Expdonaloaded News; Islamic art: Sowing seeds of peace

In a world characterised by unending booms and gloom, Halal Art Gallerieo, supported by Ibeji Foundation and the Forum for Islamic Welfare and Education, doesn’t pretend deaf to peaceful entreaties, hence its staging of an Islamic Art exhibition entitled “Seeds of Peace: The Sower and the Envoy”.The exhibition is informed by the need for the organisers to project Islamic advocacy for peaceful co-existence in the society through art.
Featuring exclusively Islamic art works by Ridwan Osinowo, a graduate of fine art from Yaba College of Technology, the solo art exhibition also aims at correcting an erroneous notion that Islam promotes violence, as being seemingly propagated by insurgents.
Each of over 40 artworks on display, in line with the theme of the exhibition, symbolises a seed of peace: while the Sower represents Almighty God, member of the society is the envoy that is expected to walk the noble course. Titles of the individual art pieces were mostly generated from verses of the Qur’an and sayings of Prophet Muhammad, which form the foundation of Islam as a religion of peace. Majority of the works were rendered in beautiful Arabic calligraphy while the rest range from abstract and stylist paintings.
One of remarkable revelations of this art exhibition, said the  artist, is the introduction of aluminium composite panel (ACP), HDF board, sublimation plateand sublimation printing technique with which Osinowo experimented to execute most of the art pieces. Osinowo richly used mirror gold, silver and bronze variants of ACP together with transparent Perspex and sublimation printing technique for rendition of Arabic calligraphy in both flat and three dimensional (3D) forms. Features a combination of these media in art exhibition is unprecedented in the history of Nigerian contemporary art.
Prior to this maiden edition of his solo exhibition, Osinowo has participated in several secular and Islamic exhibitions in Lagos, Abuja and Saudi Arabia. Many of his masterpieces adorn public places and private homes in Nigeria and abroad.
As part of the exhibition scheduled to run from August 30 to September 6, 2015, at the National Museum Gallery, Onikan, Lagos, an inter-faith forum will hold on the closing date. The forum is to engage speakers and audience from both Islam and Christianity and other concerned faithful. Also, students from public and private schools are invited to witness the exhibition on selected days.
Dignitaries to grace the opening ceremony of the art exhibition on 30th August, include Her Excellency Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, Deputy Governor of Lagos State; Mr. B.O.B. Babalakin, Chairman, Bi-Cortney, and chairman of the occasion; Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad, Sultan of Sokoto, and Royal Father of the occasion; among other notable members of Nigerian community as well as diplomats from various countries.
The artist, Osinowo, was born in Lagos about five decades ago Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. He is a professional painter and an entrepreneur with versatility in graphics design and printing. He obtained an HND in Painting (1996) and an OND, General Art (1989) both from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.
Osinowo has exceptional flair for Islamic Art (especially the aesthetic values and rhythmic nature of Arabic Calligraphy) from which he drew inspiration for his final year School Project thesis entitled “Kalimatu-l-Shahadah: the Muslim Word of Attestation and Its Effect on Human Life”. The project was rendered in Arabic calligraphy which was the first academic art project on Islamic in the history of Yabataech.
Driven by his entrepreneurial savvy with long experience in painting, advertising and publishing sub-sectors, Osinowo, for over 25 years, has been successfully managing Halala Arts Gallerieo, a gallery of Islamic and conventional art) and Merit Expression & Corporate Services (a below-the-line advertising agency.
His major media of expression include Foil, Oil, Relief Calligraphy, Acrylics, Fibre glass and Mirror. He remarkably experiment with uncommon media to achieve brilliant expression of his thoughts. Osinowo’s most recent discovery is a smart manipulation of materials like mirror gold and silver variants of Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP), aluminium plate and acrylic Perspex with sublimation technique of image transfer.
His conventional and Islamic art works can be found in many homes, offices, schools, mosques, galleries and private collections within and outside Nigeria. He has partaken in group and solo exhibitions within and outside Nigeria.
Lending his voice to the release, the Executive Secretary of the Ibeji Foundation, Alhaja Khairat Olusegun Sodique, said The Islamic Art Exhibition “promises to showcase different caligraphics works and decorative patterns of houses of worships, people, places  and various paintings and artworks with Ridwan Oshinowo unique designs and his entire mode of creativity, which has been the motivating factor that prompted the support of IBEJI Foundation (Ismail  Bolaji Ebiti Jamaah in Islam).
IBEJI is a non-governmental, philanthropic Islamic organisation that supports Islamic activities, indigent students, Islamic organisations and works that will not only promote Islam, but peaceful co-existence of Muslims and non-Muslims. It also aims to support research works, provision of basic amenities for communal usage and supporting Islamic calligraphic and art works that will promote peace, unity and peaceful co-existence amongst the populace irrespective of their race and religion.
On the choice of this year’s theme the foundation said: “It is our belief that everything on earth is from the ground, and it can only be commanded and germinated by Allah as the Sower of Seeds of Peace, while the artist and all of us are the envoy.