Scheduled to run on all ASIRI Magazine social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter), the audience will learn a lot from the digital campaign especially the history behind some of the images that will be shared and the narratives behind individuals in the images. The online campaign is a month-long historical education that is an integral part of the year-long country’s diamond jubilee.
ASIRI Magazine has announced it will run a digital campaign that will give Nigerians, both home and abroad, the opportunity to see rare archival images of the past. Beginning from November the 2nd through to December 2nd, Vintage Nigeria Digital Campaign (A Nigeria at 60 Archival Celebration of the Past Times) a Collection of Rare Archival Images, will take place online unveiling important images of the country in a month-long historical photo extravaganza.
The project is organized by ASIRI Magazine in partnership with the Rockefeller Archive Center/Ford Foundation with support from the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB)
“It has always been about using history as an educational tool to further educate and improve the mental strength of the people and the world in general. The essence of the campaign is to further reinforce our digital vault of Nigerian history documents and Images said Oludàmọlá Adebowale, Creative Director and Founder of ASIRI Magazine.
Adebowale said that the campaign boasts of over 50 rare images that were graciously given by the Rockefeller Archive Center and that the images were chosen by the timeline and the narrative they represent. “Since we couldn’t be at the archive physically to handpick the images, we needed to work with the archivist at the center in providing images that best capture the Nigeria story.” He added.
While also responding to questions about the campaign, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Director General of LASRAB said the aim of the partnership is to raise awareness on the importance of vibrant archives in documenting national history. And hoped collaboration on various initiatives will ultimately promote the rich cultural heritage of Lagos State and Nigeria in general.
“In the past, LASRAB has coordinated trips to various foreign institutions that have rare historical documents in their possession in order to ensure that those documents are retrieved and are in the possession of the State Government. We will continue to build on our efforts to ensure that all rare documents are eventually retrieved. We are also making significant efforts to retrieve rare documents in the hands of local citizens who may not be aware of the importance of such documents. We will be launching a public awareness campaign soon to promote this initiative.” Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola rounded off.
The campaign is curated by ace curator and archivist Oludamola Adebowale who has curated quite a number of high profile exhibitions for Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi; Prof. Wole Soyinka; Africa Drum Festival 2019; the British Council and many more. The digital campaign is an opportunity to share great archival images on Nigerian history that are not in the public domain.
All images for the digital Campaign are courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center and Ford Foundation .The Images supplied by the center are images in their collections focused mainly on the works funded by either the Rockefeller or Ford Foundations. ASIRI Magazine is Nigeria’s premium digital portal for everything Nigerian history, culture and arts.
