From: Eric-Eweke,
Niger Delta Bureau Chief
The 28th Harmattan Retreat which began on August 16, 2026, at the Onobrak Art Centre, Agbarha-Otor, near Ughelli, Delta State, South-South Nigeria, has once again brought together artists of difference backgrounds and training to continue to experiment and shape their individual and collective dreams.
The August Retreat, which is popularly known as the “Master Class” provided space in the studio for participating artists to independently work on their own volition without supervision.
In a release from the Onobrak Art Centre, by the Acting Director, Dr. Mudiare Onobrakpeya, said “this year edition carries a particularly important and emotional significance. The 28th Harmattan Retreat is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Janet Stanley, who passed away earlier this year.
According to the statement, “Janet Stanley was a great friend and supporter of the Harmattan Workshop and of its larger vision of artistic education, research and cultural preservation. Her contribution was not merely one of good will. She played important role in building the intellectual resources available to artists and researchers at Agbarha-Otor and was instrumental in donation of a substantial collection of books to the centre library.
He further stated that “In recognition of this remarkable contribution and her enduring association with the Harmattan, the library and resources centre now bears her name the JANET STANLEY LIBRARY AND RESOURCE CENTRE”
“The dedication of this year’s retreat, to her memory is therefore especially appropriate. The books she helped bring to Agbarha-Otor remain there, continuing to inform generations of artists, students and researchers. It is perhaps one of the finest forms of remembrance, knowledge given freely and left behind for other to cover.”
The Harmattan Retreat has fused into the bloodstream of all participating artists. Artists came to reunite, rally around one another and the greatest purpose they’ve been entrusted with–to keep the Harmattan growing in Nigeria, nay Africa and the world.
For Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya, he has set the foundations-that will stand the test of time. For Pa Bruce, the Harmattan workshop is not merely an annual workshop, but it is an institution.
Speaking to Art Editor of their experiences, a participating Artist- Akparobokoghene Oyiborode, said, “it is “freshening” and that from her early teens she had been fascinated with art work. Although, she has been working on body tattoos, designs and architecture.”
According to her, the Harmattan environmental has demonstrated a contrast, having leaving the bursting of Lagos to Agbarha-Otor, where you don’t need to be worried about external factors to create positively. I am exposed to new vistas, experimentation, interactions, contacts and friends in the Harmattan Retreat. The Harmattan is a artist resort, where any artist need to participate and feel the impact, she said.
For Chinemerene Mark Kanu- said, she has been in the art space for over five years. Although, she has been working in management, programming and curatorial capacities. However, after some personal transformation, there was a click to look inside, to look inward and create. And this is the result. The Harmattan Retreat is an extension of that energy. And it has become more than a creative energy.
Also, speaking, Boma Biokpo, noted that, “she grows up with art since she was a little girl. I love craft-which made me to understand craft and values-beads making fashion and generally music. I am all rounder. The Harmattan retreat has exposed me to express myself better and my scope of art and experimentation. And the place keeps me curious and restless. Textiles is where I’m particularly interested. But, embroidery is one aspect that I really want to go for”.
A global dimension was also added to this year Harmattan Retreat with the participation of AGO Jesudegbe Freddy from cotonou, Benin Republic, who is a sculptor and a painter. He said, the Harmattan Retreat is an experience that he will carry along all his life.
Stressing, that he would continue to participate in all forthcoming workshop and would also be a good ambassador of the Onobrak Art th
A paper on Crafts in Nigerian Modernity: A Marriage of Two Epochs, was presented by Prof. Anthonia Okogwu- of the Department of Fine Art, University of Port-Harcourt.
The Harmattan Retreat will come to a close on August 28,2026.
