​FEATURE 1: KARO AKPOKIERE
" ...Now I feel comfortable saying I love to draw because it is an open-ended and flexible description that gives me a fair amount of control..."
​Karo Akpokiere is a Nigerian artist who is seriously pushing the boundaries, when it comes to taking art out of the museum. If you are a fashion lover, you may recognise his print for Nigerian Label, Jewel by Lisa. If shoes are your poison, then you could have spotted his work, Tokeria (Tokyo meets Nigeria) on Bucketfeet. Finally, if you are a regular commuter in Lagos, you may have spotted his artwork on the BRT buses. He is clearly one to watch. ULI-MUSEUM.COM picked his brains...
With such a multi-faceted body of work, some call you an illustrator, a graphics designer, or an artist. Do any of these titles resonate with you? If not, how would you describe yourself?
I'm at a point in my life where I have become increasingly more interested in creating my own work not just working for other people so though I have used these titles, I have realised that they don't effectively capture the range of work that I'm interested in doing and I have also realised that the way you describe yourself determines the type of projects that come your way. Now I feel comfortable saying 'I love to draw' because it's an open - ended, flexible description that gives me a fair amount of control in a conversation and that always leads to the question 'so what do you draw?'. When I say graphic designer, lots of people don't seem to see beyond logos, fliers etc and there's more to my life than that.
Let’s dial back a little bit, do you mind telling us a little bit more about yourself, your art, your favourite food?
Asleep on a Sunbeam by Belle and Sebastian, Children's Story by Slick Rick, Fill your Heart by David Bowie, Choose Life by Big Tent Revival and Send Down The Rain by Majek Fashek are a few of my favourite songs.

On account of my name, I got admitted into a Federal Goverment Girls College (New Bussa) when it was time to be in secondary school.
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Favourite food -right now, it's baked beans, white rice and potato chips.
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I create drawings using traditional and/or digital tools and the drawings show my desire to combine different 'cultural' elements in other to create art that is universally appealing, experiential and reflective of my interests in textile motifs, the graffiti aesthetic, t-shirt graphics, sneakers, advertising, character design and geometry.
It appears majority of your work is often transported to other medium, where it not only serves the purpose of art but also performs another function (cue, your Jewel by Lisa & Bucketfeet collaboration). Has this departure from the regular art/ museum / exhibition cycle been a conscious decision on your part?
Going the alternative route towards making and sharing my work, has it's roots in the informal art education I got while growing up and also in some of the experiences I got while in art school.

Growing up, attending art exhibitions wasn't a major part of my life and though I was exposed to formal art education, my idea of what art is was hugely informed by popular culture and its many offerings - fashion, pattern design, cartoons, sneakers, TV, advertising, mass production, comic books, hip hop culture etc. These were a part of my everyday life and it was with exposure I got into art school.

In school, I realised the after school 'ideal' career situation revolved around either getting your works exhibited and collected or getting into an advertising agency. I didn't see how my work could fit into the art gallery scene, you need to understand that the exhibition cirucit was filled with people who could draw, paint ,sculpt well in ways that appealed to the galleries. My drawings were mostly of sneakers, tiny characters wearing streetwear and my attempt at drawing 'gallery type' stuff was pitiful.
This was a time in my life where I was trying to find my voice, be in touch with my influences. Because of my limited knowledge regarding the range of possibilites available for someone who could draw felt I had no place in the gallery scene. All of this changed when I got a book gift from my parents – 100% Cotton: T - shirt graphics by Tim Fletcher and Helen Walters.

In the book, I found artists, designers, illustrators that I shared similar influences with who had no issues with exhibiting their work. The book showed me it was possible for me to exhibit my work. I got in touch with a friend about us exhibiting our work, I put a proposal together and we approached two art institutions. Their response made us realise they were not interested in showing our work.
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At that time, I was already in love with the internet and was always browsing the websites of artists I liked. I quickly realised that or it seemed as though every artist in Europe, Australia, America had a website so I decided to get one because it provided with possibilities that no offline art gallery/ exhibition could - year round international exhibition of my work at a low - cost.

