Artnome has made the world a much smaller place for me. I now have friendships with many talented artists from around the world. One of those artists is my dear friend from Nigeria, Prince Jacon Osinachi.
Osinachi is a self-taught artist who developed his own unique style out of necessity. Lacking access to expensive graphics software, Osinachi persevered, inventing ways to use Microsoft Word (a word processor) as a tool for creating sophisticated visual art. His work highlights the everyday life of people in Nigeria struggling to be accepted by their own society and government. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, single mothers, and young artists and poets can all be found in Osinachi’s artworks navigating a world that does not accept them for who they are. Regular Artnome readers may recall that I featured Osinachi’s work in my 2020 art market predictions article earlier this year - a testament to the high regard I have for him as an up-and-coming artist.
When Osinachi shared with me that peaceful unarmed protestors were being slaughtered in Nigeria for standing up against police brutality and government corruption, I knew I needed to do something to help. One of the great things about Artnome is that it gives me a platform to amply my voice and the voices of others. This article briefly explains the key points around the #EndSARS protests and outlines several ways you can help (including participating in several rapidly expanding charity art auctions).
First, some background on the situation in Nigeria and the #EndSARS movement.
Why Nigerian Youth Are Protesting Against SARS
The Nigerian judicial system is notoriously broken. Three quarters of Nigeria’s prison population are being held without sentencing.
The SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) police division has a history of corruption and violence. The SARS forces target young Nigerian men with laptops and smartphones, arresting them on trumped-up fraud charges, and then demand exorbitant bail money under threats of violence.
Nigerian youth have taken to the streets in a decentralized protest against SARS. According to Amnesty International, at least twelve peaceful unarmed protestors were killed at Alausa and Lekki Toll Gate Lagos, and hundreds more were injured.
How You Can Help #EndSARS
The first step is to get the word out. This protest is being fought not only on the streets of Nigeria, but globally through social media. Consider sharing this or other articles that explain what the #EndSARS protests are about. Make liberal use of the hashtag #EndSARS to make others in your social networks aware. This costs us nothing and draws needed pressure and attention on the Nigerian government to stop abusing human rights.
Second, I am collaborating with the blockchain art market SuperRare to auction off several artworks, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity.
In tribute to Osinachi, I am offering one of my favorite pieces by him from my personal collection, Take a Seat. Take a Seat highlights the need for people to work across various differences and to celebrate diversity. In typical Osinachi style, the work is a colorful but quiet visual protest. The work features two men of different backgrounds coming together and sharing time at the same table, a simple but powerful statement.
Osinachi’s recent self-portrait “A Portrait of the Artist at 29” just sold a few days ago for $7,439. I am optimistic that Take a Seat, a defining work in Osinachi’s oeuvre, will do well at auction and help to raise funds for this important cause.
When I announced that I wanted to help to raise funds and to draw attention to the #EndSARS protests, other artists on SuperRare offered their support, as well. I was particularly touched that Argentinian artist Lucas Aguirre was the first to step up and reach out. Aguirre is among my favorite digital artists that I have discovered in 2020. His work makes extremely creative use of photogrammetry (3D scanning) combined with painting. This technique frees his 3D art from the shiny, plastic, kitschy look common to so much 3D art and brings it into a warmer, richer aesthetic.
Aguirre has generously donated his work Untitled which already has a standing bid of 3 Eth (about $1,234.65). It’s an excellent example of Aguirre’s painterly 3D aesthetic and will make an great addition to any serious digital art collection.
That Aguirre was the first artist to reach out was especially meaningful to me. Argentina is dealing with its own issues including extreme inflation and COVID spikes, making life difficult for most Argentinians. Perhaps I should not have been so surprised, as it is often those who are suffering who are most sensitive to the pain of others.
The good folks at SuperRare will be putting up a dedicated page featuring the works being sold for charity in the next few days. I am already seeing other SuperRare artists making generous donations including Lady In Love by Yosnier Miranda.
Yosnier shares that his work is inspired by the absence of love and presence of loneliness. He has developed a lot of great relationships with friends from Africa and sympathizes deeply with them. When he saw his friends getting anxious about their family members back in Africa, he wanted to help, but was not sure what he could do other than share petitions. He is hopeful that his donation will help raise attention and funds for the cause, “even if just a little.”
I’d love to see more artists with work on SuperRare contributing to help Osinachi and the #EndSARS protestors. If you are an artist on SuperRare and are interested in participating, please reach out to me about donating a piece to the cause.
There are, of course, lots of great digital artists who are not yet on SuperRare. For those artists, my friend Danil Pan is also organizing a live auction on Telegram (an encrypted instant messaging platform) to raise funds for the cause. As of this writing, Danil currently has 43 artworks donated from 27 artists!
For Danil’s auction, artists can donate work minted on any Ethereum-based platform. If you have no idea what Ethereum or blockchain are but you want to help, DM (direct message) Danil on Twitter and follow his account for more details on the auction.
If you are an artist and you enjoy reading the free content on Artnome, please consider donating work to one of these auctions. If you are a collector, please consider participating in the auctions by bidding on the work generously being donated. If you would like to simply make a direct donation of money, you can find a list of charities supporting #EndSARS here.
When Osinachi saw how the arts community came together to help support him, he was overwhelmed with gratitude. He asked me to share the statement below with Artnome readers:
#EndSARS is the first time young people in Nigeria have come together with one voice to demand that institutions in the country are held accountable. It has gone beyond ending police brutality to asking for good governance where leaders aren't in sync with the needs of the people, and it must be sustained for a better world for us all.
This battle is as much about getting information out about the #EndSARS movement as it is about raising funds. It is critical that we let the Nigerian government know that we are all watching to make it as difficult as possible for them to abuse human rights. If you cannot afford to participate in the auction or make a donation directly, please consider sharing this article and/or the #EndSARS hashtag. Because as the great Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”