In true Lagos fashion, the University of Lagos has in the last few days played host to a group from Germany for a two-week workshop.
The workshop anchored by the Geothe Institute and the HFBK University of Fine Arts, Hamburg in collaboration with the University of Lagos is aimed at deepening collaboration and promoting inter-cultural exchange through the arts.
The group who arrived Lagos, Nigeria on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, were received at the Department of Creative Arts, UNILAG on Thursday, October 20, 2022 for a brief welcome ceremony.
Speaking during the Ceremony, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development Services), Professor Ayodele Atsenuwa lauded the initiative as an exceptional project aimed at promoting international understanding especially as UNILAG and Geothe Institute were both celebrating sixty (60) years of existence. She described the partnership as an important platform for bringing students together to discuss, share ideas of common interest in the Arts, particularly in the area of inventiveness, problem-solving, and big-idea thinking.
Her words, “We are telling a different story as an institution today with this collaboration. In doing so, we are creating a global destination at the forefront of transforming arts and design through internationalization aimed at fostering global arts. So this collaboration is a foundational element of the performing arts. People in a good collaboration accomplish more than the group’s most talented members can achieve on their own.”
In her remarks, the Director of Geothe Institute, Dr. Nadine Siegert thanked the University of Lagos for its role in actualising the collaboration. She opined that being a truly first-class university with a track record of seeing to the existence of both interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research, this latest feat affirmed UNILAG as an integral player in the development of a strong creative workforce.
The Head of the Creative Arts Department, Professor Osita Ezenwanebe described the exchange programme as innovative. According to her, UNILAG is positioned to strategically influence academic, professional, and societal needs that are crucial in the ever-changing globalized world.
The Head of Academic Affairs, University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Eike Pockrandt HFBK expressed the group’s excitement to be in Nigeria. He disclosed that the University of Fine Arts Hamburg is a competitive arts academy accepting only a small number of applicants every year. With just a few hundred students, he revealed that the HFBK promotes experimentation and encourages students to find innovative solutions to issues in the arts since its inception in 1767.
While appreciating the leadership of the University of Lagos, Professor Adepeju Layiwola, through whom the collaboration was facilitated, hinted that the successful collaboration between the institutions will involve the students learning several key skills in the arts content.
The Art historian posited that the 6 (six) students and their Nigerian counterparts will be taken on a tour of some facilities across UNILAG as well as destinations around Lagos for a wholesome learning experience while developing skills for effective group learning.
Here is a snippet of the students at the MasterArtClasses
So far, the group has visited the UNILAG Lagoon front, Zoological and Botanical gardens as well as the Academic Publishing Center. On Friday, October 21, 2022, the group was at the MasterArtClasses Studio of Professor Adepeju Layiwola in Surulere, Lagos where she taught and demonstrated several Adire methods.
Before the end of the Workshop on Sunday, October 30, 2022, the group is expected to visit the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), UNILAG; University Main Library; National Conservation Foundation, Lekki; Oko-Baba Logging Community and Lagos Fashion Week/ Poetry Festival.
The group will also participate in an Arts Exhibition tagged Planetary Thinking, scheduled for Friday, October 28, 2022, at 11 a.m. at the Lagoon Gallery, Department of Creative Arts, UNILAG, Akoka.
