Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique

Adeyemi Akande

doi:doi:10.11648/j.urp.20200503.12

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Public Sculptures in Lagos Metropolis; a Brief History and Critique

Adeyemi Akande

Published in Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 5, Issue 3)

Received: 12 August 2020 Accepted: 26 August 2020 Published: 8 September 2020

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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

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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

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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

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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

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@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}
}

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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
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JO  - Urban and Regional Planning
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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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
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Author Information

Adeyemi Akande

Department of Architecture, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

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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

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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

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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

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@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