By Abass Jalloh
Visual Artists from across Sierra Leone have converged in Freetown to exhibit their talents and share experiences at the just concluded Barray Art Exhibition 2020.
The Barray Art Exhibition is a festival that is organised twice a year in every April and December. The Final session for 2020 was hosted from 3rd - 13th December at Toma, Cape Road, Aberdeen.
The theme for this year’s exhibition was “In Black We Trust”, which, according to organizers, is interpreted by each of the artists according to how they perceive art, and what it means to them. These perceptions, according to the artists, mainly have to do with interpretations of black ambition, black power, black pride, black heroes and African history, for the realization and acknowledgement of what black people have been faced with around the world.
It was a colourful event with display of beautiful artistic and decorative works on walls, with tags given clear descriptions of the art works and the painters waiting for potential buyers.
Hawa Jane Bangura, a painter and the lead pioneer of The Barray Art Exhibition, recalled that they started the whole idea in 2013 when they tried getting artists together to practice, discuss and exchange art concepts. She said they later started exhibiting in 2015.
Speaking to Politico, Ms. Bangura expressed her feelings and passion for art, noting that almost everything about her life involves art.
“Everybody is different, so people express themselves differently. I like art. I love it, and I am passionate about it, and I want to create art. I paint using acrylic on canvas,” she explained.
Ms. Bangura said the essence of doing art should be seen as interconnectedness among the artists, arts and the consumers of art.
“That is what the artists do. They create work, exhibit it, and share it to other people. That is, you see art, you experience and appreciate it. They [artists] can start conversations to get different ideas from people and be inspired,” she further explained.
Bangura said they have been encouraging people who are talented to showcase their works in the exhibitions by making the criteria for participation flexible, stressing that it is also a way of reshaping the Sierra Leonean mentality of not appreciating art.
“We want people to come and see art. In terms of artists, usually about 15-20 different artists take part. And it depends on whether the artist has work to exhibit and the work is of a particular standard, that we can include it in the exhibition,” she said, adding that every participant in the exhibition must be a Sierra Leonean or connected to Sierra Leone.
Ranya Nirvan is a Sierra Leonean glass painting artist and one of the exhibitors in the Barray Art Exhibition. She has been creatively doing her paintings on glass for over a decade. For her, painting is a therapy.
“Art is a therapy for me. Art is something I enjoy doing, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction. It is my passion. It makes me feel very proud to be a Sierra Leonean artist as my arts have gone to places, and it is a proud feeling for me,” she said.
Ranya said she mostly tries to showcase Africa and its people and sometimes she gives people the opportunity to perceive her untitled works.
“I mainly depict African art. I also make abstract art. But mainly, I love African Art. Some of them I think about it and pour it into my art. I also see different types of arts and later do my own,” she added.
Some of Ranya’s art works displayed at the event were titled: “The hustle is real”, “drummer girl”, “abstract”, and “perfection”, all of which were created using solvent based paint and glass.
Ashley Taylor, commonly known as Fred Pro, is a ballpoint pen artist who also participated in the Art Exhibition.
Like Ranya, Ashley discovered his talent at an early age after he watched a YouTube video of a ballpoint art.
“I am proud to say I am self-taught. I started ballpoint pen drawing in the year 2017, and I have been working on commission. My inspiration is my daughter; she is 3 years old. I need to educate her and take care of her. So anytime I think about her, it makes me do more and more,” he said.
He went on: “The exhibition has helped me a lot because I had the opportunity to showcase my work for people to see. That means I have got a lot of connections. People now know who Ashley is. Most people have seen my work but don’t know me, and more so I met with big dignitaries like Umaru Fofana,” he said.
Despite the passion for his chosen career, Ashley recounted the lack of appropriate tools for his artistic job in Sierra Leone as an obstacle for effective performance.
“We don’t have any art store in Sierra Leone at the moment, so I find it difficult to get the actual ballpoint pen, which is ‘bic’ and also the cardboard,” he said,
An abstract artist and an entrepreneur, Mabel Turay, was also part of the exhibition. She has been exhibiting at the Barry since 2015. She said she believes in using her imagination to depict ideas in painting and that she is always inspired by her fears, beliefs and experiences.
Mabel said she does not do outright clear art works for people to interpret quickly and easily, rather she does those that are difficult to comprehend. She said that is how she wants people to relate.
“I paint things that you don’t really have to understand at first sight. You have to look at it in a very critical way before it makes sense to you. Personally, I think art should be something you are passionate about. The money can come later but then it has to come from the heart from within,” she added.
Mabel went on to say that the category of art she does is self-taught and has no influence with teaching lessons from someone and that she walks alone using acrylic on canvas.
“I didn’t go to an art school. Back in the high school I did steel life art, but it is not what I am doing right now. So basically you got people’s object and then painted it. I hated it because I always put things that are not there, so because of that I didn’t continue art,” she said.
Felix Rhodes is a painter and graphics designer. He has been exhibiting for seven years. He does abstract and street paintings, among others.
“Art involves in every part of my life. I don’t do it at a spare time. It is my daily living, and I am not suffering, although it is difficult to do in Sierra Leone. It is a passion of mine since I was young,” he said.
Rhodes believes that Sierra Leone has neglected the nature of art and he is encouraging people in Sierra Leone to see the beauty of it.
“We should really help to promote our culture. People normally underestimate art, and art normally attracts more people in rich countries with businesses for attention in tourism and hotels,” he said.
Rhodes has done different drawings that depict the street of Kissy Road, peace and unity in politics, market people, dancers, among many other portraits. He used acrylic, pastel and canvas in his work.
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