To Lucia Cobbina Shittu, anyone visiting Cabaret Sauvignon can expect a beautiful and relaxing ambience, with friendly staff that offer top notch customer service. The space also gives room for privacy, while offering different mouth watering meal options. Above all, she wants her customers to experience true hospitality through personalized service; to experience a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere, with a focus on food presentations; and eye catching plating techniques.
Commenting on the theme of the exhibition, she feels that women are still greatly undervalued in Nigeria: “We at Cabaret Sauvignon want value to be added to women economically, socially and politically,” she maintains. “Empowered women are able to support their families and lead enormous growth in the economy. We want women to have a voice in the society and we believe that if we give women as much chances and opportunities as men are given, Nigeria will be positively impacted and the world at large.”
Given the rigs of the times, she is hoping for free, fair, and credible elections come next year: “We pray that whoever wins restores hope and confidence in the Nigerian citizens again.”
*/Ca:baret/* is a themed restaurant, bar & lounge consisting mainly of entertainment whilst you’ll Sip•Dine•Connect. We are located in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos.
*Happy 62nd Independence Day Nigeria!*
Food meets art is a programme designed and hosted by Cabaret Sauvignon under the leadership of Lucia Cobbina Shittu. She had noticed a gap in casual and fine dining in the hospitality industry and wanted to bridge this gap: “My passion and zeal to create a place where people can meet, network, hangout, and unwind birthed Cabaret Sauvignon.
Cabaret Sauvignon is a fluid space, both formal and informal, thereby giving us room to reach out to a larger audience.
For Independence Day, 1 October 2022, we will be hosting a *Food meet Arts* exhibition in collaboration with *Artist Juliet Ezenwa Pearce*.
The exhibition aims to demonstrate the beauty of Nigerian arts, appreciating local talent, whilst combining Nigerian-infused dishes to further express craftsmanship and art in the culture. When it comes to modernised local food, the texture, colour, combination and taste can invoke emotions and even tell a story!
A lover of Nigeria’s growing visual arts’ sector, Ms Shittu – Lucia – states that she sees potential despite the harsh economic atmosphere under which the artist operates. She opines that the Nigerian creative industry has consistently brought glory to the country and has not received adequate support from the government.
As the country marks 62 years of independence, she wants to use this opportunity to celebrate the creative industry by allotting a space for visual artists to showcase their works at Cabaret Sauvignon.
Her passion for fine dining and entertainment led her to open Cabaret Sauvignon at 32 Yar’ Adua Street, off Idowu Martins, Victoria Island.
Juliet Ezenwa Pearce: Initially known for her watercolour works in the early 1990s she has gone on to produce works in acrylic, oils, pastel, print making and wood sculptures showing her versatility with different media. Following her first solo exhibition in 1993, she has consistently exhibited her works both inside and outside Nigeria. Her most recent shows include the October 2015 Bonhams ‘Africa Now’ art auction, and a two-person show at The Grace, Belgravia in March 2016 both in London, UK. Her most recent exhibitions are Overcoming Misogyny (solo) in Lagos in August 2019, and Textures, a solo at the National Museum, Lagos in March 2022.
Juliet participated in Tom Lynch’s Watercolor Rescue Workshop: her landscape painting, Straying Goats, is published in his book, Great Watercolor Rescues. Her works have also featured in Jess Castellote’s Contemporary Nigerian Art in Nigerian Private Collections; other works have been used as book illustrations, notably Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and Other Essays and A Mask Dancing, both by Adewale Maja-Pearce. She recently compiled two series of the books, Issues in Contemporary Nigerian Art.
Juliet has been championing the campaign for gender equity under the umbrella of Echoes of Women in Africa (ECOWA) and LagosWomen2030 (a coalition of NGOs and CSOs agitating for gender equality, an end to gender-based violence and the achievement of the sustainable development goals). Her works on those themes have been exhibited in Canada, Germany, the UK and the US.
Juliet Ezenwa is a member of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria, the Society of Nigerian Artists, the Female Artists Association of Nigeria, Business and Professional Women International, and The Art Business Managers of Nigeria. She is the convener and director of Art alliance 51 artist collective (organizers of the Art Arising Art Festival). She currently operates a full-time studio at Yemaja Gallery in Surulere, Lagos hosting students’ workshops and apprenticeships.
Artist Statement
This decade has exposed more than before the inequalities women contend with in the harsh reality of Nigeria‘s patriarchal society. Under-age marriage, harmful widowhood practices, forced abductions, forced marriages, gender-restrictive traditions, misogyny and intolerant patriarchy are some of the challenges Nigerian women must still contend with.
In creating the body of works titled Overcoming Misogyny, I consciously put the insignia of power and authority in the hands of young women because I believe that sooner rather than later, we will have young female leaders leading our nation to progress and prosperity. And, so, I join the women (here exhibited) to pray for lasting peace and stability in Nigeria.