TheCable

The 10th edition of African Arts and Crafts expo slated for Abuja between August 27th  and September 17th, will clearly define the future of the neglected and often misunderstood culture sector of Nigerian economy.

Arts and Crafts, a major component and key driver of the octopus but untapped Nigerian culture sector, will be unveiled, projected and interpreted to various stakeholders in order to restructure and balance its ranking on the socio – economic radar, a kind of listing that will influence new approach to the business, grow bankable code and engender a new employment window to the benefit of Nigerians.

Though the concept of the one stop Arts/Crafts trade show is to empower and enrich the African continent and its friends, the primary objective of domesticating the process which Nigeria has championed for a decade is about to be redefined to enforce and sustain the true value chain in the often misplaced and misapplied Nigerian Arts and Crafts potentials.

Otunba Segun Runsewe, Nigeria’s chief culture marketer whose first visible   and well defined intention on assumption office was to lubricate the sector with a strategic seed funding for industry players through a 300million naira Bank of Industry (BOI) loan platform, rises hope for the brink come back for this softer side of life of the economy.

That turning and game changing effort which clearly sets to break the challenge of poor funding and access to soft loans for operators and players who could not internationalize the finishing of their works and cause same to enjoy multi- million dollars export trade mark, presents the other side of the expo.

It is dream break through which most pessimistic observers of the Runsewe well thought-out intervention mutters in confusion in beer parlors, partly out of ignorance and repeated failings of the past drivers of the Nigerian culture mandate and to which Runsewe and his team has brought and found a solution.

Indeed our brilliant sculptors, fabric designers and arts/crafts dealers have over the years suffered from lack of access to operational and developmental funding which has stunted their growth and expansion ,their job creation potentials and consequently made their works very cheap and inaccessible due to the absence of well conceived and sustainable structure that could advance their survival.

So having created the funding window, what then is Runsewe out to do with the African Arts and Crafts exposition this August? AFAC according to Runsewe who does not play to the gallery in the execution of assigned mandates, is to be redefined not just as a melting pot for artists, sculptors, fabric designers and arts/crafts dealers to exchange ideas across board, the exposition would be deliberately driven to fully expose hidden talents and provide investors including financial institutions with full records of financial profits derivable from the sector.

African Arts and Craft Expo is not a jamboree Runsewe told me last week in Abuja at the heat of the various strategic meetings to fine tune this year’s event and to which a new operational focus of National Council for Arts and Culture will be invented and defined.

From the construction of the expo booths, sideline conferences and events, AFAC will not only cause a feverish revival to the once moribund and often scorned arts and crafts business in Nigeria, the participating countries in Africa and other invited international artistic community will join hands with Nigeria to open a new chapter for the emerging crafts and arts trade sector.

Otunba Segun Runsewe has promised a signature expo event and has marshaled the needed offerings that will drive the engaging processes for the future of the sector. Also Nigerians not too sure of where we stand on cultural tourism should mark out the dates for the expo and be part of the new dream to redefining our arrival as an arts and crafts tourism destination in Africa.

It is not only our fabrics, arts and crafts that will be on showcase, a table of the best of our gastronomic discoveries shall also be unveiled. Unknown to many Nigerians our food culture has artistic template which also will be part of gigantic cultural exposition and to which participants will not forget in a hurry.