Customer Contact Solutions Urges Corporate Support For Art Sector

In the face of the dwindling oil revenue and its attendant effects on the economy as well as the worrisome level of unemployment in the country, the Chief Executive Officer of Customer Contact Solutions Nigeria Ltd (CCSNL) Mr. Ikena Odike has admonished corporate organisations to support the growth of the arts sector in Nigeria.

The CCSNL boss a system integrator and Business Process Outsourcer firm that provides BPO services and solutions for Nigeria and West Africa made this known at a recent exhibition sponsored by the company with the theme Illimite. “As an organization, we appreciative natural talent and human creativity, hence we are committed to leveraging the opportunities within the arts to encourage young minds to achieve their dreams”, he added

Customer Contact Solutions Nigeria Ltd partnered with Mr. Chinedu Ogakwu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tresor D’Afrique and established Nigerian artist, to hold the art exhibition showcasing sixty pieces of his latest creative works in Lagos.

The artistic exposition, which was held at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, and Lagos, had as its theme, “Illimite”, a French word meaning “unlimited”. The subject matter of the exhibition focused on the fact that the mind of an artist is naturally unrestricted in terms of ideas, media and styles of artistic expression. “As an artist, I believe life itself is an artistic expression, even so we think that nature creates unlimited appeal for mankind which explains why there s no limit to what man can do with all around him”, he expressed.

The Port Harcourt based artist said the theme was informed by the notion that the Arts, as forms of creative beauty, are really everywhere, and that there is art in whatever we find ourselves doing as humans. The 40-year-old mixed-media professional painter and holder of a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Painting, from Enugu Art School, Enugu State, incidentally, started painting at age six.

Ogakwu’s Afrocentric art company, Tresor D’Afrique, which implies ‘Treasures of Africa’, is focused on producing artistic works that are mostly historical and cultural in nature. These works, according to him, convey strong messages as they relate to the primitive life of an African man. “My vision as an artist is to really remind Africans and the world at large of the former’s root and cultural heritage which should not be allowed to fade away,” he urges humanity.

Regarding the guiding philosophy of his style of artistic expression, he remarks: “The life we live is also an art … the exhibition explains the unlimitedness of our talents in a general perspective. We all think and live a common life, but in our own unique ways. This makes you different from the other person.”
Professionally, the Tresor D’Afrique CEO, who discloses that his greatest influence in the arts are Messrs Segun Aiyesan and Olusegun Adejumo, has continued to learn unconventional ways of using various materials while honing necessary skills to advance productivity in his trade. “My artistic process has continued to develop and undergo many transformations,” Ogakwu says with enthusiasm.

Ogakwu, who is a member of professional groups, including Pan-African Circle of Artists, Imago Mundi Artists, Society of Nigerian Artists and Port-Harcourt/Enugu Messenger Group of Artists, has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Nigeria and overseas. Such exhibitions include ‘Stone Age: As Old as Man’ at Sofas Furniture /Art gallery (2013); ‘Chronicles of Truth’ at My Drim Art Gallery; ‘Solidarity and Sharing’ at Total Village, Port-Harcourt; ‘Art in Minded’ at Bricklane Gallery, London, UK; ‘Africa and Post Coloniality 2’ at Dakart Biennal, Senegal; ‘Lagos Art Auction’, in Lagos, all in 2014.

He has also held art exhibitions at the Art Fusion Gallery, in Miami, Florida, United States; Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, Senegal; National Art Gallery, Lagos; National Museum of Unity, Enugu; Nike Art Gallery, Lagos; as well as The British Council, Alliance Francaise, Ofu Obi African Centre, in Enugu.