Argungu Fishing Festival

Medium: Etching on metal-foil and oil on wood panel.
Artist: Ayodele Ukana.

This art piece was inspired by the energy and the euphoria of the world famous fishing festival. I tried to capture the beauty and frenzy associated with the festival.

The fishing festival only allows men who are strong and have confidence in their abilities to compete. The fishermen rely solely on their nets, a calabash gourd for floating on water and the ability to catch big fishes with bare hands.

The Argungu fishing festival or Argungu dance festival is a tourist event which attracts visitors from around the world to witness the one of its kind occasion.

The fishing festival is an annual four-day festival of cultural events in the state of Kebbi and some northern - western state like Niger in Nigeria.

These events includes dancing and singing, wrestling which is locally known as (dembe), horse racing, hunting, display of the traditional local dishes, and the grand finale, which is the fishing competition.

The majority of the fishermen are followers of Islam and predominantly farmers whose livelihood depends on their cash crops.

The main purpose of the Argungu fishing festival is for fishing and to unify and foster harmony amongst the different indigineous communities.

The fisherman that catches the biggest fish in the river is declared as the winner of the fishing competition and it also comes with a cash reward.