| Peer-Reviewed

Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique

Received: 12 August 2020     Accepted: 26 August 2020     Published: 8 September 2020
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

This study takes a look at the public sculpture enterprise in Lagos, Nigeria. It examines its background and the philosophical framework guiding the practice. Because a huge amount of resources, both financial and otherwise, go into the production and installation of public sculpture, it becomes important to appraise the ‘success’ of these works, particular as many are seen to have fallen short of expected impact. This study adopted qualitative research methods and it relied mainly on secondary data, though extensive physical observation of the discussed sculptural pieces was also carried out. This paper presents an inventory of major sculptural installation in Lagos Metropolis since 1945 when the first public sculpture is believed to have been installed. The study assesses the corpus of Lagos’ public sculpture, testing them against three variables of size, location and subject content. The results show that an underlining tension exists between expected impact of public sculpture and a reality of irreverence from the people in Lagos. It was found that this gap stems from early subliminal doctrines of traditional Yoruba religion and the consequent confusion of the purpose of public sculpture. This study concludes that to mitigate on this gap, feasibility tests focused on size, location and meaning of proposed sculpture must be rigorously carried out in order to increase the ‘success’ and acceptance rates of public sculpture projects.

Published in Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12
Page(s) 88-96
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Public Sculpture, Urban Art, Monument, Lagos

