BEVERLY HILLS, May 24, (THEWILL) – At 70, it appears the Founder of Nike Art foundation, Chief Nike Okundaye, still dreams of spending the rest of her life as a Roman Catholic nun. Mrs Okundaye, who celebrated her 70th birthday recently in Lagos, revealed that she would have settled for a quiet life as a nun but her passion for art led her on a different career path.
As a teenager, Okundaye, who looks quite trendy and beautiful I spite of her age, was very curious and afflicted with an unquenchable thirst for a knowledge-based profession.
As luck would have it, along the line her great grand-mother of blessed memory sparked her journey into the world of art.
She knew that the journey to success required working through every step to arrive at the next level. So she quickly recognised the need to seek God first.
According to her, the journey to stardom was never a bed of roses from inception, but due to hard work, humility and diligence, she was able to project herself as a colossus in the arts and culture.
“As a woman artist it has been a hard one, but with patience everything is possible because nothing goes smoothly. It was a journey I started as a teenager and that has brought me to where I am today”.
“I always thank God for my great grandmother, who was my first teacher and who inspired and inculcated textile knowledge in me. That same knowledge is what I am passing it to the younger generations,” Okundaye said, in an interview.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Nike said she was able to create something new, although she was not aware of the coming of the virus.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been very challenging because we did not know that there would be a lockdown for almost three months and we did not have enough materials to work with at the time. However, the unexpected situation gave us the idea to create something new. We have to make do with whatever materials that was I our possession. That experience made me learnt that with patience nothing is impossible,” she added.
Speaking on her choice of career, she said, “Outside art, I would have become a nun. This is because I always regarded nuns as next to God. My father actually worked in the church as a cleaner for the Rev. Fathers. I worked as a baby sitter. I always visited the hostel where nuns lived and each time I saw them neatly dressed in their white uniforms, I would dream of becoming a nun. I was always fascinated by those uniforms. In fact, I was deeply attracted to them. The fact that they were the only ones who enjoyed free education up to university level in addition to training as priestesses got me excited.
She thanked God for giving her the desired opportunity to train people to be self independent through their hand work, emphasising that training the trainers has always been her life ambition.
“I am very fulfilled and I thank God that most of the people I mentored are now independent and have their own money without waiting to borrow from the banks to establish themselves,” she said.
Okudaye also pledged to ensure that more females find their way into the arts in such a manner that they will outnumber and outshine male artists in the system.
She appealed to government to send more artists for training overseas, stressing that in doing so they will be able to bring the idea back home and share the knowledge gained with the people down home.
She also appealed that artists should not see art galleries as a way to make money alone, but also an avenue to showcase their works.
She said, “I am an artist. I know the heart of the artist and I know how to dip into it and that is why I tell them to bring their works to me. Your work is your voice. Whatever I sell, you can give me 10 percent and if you do not have it you can always give me a small art work to cover your10 percent”.
Noting that Nigeria is blessed with more than 50,000 artists who are very productive and only about 5,000 are well known locally and internationally, she added, “There are many artists in this country, but they are always afraid that the gallery will sell their works and take all the money. Artists are keeping their works at home just because they do not want the galleries to eat out of it.”
She further disclosed that her foundation is planning to showcase about 15 artists and their works.