I got focused on this and didn't really care about exhibiting offline anymore.
The decision came about because I didn't have any opportunites to exhibit my work in a gallery, I tried to but it didn't happen. I realised I had other alternatives to show my work so I embraced them. I did what I had to do to share my work and make it visible. Interestingly, having my work in alternative spaces have lead to opportunities for gallery shows.
" ...I believe there are a lot of artists doing excellent work on the continent but one has to dig deep to find them and their work. Documentation isn’t a strong part of the culture and nature abhors a vacuum, so the foreign artists inspire because they are there, visible for most to see and be inspired by..."
Is it important to you for your work to be accessible to the masses?
Growing up the movies I saw, the cartoons I watched, the comic books/books I read, the patterns on fabric, wrist watches, the graphics on t-shirts, paintings on postcards and calendars were instrumental in making me realise that there is a world out there that is a million times bigger than Lagos. I had a lot of these things around me because my parents for the most part had access to them and they made my life interesting and helped develop my visual identity.
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My work being accessible is important because it hopefully would add colour to the lives of people and help develop visual identities just like the way the work of others before me have done.
Accessibility also makes it possible for me to give, meet and inspire people and also be inspired.
​You are often quoted as being influenced by Japanese art. How did this come about? What are your other influences, inspirations or artist that you look up to?
My fascination with Japanese art has its roots in my exposure to Japanese cartoons and the knowledge of Japan’s tech prowess while growing up. They served as a point of departure for me to engage with Japanese art later in my life.
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I am presently fascinated by the work of Cheri Samba, Cameron Platter, the truck painters from the northern part of Nigeria, the anonymous graphic designers
In Lagos creating work that fuses social and religious content as seen through the stickers, banners, fliers etc. The drive, enthusiasm and output of Ricky Lee Gordon, Garth Walker, Hazel Dooney, Saul Bass, Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey always inspire me.
​Something you once said caught our eye, ‘I believe there are a lot of artists doing excellent work on the continent but one has to dig deep to find them and their work. Documentation isn’t a strong part of the culture and nature abhors a vacuum, so the foreign artists inspire because they are there, visible for most to see and be inspired by’. From your perspective, what are the challenges of being an artist in Nigeria or perhaps the continent as a whole? Has your view changed since?
One challenge would have to be that of access. Not having access makes simple things seem complicated. For example you want a book but no store has the title so you go to Jumia or Amazon and the book takes ages to get to you, same for art materials, equipment etc. The access problem is mostly infrastructural and puts you in a situation where you are not as productive as you would like to be.
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The major challenge is been able to create alternatives that would ensure you are productive despite the access problem and staying calm while you are at it.
Regarding the documentation issue, my view hasn't changed. I guess the access issue and the living for survival situation makes documentation of the arts and culture here a secondary actitvity. You find some individuals (publishers, curators) doing what they can to document work but these efforts are mostly isolated and not a major part of the culture.
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We need 'African' Art Historians, Writers, Curators to tell the stories of Africa through the eyes of its Artists. We also need Artists to see the documentation of their work as part of the creative process.
​Do you have any advice for artists for getting their work recognized or if we dare say it, make a living from their art?
You need to have the heart of a giver. This will motivate you to do good work and also be willing to share it. This quote by Hazel Dooney works:

"In order to make art a genuinely valuable mainstream experience, artists need to give it first. Not expect money first".

Please don't confuse giving your work with doing work for free. The latter doesn't make for sustainable business. It pays to have good people who care about your work, your life and the place of money in fuelling creativity around you.It won't hurt to know a bit about the business side of things.
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Finally, some people make a living off their art early ,some later. It's a process where you get to learn about yourself and the things that truly matter. Understandimg the need for patience and having a heart of gratitiude helps.
This is all based on things I have realised and this is where the story ends. Thank you!