00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Tired of dull looking walls?
00:06 Time for the Flying Bushman.
00:09 Let's find out how the Bushman Collective
00:11 transforms everyday streets and outdoor places
00:14 into outdoor galleries.
00:15 And what exactly is Olayebi's aim to color up walls?
00:21 - What inspired me to start creating murals
00:24 is to shift our cultural landscape
00:27 into something that inspires us to see ourselves different.
00:32 One of the goals of the Bushman Collective
00:36 is to inspire creatives and artists alike
00:40 to transform gray walls into meaningful works of art
00:45 that speak about the community
00:47 and the people that live there.
00:49 - One of the goals of the Bushman Collective
00:51 is to inspire creatives and artists.
00:53 Olayebi's murals and graffitis
00:55 are found throughout the city,
00:57 from the main streets
00:58 to the hidden corners of the neighborhoods.
01:00 How come that urban art has changed the landscape of Lagos
01:03 while becoming rooted in the city's culture
01:05 at the same time?
01:06 - I've always believed that art,
01:09 when done well, can inspire change.
01:14 I've always seen it as a form of activism in a way,
01:19 in a way that, you know, us as people,
01:23 we can communicate with each other in subtle ways
01:28 and also beautify our communities.
01:31 - Nigerian urban art draws inspiration
01:34 from the country's traditions.
01:36 Bright colors and bold shapes are common.
01:39 Lagos City itself has become an art hub,
01:41 with an estimated 10,000 commuters per direction an hour
01:44 to become spectators at peak times.
01:47 It means a lot of eyes get to see the work of art
01:49 created by artists such as the Bushman Collective.
01:53 - The way murals are going now, I'm loving it.
01:57 I'm loving the energy that's going on.
01:59 And I'm loving that, you know,
02:02 that more places are giving opportunities to artists
02:05 in different ways
02:05 that they wouldn't have thought about before.
02:07 I believe art is the expression of human creative skill
02:12 and imagination in the most purest form.
02:15 - Olaibi studied art in Toronto, Canada.
02:18 His artistic journey began by painting everything around him,
02:22 independent of the constraints of a traditional gallery.
02:25 He had already seen much of the world
02:26 when he decided to return to Nigeria
02:29 to share his artistic vision with non-academic communities.
02:32 Not an easy decision.
02:34 What was the hardest part
02:35 in becoming the free-spirited flying Bushman
02:38 that he is today?
02:39 - As an artist, I'm trying to enter the art market.
02:43 What I experienced was a lot of roadblocks
02:46 and a lot of people telling me how it's supposed to be
02:49 and the channels I'm supposed to follow.
02:51 So I decided to, you know, control my narrative
02:56 and break outside that norm
02:59 by focusing on everything outside of a gallery.
03:03 - I've been working with the Bushman Collective
03:05 for quite a number of years now.
03:08 We've done a series of works.
03:10 We've done studio works, which is normal paintings.
03:14 I've also done murals.
03:15 This is one of the work we did.
03:17 - The urban artists of the Bushman Collective
03:20 are willing to take risks and challenge established norms
03:23 in order to become the voice of the community.
03:25 As in the case of Makoku, the floating houses of Lagos.
03:29 - Even without getting paid for it,
03:34 we go out to the streets and we paint things
03:37 or we write words of inspiration.
03:39 It's things I believe that are important
03:41 and it's something I try to push.
03:43 - Driving around Lagos,
03:46 you can see that urban art is flourishing in the city.
03:49 But is it good or bad that brands
03:51 are now jumping on the bandwagon
03:52 and using murals to showcase their campaigns?
03:55 - More brands are able to incorporate visual artists
04:00 into their platform for supporting the arts
04:04 in different ways now,
04:05 because it's not just focused on a gallery setting.
04:09 - For the Flying Bushman and his collective,
04:13 the matter is clear,
04:14 transforming inaccessible places into art spaces.
04:18 But why is it his goal to bridge the gap
04:20 and create connections to art in the first place?
04:23 - Emotions I hope to invoke for my artists
04:27 is a sense of togetherness or understanding
04:30 of where we're coming from and our experiences.
04:34 (upbeat music)
04:36 (upbeat music)
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