Through The Eyes Of A Sculptor   

From a fortutious discovery of his latent talent in art, Bunmi Babatunde not only goes on to study it but carves a niche for himself in sculpture

By AKUNNA EJIM

Art has always been with Bunmi Babatunde, a sculptor. He started it all from primary school drawing the little things. And when he entered secondary school he joined the art class, where he excelled. He was always the best, quite effortlessly. He had an art teacher who was pursuing his masterís degree at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife who encouraged him a lot in certain areas, like line drawing. Not benefitting from guidance or career counselors who might have encouraged him to study arts, it never really occurred to him to study it. To him then, drawing well was merely a talent that should not be pursued as a career. Added to this was the peer pressure. Since a lot of his mates were studying science and other such courses, he felt he should join the bandwagon by studying political science.

However, after he left secondary school, he started trying to gain admission. As providence would have it, there was an advert in the papers asking for people to apply to study art. He did, and to his great surprise, he was called, out of a lot of applicants, to come and study art. trained at the Yaba College of Technology. He graduated in 1983. Since then, he has been practising full time. Asked if he has always known that he would be a sculptor, Babatundeís answer is an emphatic YES! As far back as he can recall, he has always known that he has this thing in him that pushes him to sculpt.

On the issue of art in Nigeria, Bunmi feels there is no art culture, but that it is growing gradually. He says all the stakeholders are working together to grow an art culture in the country and he happens to be one of them. He laments that historically, Nigerians have a ëëvery rich culture like the Benin arts, Igbo-Ukwu, Nok culture and all that which, unfortunately, have disappeared with time. Except in Benin where they have a guild of casters which they have maintained through time, in all the other areas, you will hardly find a trace of all the ancient art forms. The contemporary art culture is however growing gradually.íí

When Bummi started, art was hardly lucrative, but since he had a passion for what he was doing, and felt he had a calling, he stuck to it . Eventually, together with some of his friends, they had exhibitions at the Goethe Institut in 1998, which opened doors for them. Dealerships soon started. The artists could now work for a programme, salons and exhibitions where they could show their works. Simultaneously galleries began to develop. Nigerians began to appreciate and purchase their works, whereas, hitherto, foreigners were their best customers. Today, some of Babatundeís biggest and most faithful customers are based in Nigeria.

Bummi has certainly paid his dues and, as such, has gotten to a point in which he can actually project how much he is going to make from a job. More than the finances, his passion makes his job infinitely more rewarding. Each time he creates an object, itís like giving birth to a new born baby and people appreciate it, so itís really fulfilling.