As a continuation of his expression of realities of life and death in his Imagery and Visual exhibition; the ’99 image series’ Aize Mohammed Paul has introduced more exhibitions showing the strength and influence of women.
Titled, ‘Above All, Woman Without,’ and staged at the Alliance Française, Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, the new exhibitions continues his life and death story but this time, the new exhibitions portray women as being the origin of life itself.
“It is the same life and death story. The images are 99, so it is not going to stop for the next three to four year but this continuity is just bringing the influence of woman. It is still part of the series.
“The story is the influence of women on what this space is and the exhibition is called ‘Above All, Woman Without’. We are trying to show the influence of a woman, herself and her pride.
“This is coming one month after celebration of the International Women’s Day. So it is deliberate and there is a continuity too,” Paul said.
He disclosed that women inspire his work a lot, adding that from the very start of his exhibition, women has been everything in his heart.
Read also: Aize Paul expresses realities of life, death in art, visual exhibition
“Without women, there is no life and everything starts with life,” he added.
He also thanked Alliance Française for the incredible collaboration.
Speaking earlier, Mare Brebant, director, Alliance Française, Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, said Paul’s project is a very good and innovative project and they are very happy to have the collaboration.
Brebant said Paul’s project is the second project at the centre for the year 2023 and his project has attracted a lot of people.
He said a lot of people and institutions have been coming to the centre to see his exhibitions and his exhibitions have had a lot of impact.
“People have been impressed by the quality of Paul’s project. This space has been completely changed in terms of touch of creativity which is completely different from what you can usually see in all other exhibitions. The gallery has different colours. You can visit the virtual gallery which is something very new. We would like to congratulate his team,” Brebant said.
“We have been operating for more than 60 years in Nigeria and Lagos is the first Alliance Française which has been created in Nigeria. We are a part of cultural network in Nigeria with 10 other Alliance Française located in different parts of Nigeria but the biggest is in Lagos.
“We have two branches in Lagos which are Ikoyi and Ikeja. In 2022, we had 159 events here at Ikoyi including cultural and private events. More than 20,000 people came to our events. So, I believe this is one of the major cultural centres in Lagos. We held visual and performing arts, including cinema here. Here we select the best project in terms of quality to be scheduled.
Chic Chic Umah, cultural coordinator, Alliance Française said that for the year 2023, nine exhibitions have been selected by Alliance Française through the open call and partnerships.
“We received over 70 applications. We have various artists, which are solo, group exhibitions and we also work with partners. We include the exhibitions of our partners as well. Out of nine exhibition, we have done two for the year 2023,” Umah said.
