First Bank of Nigeria Limited under its Arts initiative, First@arts is collaborating with British Council Nigeria to announce the launch of Playable City Lagos, a series of creative, collaboration workshops bringing together artists, producers and technologists from Lagos and the UK as part of UK/Nigeria 2015–16. The Playable city concept is a network that convenes creative practitioners to develop and exchange ideas and solutions that make the city more fun, reimagines the way in which public spaces within the city are utilised and can be transformed into places of amazing interactions and play. FirstBank is again pleased to support this initiative under the auspices of its First@arts initiative which is driven by the quest to promote the arts and preserve cultural heritage. Playable City Lagos further underpins FirstBank’s vision to promote creative arts as a veritable vehicle for cohesion amongst family and friends through the entertainment. The project would explore the changes we would like to see in our cities of the future.
The selected project group will collaborate to create playful, creative prototypes which tackle some of the issues people face in Lagos with the aim of generating conversation and engagement among people. The Playable city artists will be challenged to respond to specific social challenges in geographic locations in Lagos and create ideas and working prototypes that can be demonstrated as part of a public showcase. The participating artists and technologists were selected by a panel of experts after an open call issued for 11 creatives (4 UK based, seven Lagos based) with an open, rigorous and experimental approach. The participants are Bankole Oluwafemi, Desiree Craig, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and, Inua Ellams, Other participants are Jeremiah Ikongio, Ju Row Farr, Logo Oluwamuyiwa Adeyemi, Shania Silva, Simon Johnson, Tosin Oshinowo, and Yann Seznec.
Over eight days participants attended a full programme that included workshops and discussions, which produced model prototypes demonstrated as part of a public showcase in Lagos on March 17, 2016. The public tested the prototypes at the showcase and provided feedback. The Playable City concept was developed by Bristol’s Watershed Arts Centre, the producer of the Lagos edition, in collaboration with Future Lagos.
About UK/Nigeria 2015–16
UK/Nigeria 2015–16 is a major season of arts in Nigeria aimed at building new audiences, creating new collaborations and strengthening relationships between the UK and Nigeria.
Programmed in association with a host of partners, it features more than 30 projects and more than 80 events in art, fashion, design, theatre, dance, music, literature and film throughout Nigeria and includes showcases of Nigerian arts and creative industries in the UK. UK/Nigeria 2015–16 has a focus on creating access to art, new digital work, innovation, art in public spaces and working with young people. Partnerships between Nigerian and British artists, institutions and organisations will be at the heart of the season which aims to develop skills and capacity across the creative industries. The programme will run until April 2016 creating new connections in arts, education, innovation, trade and investment.
For more information visit: https://www.britishcouncil.org.ng/uk-nigeria-2015-16
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For more information, please contact Adedamola Mogaji, Communications Manager, UK/Nigeria 2015–16, British Council: [email protected]
About FirstBank
First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, is Nigeria’s leading financial services institution by total assets and gross earnings and one of the largest corporate and retail banking financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). Since its establishment in 1894, the Bank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, risk management and strong capitalization.
FirstBank operates an extensive distribution network with over 750 business locations (623 branches, 61 quick service points and 69 cash centers/agencies), over 2,464 ATM’s and over 10 million customer accounts. The Bank provides a comprehensive range of financial services and has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in DR Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal as well as its Representative Offices in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi.
FirstBank is the recipient of many awards. The Bank has been named “The Best Bank Brand in Nigeria” four times in a row – 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 – by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group. FirstBank’s brand purpose is to always put its stakeholders, customers and partners at the heart of its business, even as it is poised to standardize customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across Sub Saharan Africa, in consonance with its brand vision “To be the partner of first choice in building your future”. The brand promise is to always deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on the FirstBank’s inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position its customers first in every respect.
For three consecutive years, 2012, 2013 and 2014, FirstBank was named the “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards. Other recent awards include the “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, “Best Bank in West Africa” and “Most Innovative Bank in Africa” in the African Banker Awards, “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the EMEA Finance African Banking Awards for the fourth time, “Best Foreign Exchange Services in Africa” in the EMEA Finance Treasury Services Awards, “Best Banking Group in Nigeria” by World Finance Banking Awards, and “Best Financial Reporting Company” by Africa Investor.
