the sounds from the sparkles, iron changing and electrons burning processes heard when a typical metal artist is creating works. In fact, the calming musical ambiance from metal art creation, as far as we are concerned generates rhythmic melody, only if you can listen and not just hear.
“Also, Ajorin: Dancemetalphor was born out of the increasing need to show people in the local art community that only metal sculptors can create distinctive metal sculptures/arts that are interesting and exciting, special and heavenly. It focuses on educating, re-orientating, and informing the public while simultaneously entertaining them,” Ovie said.
Commenting on the event, co-curator and branding consultant for Ajorin, Yusuf Durodola, said, “in this era of technology, we must all begin to realize the need to unite for better results. Only a deep-thinking creative mind can understand the processes we have scaled through on this journey. But teamwork has been the secret to this achievement.”
According to the Managing Director of VFD Microfinance bank, Azubike Emodi, “We chose this occasion and environment to reflect and unwind because it’s been a challenging year for everyone and supporting one another is a good way to strengthen the community.”
