“I regard black and white as the lords of colours, they were here first. There was black, and then He said; “Let there be white“…”- Realwan Olanrewaju. From this part of the world, following your dreams might look like a very dumb thing to do, because we were mostly raised to understand that we needed to go to school, get good jobs and make money to earn a living, your dreams do not come into play at any point. But, at some point in our lives we realise we have something, a kind of fire burns within us and we feel the need to let what we have inside play out its purpose, so we can become extraordinary. For some, it makes them immortal, for others its just another silly mistake! Most people just kill that fire…
I met Realwan in 2016, through a friend Jerry in school (Federal University of Technology, Minna). Jerry and I were rounding up in school while Realwan was serving in Osun state or he was done and was working there, not exactly sure. All I knew about him on our first meeting, was that he read computer science, and he was into photography. I did a photoshoot with him shortly after, along with a friend of mine and it was off the hook. He specifically requested that it be a Village setting. We had to search through the interiors of an area they call New York, opposite our school’s Mini Campus till we found what we were looking for. From that, I gathered that he had something for the African roots!
Fast forward to last week when he called me and said he would be coming to Osogbo on Friday, 6th of April. Oh I forgot to mention, I now serve in Osun state too! I was happy and expecting to see him; Hanging out with an old friend would gimme a relief in this boring town anyways. I didn’t ask what he was coming to town for, I just figured he had old friends or clients he wanted to see, or something like that. Not until he came into town and I started seeing adverts of the launching of a new arts gallery in Osogbo, with Realwan as one of the artists exhibiting their works. I realised, my friend wasn’t just a photographer, he was also an artist, and many other things I might not even know yet!
I figured it was time to showcase my talent as an Ebira version of Owambe woman! Lol… There was a dress I just made and hadn’t launched yet, plus I was yet to showcase my talent as an upcoming make up artist, and gosh it had been a while since I actually dressed up like a model I used to be!
Saturday morning I got ready, slowly… I took my time just to make sure I looked exactly how I wanted to, my mission was to let them know that Realwan had People in this town, and I was representing a large number of them, the whole of FutMinna Alumni to be precise. When I got to the venue, they had already started, nice. The idea was to arrive late, as you all know na, Queen of the par-tay! Anyway I found my way to the front so I could witness everything first hand! Kings were present, cultural dancers, it was elite! The time came for the official launching and we all went in to see all the paintings, they were all amazing, but one thing was different; Every monochrome painting there, showed the depth of different Nigerian cultures or history, and those paintings belonged to my friend Realwan. You could see the uniqueness his works had, and in truth, back in the days, there were no colours, all we had was black and white and Realwan knew just how to mix them up to show how rich the Nigerian culture is.
This one below is the Ooni of Ife
Below is the Eyo
Below is an Edo Chief
The next one shows the a Hausa man playing their popular musical instrument
Below is Olori with the famous Yoruba hairstyle that we now refer to as Bantu Knots
Below is a painting of another Yoruba woman with the the hairstyle Shuku
These are just some of the pictures of Realwan’s paintings, you would have yo come to the Art gallery yourself to either see the rest or purchase any one you like. Trust me, visiting the Art Gallery will be worth it…
rashberrybreeze 
Wow wow wow……I’m motivated.