EXPLORATION 101

I woke up on the 11th of January excited. It was a beautiful morning and also the day set out for exploring art and architecture in Ibadan. I had asked openly via WhatsApp status and Instagram stories some weeks back if anyone was interested in tagging along. I got a reply from seven people that day, some of whom were my friends and others acquaintances. I was not expecting some people who messaged me to be interested, nonetheless, it only made me more excited.

Setting out for a day full of adventure undecided about which scarf to wear

Unfortunately, the excitement did not last long because five people later cancelled on me. Like five people, ah! So disheartening. The five of them had assumed we were going the week after the proposed date. Maybe they did not understand me or I did not communicate properly. Alexa play I’m unstoppable by Sia because that’s exactly how I felt even with almost everyone cancelling on me. I was not ready to back out now. Not a day to never! I already put my mind to it so I’m just going to go for it.

After so much planning the day for execution finally came. Yay! Excited, I was! Zainab and Maryam were my Doras for the exploration. We had planned to meet at the University of Ibadan first gate by 11 am. Zainab and I were ready before 11 am but we had to wait for Maryam who was coming from Lagos. I got to the meetup point at 1:20 pm to meet Zainab who was there waiting. Maryam later joined Zainab and I around 2 pm with Sakina, her friend. The four of us ordered a ride and off we went.

First destination: Topfat Art Gallery, Ibadan

It took over an hour drive to get to this place. We got to Topfat Art Gallery around 2:45 pm. The first impression I got from the place was not what I pictured in my head. From where I was sitting in the car, the entrance to the place looked locked. I was almost crying thinking I had wasted myself and everyone’s time. I later decided to alight from the car and move closer to the building. Thankfully, we met a cleaner who told us the entrance to the building was elsewhere.

The four of us entered the gallery and the first point of contact was the empty reception area. We decided to move ahead even though we had no idea what area we were going to land next. We landed at the painting section however, there was no one to attend to us. This was not what I imagined at all. Do not get me wrong, the place is not bad but the reviews I read from other blogs had raised my expectations. We later walked down to the sculpture unit and saw a sculptor who was busy working on a giant piece at the time and so he also did not have our time. We returned to the painting section, took a few pictures, sat for some time and then ordered a ride to our next stop.

Pictures were not allowed in the gallery

Took a few in the painting section anyway

Second Destination: National Museum of Unity, Ibadan

We got to the museum a couple of minutes after and we decided on going round the building to explore its exterior before going inside. The building was quaint and interesting, however, due to lack of maintenance, it can easily be described as a dilapidated historic building which is basically how you will find most museums in Nigeria due to our lack of maintenance culture. There was also a waffle slab ceiling connecting two parts of the museum. I spent a great amount of time taking pictures of the building with my phone only to get home to check my phone to see that all the pictures were no longer on it. There was no space on my phone so the phone sort of formatted itself. This happened in January but I still get sad anytime I remember. I have no pictures to show you how the museum looks like so I guess you all have to use your imagination to picture something.

Main entrance of the museum

Oh, the interior was a disaster! There was no light in the museum. The interior was so dark we had to use torchlight to see some places. The pieces were dusty. The place looked abandoned. Our lovely country needs to do better. While going around checking the historical pieces we were told some history about each piece. The museum is called the Museum of Unity because it is said that music unites us all. The Museum is divided into four sections:

· Unity gallery

· Masquerade gallery

· Pottery gallery

· Yoruba gallery

The unity gallery contains historical musical instruments such as talking drums and other musical instruments used by the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo tribes and how they are all connected to form one Nigeria- Unity. The masquerade gallery is filled with different types of historical masquerade costumes. The pottery gallery has different historical pottery pieces which include: plates, pots, cups among other things.

I am a novice at exploring new places but this would act as a stepping stone to future explorations. Nigeria has so many great tourist sites and I intend exploring every single one of them In Shaa Allah! We left the museum 5:32 pm because it was getting dark and we had a long journey back home. It was a wonderful experience.

Loved the bare tree so I took a photo before leaving the Museum

Lessons Learnt from Day 1:

· Leave early in the morning so you can achieve so much

· Wear comfortable clothes

· Go with a camera or at least a good smartphone with enough storage space. Don’t let your pictures disappear like mine

· Take snacks with you or at least go with your water bottle.

· Have enough cash and money in your account anything can happen.

· Lastly, charge your phone and go with a power bank. Can’t stress this enough. You don’t want to be left stranded with a flat battery.

Oops, I almost forgot, my outfit choice was influenced by where I was going. Something old school but also fashionable. You know, something that goes with the whole art and history vibe.

This is part one of three of the exploration series. Subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss the second and third parts.

Love,

Naimah Bint Lukman

The Fashion Architect.