References
[1] Hilliard, B. (2018). The Colossus of Rhodes: Ancient Greek Mega Statue [online]. Available at: https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/colossus-rhodes-ancient-greek-mega-statue-003249 (Accessed: 22nd April, 2020).
[2] Aluko, M. (2003) ‘Awo's Statue in Ibadan Felled; Ladoja Declares "War’, The Tribune (weekend edition), May 31, p. 3.
[3] Jonathan A. (2007) ‘Facing the Middle Ages: Concluding Remarks’, Gesta, 46 (2), Contemporary Approaches to the Medieval Face, pp. 193-197.
[4] Elsen, A. (1989) ‘What We Have Learned about Modern Public Sculpture: Ten Propositions’, Art Journal, 48 (4), pp. 291-297.
[5] Moore, H. (1952) ‘The Sculptor in Modern Society’, UNESCO Parliamentary Address on Sculpture. Venice.
[6] Moore, H. (1955) ‘Sculpture in the Open Air’, Melville, R. (ed.) London: British Council.
[7] Stalker, D. and Glymour, C. (1982) ‘The Malignant Object: Thoughts on Public Sculpture’, Carnegie Mellon University Journal. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6492833.v1 (Accessed: 5th March, 2020).
[8] Fleming, R. L. and Tscharner, R. V. (1986) Place Makers: Creating Public Art That Tells You Where You Are. 2nd edn. Boston, MA: Harcourt Brace Inc.
[9] Hepworth, B. (1996) ‘Sculpture’ in Harrison, C. & Wood, P. (eds.) Art in Theory, 1900-1990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 374-377.
[10] Miles, M. (1997) Art, Space and the City: Public Art and Urban Features. London: Routledge.
[11] Hein, S. H. (2006) Public Art: Thinking Museums Differently. 1st edn. Oxford: AltaMira Press.
[12] Wu, J. (2016) ‘Research on the Influence of Public Art on City Image’, Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research, 4, pp. 219-224.
[13] Eckardt, W. V. (1982). ‘Dissent and Reply: The Malignant Objectors’, The Public Interest, pp. 22-36. [online]. Available at: https://www.nationalaffairs.com/storage/app/uploads/public/58e/1a4/d24/58e1a4d24b3a5067579983.pdf (Accessed: 21 March, 2020).
[14] Sert, J. L., Leger, F. & Geidion, S. (1958) ‘Nine Points on Monumentality’ in Giedion, S. (ed.) Architecture, You and Me: The Diary of a Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 48–51.
[15] Odiboh, F. (1987) ‘Outdoor Sculpture in Lagos Metropolis’, M. A. Dissertation, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
[16] Ikpakronyi, S. O. (1987) ‘Contemporary outdoor sculptures in Enugu and Owerri metropolis: Form and content’, M. A. Dissertation, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
[17] Folarin, A. (1993) ‘Urban sculpture in the metropolis’ in Campbel, B., Aremu, P. O., Folarin, A. & Igbigbami, R. I. (eds.) Diversity of creativity in Nigeria. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press, pp. 125–132.
[18] Adisa, B. (1999) ‘Outdoor sculpture in Ibadan metropolis: Form and content’, M. A. Thesis, University of Ibadan. Ibadan.
[19] Akintonde, M. A. (2009) ‘Outdoor sculpture in Southwestern Nigeria 1900-2005: A survey of attitude’, Ph. D. Thesis, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso.
[20] Akintonde, M. & Kalilu, R. (2013) ‘Thematic and Stylistic Appraisal of Sculpture in Public Places in Nigeria: The Example of Southwest’, Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3 (2), pp. 26-37.
[21] Godwin, J. and Hopwood, G. (2012) Southbank City: Lagos at 150. 1st edn. Lagos: Kachifo.
[22] Ògúndèjí, P. A. (1997) ‘The Communicative and Semiotic Contexts of àrokò among the Yoruba Symbol-Communication Systems’, African Languages and Cultures, 10 (2), pp. 145-156.
[23] Johnson, V. (2020) ‘Why Fela’s Statue at Allen Roundabout Was Pulled Down’, Guardian News, 15th Jan. 2020 [online]. Available at: https://guardian.ng/life/why-felas-statue-at-allen-roundabout-was-pulled-down/ (Accessed: 20th February, 2020).
[24] Shahhosseini, E. (2015) ‘The Role of Urban Sculpture in Shaping the Meaning of Identity in Contemporary Urban Planning’, International Journal of Science, Technology and Society, 3 (2), pp. 24-26.
[25] Lentz, C. (2017) ‘Ghanaian “Monument Wars”; The Contested History of the Nkrumah Statues’, Cahiers d’études africaines, 227, pp. 551-582.
[26] Houlberg, M. (1973) ‘Ìbejì Images of the Yoruba’, African Arts, 7 (1), pp. 20-7, 91-92.
[27] Chappel, T. J. (1974) ‘The Yoruba Cult of Twins in Historical Perspective’, Africa, 44 (3), pp. 250-265.
[28] White, Anthony (2010) ‘The Trouble with Twins: Image and Ritual of the Yoruba ère ìbejì’, emaj 5, pp. 1-23.
[29] Oyebola, D. (1980) ‘Some aspects of Yoruba traditional healers and their practice’, Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 74 (3), pp. 318–325.
[30] Adejumo, Okedele & Adebamowo, (2012) ‘Symbolism in the Conceptualization of Contemporary Yoruba City Central Business District Urban Design’, International conference on Architecture and Urban Design proceedings, 1, pp. 967-976.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Adeyemi Akande. (2020). Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique. Urban and Regional Planning, 5(3), 88-96. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Adeyemi Akande. Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique. Urban Reg. Plan. 2020, 5(3), 88-96. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Adeyemi Akande. Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique. Urban Reg Plan. 2020;5(3):88-96. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12,
      author = {Adeyemi Akande},
      title = {Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique},
      journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {88-96},
      doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20200503.12},
      abstract = {This study takes a look at the public sculpture enterprise in Lagos, Nigeria. It examines its background and the philosophical framework guiding the practice. Because a huge amount of resources, both financial and otherwise, go into the production and installation of public sculpture, it becomes important to appraise the ‘success’ of these works, particular as many are seen to have fallen short of expected impact. This study adopted qualitative research methods and it relied mainly on secondary data, though extensive physical observation of the discussed sculptural pieces was also carried out. This paper presents an inventory of major sculptural installation in Lagos Metropolis since 1945 when the first public sculpture is believed to have been installed. The study assesses the corpus of Lagos’ public sculpture, testing them against three variables of size, location and subject content. The results show that an underlining tension exists between expected impact of public sculpture and a reality of irreverence from the people in Lagos. It was found that this gap stems from early subliminal doctrines of traditional Yoruba religion and the consequent confusion of the purpose of public sculpture. This study concludes that to mitigate on this gap, feasibility tests focused on size, location and meaning of proposed sculpture must be rigorously carried out in order to increase the ‘success’ and acceptance rates of public sculpture projects.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique
    AU  - Adeyemi Akande
    Y1  - 2020/09/08
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12
    T2  - Urban and Regional Planning
    JF  - Urban and Regional Planning
    JO  - Urban and Regional Planning
    SP  - 88
    EP  - 96
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1697
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12
    AB  - This study takes a look at the public sculpture enterprise in Lagos, Nigeria. It examines its background and the philosophical framework guiding the practice. Because a huge amount of resources, both financial and otherwise, go into the production and installation of public sculpture, it becomes important to appraise the ‘success’ of these works, particular as many are seen to have fallen short of expected impact. This study adopted qualitative research methods and it relied mainly on secondary data, though extensive physical observation of the discussed sculptural pieces was also carried out. This paper presents an inventory of major sculptural installation in Lagos Metropolis since 1945 when the first public sculpture is believed to have been installed. The study assesses the corpus of Lagos’ public sculpture, testing them against three variables of size, location and subject content. The results show that an underlining tension exists between expected impact of public sculpture and a reality of irreverence from the people in Lagos. It was found that this gap stems from early subliminal doctrines of traditional Yoruba religion and the consequent confusion of the purpose of public sculpture. This study concludes that to mitigate on this gap, feasibility tests focused on size, location and meaning of proposed sculpture must be rigorously carried out in order to increase the ‘success’ and acceptance rates of public sculpture projects.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Architecture, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

  • Sections