Tunde Odulade is an artist of international repute and owner of the biggest art emporium/community in Ibadan city Oyo State. He is a Nigerian Artist , actor and musician known for his Batik art tapestry and designs and specialises in textile arts, and floatography. He is a member of the Visual Artists Network of the United States of America (VAN) and a frequent participant at the National Conference of Artists, New York. He was a performing actor with the Nigeria Cultural Troupe during Festac. His art draws from Yoruba history, culture and life in Nigeria with specialty in batiks, linocut, and woodcut prints. He was an artist-in-residence in 1986 and 1989 at Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and served as artistic director at the Toki Memorial Arts Centre, Ibadan in 1989. He also founded International Campaign for Better Arts and Cultural Awareness (ICBACA). In December 2020, he established the Tunde Odunlade Arts and Culture Connexions in Ibadan, Oyo state. His works has been exhibited within Nigeria and internationally, including Federal Government College Sokoto, 1978, 1980, 1981. 27 January – 20 March 1999 "New Colours from Old Worlds: Contemporary Art from West Africa" October Gallery, London, 24 March – 8 May 1999. "Beauty Ravishes Me All Over Wherever I Find It." October Gallery, LondonFeb – April 2010. "Dreaming Between Word’’ Hammond House Museum Atlanta, GA.October 2011. "Art as a Tool for Nation Building." Nigerian High Commission, Ottawa, Canada among others.
In this interview with Patience Ogbo, he talked about arts, governance, the forthcoming general election and security in the country.
Your take on arts and its value to the practitioners and the country
People do not value art because they are blind. There is no way you can be anything without making imagination and creativity your bedrock and that is why, if care is not taken, our development will be so dragged and you will wish if we are truly in this planet . People who are advancing and developing, made art their bedrock. The Arts profession like other things has its ups and its downs. Its ups are to let you know that you have more to do. The down is to let you know that you are not doing something right so you have to figure a better way to do it that is how I see it generally.
Your suggestion to government in making arts bedrock for development of the country.
I don’t know if I want to suggest anything to the government because we have been suggesting a lot and have not been quiet about it. You see, charity begins at home. Those who are in government came from their homes. I don’t expect anything different per se when they get to government. When from their homes, they have been taught that arts is fetish, somebody who does not understand art, whose religion tells him that art is idolatry, is a fetish thing , how do you expect something different when he gets into government? So telling government to do anything is a waste of time when they do not believe in it in the first place. Individual should keep trying their best and maybe, when they see the efforts that people have made, something may ginger them. For instance, there has been a lot of artists who have brought accolades to the country , successes from international world , like Prof. Wole Soyinka for instance is a Nobel laureate , on what importance does that mean to the people in government ? There has been a lot of artists who have made impacts using their works to bring glory to the country what has been done for them?
Your art Gallery and culture.
My art gallery goes beyond art. It is more of a centre where people can come and find a niche for themselves. It is more of an art and cultural centre because a lot of activities go on there like for instance, we are engaged in poetry, drama, musicals and all sorts of things that is cultural and artistic. So it is more of a place where people can come and learn about their history, whatever is bedeviling their progress and how to find a solution to their would have been problems.
Insecurity in the country and the Owo Catholic Church killing.
I know one thing for sure is that security is the duty of everybody to play their role but providing security is a duty for some as they have taken the oath to secure lives and properties. Those are the ones saddled with the responsibility and that is how it is everywhere. I will still emphasize that security is the duty of everyone. If you see something, say something. About the Owo Catholic Church killing, why do we allow it to continue to happen? That we do not know that it will happen again? That we do not know that those that are doing it has not relate on it? If care is not taken, another one will happen. Who are those behind this? And what are they trying to gain?
Your take on the forthcoming election
You see, my take of that is we are still not yet in a democratic mode. I hate it when ethnic and religious sentiments become the determinant factors for who may rule us and who may not rule us. Personally, I don’t have any issue whether or not a Christian Christian, or Muslim Muslim Nigerians rule us, but the question is are these people competent. Are we doing it based on the sentiment of what? What is this all about? I don’t know? But the bottom-line is , somebody has to be elected. Will the person be elected based on religious sentiment or ethno-centric phenomenon I don’t go for that. I am interested in who is competent and can get the job done. What is their track record? What are they to offer? Are they going to be able to take care of issues that are bedeviling us? Are they equipped to take care of the issue of corruption, issues of poverty, all of that? Are they ready to take care of that? Is not all about muslim-muslim, Christian-Christian , to me it just shown that we have not matured enough democratically. We are just beating about the bush and pretending that we are practicing democracy. That is not the way democracy should be based. Democracy should be based on issues, bordering on people’s affairs and ensuring that people are getting the best for their lives. I always say the average Nigeria lives one over hundred if not even more than that of the fullness of their lives because nobody really cares. Those in office are there for what is in it for them so in the process, they mortgage the lives of these innocent citizens and short-live them. It does not matter to me as long as we can sit them down, scrutinize them and ask questions that they truly know what they are doing and be ready to dance to the tune of what the people need or is it another political jacaranda?
One of your experiences that is indelible.
It was the day that CNN interviewed me. Little did I understand that I was being interviewed by CNN( Cable Network News) when one of the staff came to whisper to me that I am the first Nigerian artist to be interviewed on CNN. This was on November 1992, and it was aired on January 3rd 1993. That was elating. Although there are several others that I am happy about. There is reason to be grateful what I have achieved in my career.
Advice for upcoming young artists.
Taking arts as a profession is not easy but in the same vein, show me what is easy. It shows that there are peculiarities in art and I advise the younger generation to imbibe discipline and make patience and consistency their watchwords. You cannot say because you need money you do what you are not supposed to do. Patience is, you may not have today, and you will have tomorrow. You need to understand that whatever you are doing has gestation period. You have to wait for your own time to come. If you have these three qualities, you will definitely be successful in life.
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