COSTUME AND MAKEUP AS A VITAL TOOL FOR CULTURAL AND TOURISM PROMOTION AND PRESERVATION IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study focused on “Costume and makeup as a vital tool for cultural and tourism promotion and preservation in Nigeria”. The study was carried out in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research survey design to collect primary data using a mixed quantitative and qualitative method. The study targeted a population of 517 comprising 500 members of three costume festival associations and 17 government officials. Slovin’s formula was used to proportionately select a sample size of 347 subjects from a target of 500 cultural association members. A simple random sampling method using a lottery method was used to select the members of the cultural associations’ respondents. In addition, the purposive sampling method was used to identify government officials as expert respondents. The study used structured questionnaires to collect primary data from the cultural associations’ respondents, while the interview schedule was used to solicit information from government officials. Data collected from members of the cultural associations were cleaned, coded, and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for descriptive statistical analysis.  The study recommends that the Nigerian Federal and State governments together with stakeholders need to come up with policies and programs to identify and promote costume festivals as a tourism product. The study also recommends for international marketing of the rich these costume festivals reach global customers. The findings will benefit the Nigerian Federal and State governments together with stakeholders with vital information on the state of costume festivals in Nigeria. This vital information will help Nigeria’s Federal and State governments to develop policies and programs for developing tourism. The private sector, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders may use this document to identify opportunities for investment in cultural tourism. Finally, the study will benefit the world of academia since it will add to the literature on culture and tourism.

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Costume and makeup is an interpretative tool in the drama that enhances, and describes the actor’s appearance during a performance. The use of costume and makeup is dictated by the directorial concept. Choices of costumes are usually to add aesthetic value to the actor’s role. The role of the costume is to design characters. Usually, the costumes are designed to denote a character’s occupation, mood, status, religion, and political traits. When costumes are designed, designers bear in mind the aesthetic pleasure that the audience or reader would derive from the costumes worn by actors. This is because costume tells the audience or reader everything about the character. And it promotes the cultural ambassadors of a nation and its people. It is also the cultural ambassadors of the society in which they are produced to proclaim the past and the present life of a particular area.
In the same view, costume and makeup are an integral aspect of a stage drama, because costume and makeup are an important element of the theater that further tells the story in the play Lion and the Jewel and Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka (Okpo Ogholi 2015). The costume gives vital information, it is a silent interpreter of what may not appear in the dialogue of a play, which contributes to the beauty of drama. One major element aspect of the play is costume. However, experts cannot but wonder about the level at which costumes are abused. It becomes staggering when questions such as: How real is the costume used in a particular scene related to what happened? For example, a woman in mourning looked gorgeously dressed. How reflective is the use of costumes?
The person responsible for creating costumes for the performance is the costume designer who must develop visual and creative ideas that will beautify the performance be it stage performance, home videos, festivals, occasions, and carnivals.

Culture is the sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguish one group of people from another, transmitted through language, materials, objects, rituals, institutions, and arts, transferable from one generation to the next. To this Edward, Taylor contributes that;

Culture is that complex whole, which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (Holt Michael 2002).

This in essence explains further that culture cuts across all dimensions of life as practiced by people in a given setting and within an age. The culture of a people means a lot to them, their lives and beliefs are expressed as they live and go about their everyday businesses. This simply shows that culture conditions the communication of a people and how it proceeds among individuals, no matter how homogenous. To this, Ngugi Wa Thiong O (2005) contributes that;

Culture in its broadest sense is a way of life fashioned by a people in their collective endeavor to live and come to terms with their total environment. It is the sum of their arts, their science, and all the social institutions,  including their system of beliefs and rituals…Such values are often expressed through the people’s songs and rites, these varieties of artistic activities have come to symbolize the meaning of the word, culture. (127)

The concept of culture has a long evolution, so dynamic. Anthropologists have an assumption that culture is generally adaptive as it provides people an adjustment to their physical and social environment, the basic or derived needs of individuals within the society, such as the need for nutrition, reproduction, comfort, safety, relaxation, clothing, shelter, and growth. This simply means that culture is a learned behavior shared by a member of a society, which could be said to start when a child is born. It is a culture that distinguishes human beings from other animals. To support this, Richardson Boyd (2007) states that;

Culture is information capable of affecting individual’s behavior that they acquire from other members of their space through teaching, imitation, and other forms of social transmission. (5)

Costume and make up is a very important aspect of a people. The culture of a people is identified by the kind of costume and make-up they put on, as it is always the first call of attention, not only for the external covering of the body, they are unique identities particular to people, which identifies them in any gathering or location. To support this, Julie Umuokoro as quoted by Tracie Ezeajugh (2007)  maintains that;

Cultural Symbolism is the hallmark of the Nigerian traditional dress. It is consciously or unconsciously evolved to bear emblems unique to its owner. Such emblems may be derived from common features in the environment, it may also be persistent contact of an ethnic group with some other, be a feature borrowed, appropriated, and seemingly endorsed by widespread acceptance and use as one of its ethnic symbols. (23)

This explains costume and make-up as symbolic and carriers of information, as it concerns a people to the end. It gives expressive and explanatory information about the wearers, an aid to characterization, that in performance, for instance, it speaks volumes, even before the characters begin to speak or express themselves.

In any event or production, the costume and make-up worn speak all about the people and the production they are involved in, it consists of the total visual appearance of the character in any performance. It stands as a very important facet of a character and stands as the strongest element of the visual sense in a production. Costumes are jewelry, ornaments, and accessories won by an actor to impersonate a character and to play a role in a dramatic presentation. To this, Robert Cohen (2010) opines that;

Costume has always been a major element in the theatrical experience. It is a vehicle for the “dressing up”, actors and actresses alike that has always been considered a requirement for the fullest degree of theatrical satisfaction. (147)

This simply put means that costumes transform an actor or a performer into an actor that is being portrayed, thereby aiding the audience to understand the effectiveness of this actor, as well as his or her costume.

Costumes are different from everyday clothing. Clothing refers generally to what is worn on the body as a covering for the skin, which is part of the evolution in African culture when they started considering nakedness in public as disgraceful. It motivated people to make and wear clothes out of necessity to protect their bodies from cold, heat, rain, dampness, and other hazards in the environment. Costumes are used as a form of symbolic expression of oneself as well as a communicative tool that interprets its sociological effects at any given time.

To support this, Anthony Duruaku (2007) states that;

The objective of costume design is to set the tone and style, indicate time and place, characterize individuals and groups, underline personal relationships, create symbolic outfits when appropriate, meet the practical needs of performers, and coordinate the entire production. (307)

The above means that costumes communicate a whole lot about a production and its values on a day to day activities cannot be overlooked.

Make-up on the other hand plays a complementary role to costume. Some make-up practitioners see it as costuming; it has an innate communicative connection with the appearance of the actor.

Make-up is used to conceal all the exposed part, that was not concealed by the costume worn by an actor, and its form could be in liquid or solid form depending on its purpose and communicative potency. Micheal J. Gillette (2008) opines that;

Stage makeup enhances the illusion that the actor has become the character. In almost every production. Some of the actors… do not facially resemble the challenge by providing actors with the means to change their appearance, (451)

This simply means that make-up is essential in performances, as it changes an actor into that desirable character in the world of the performance

 

1.2 Statement of Problem

Culture as it concerns costume and make-up among many others is gradually taking another dimension, losing its sacredness, and artistic and aesthetic values, and needs to be preserved and documented, before it finally goes into extinction.

Many ethnic groups in Nigeria, no longer recognize the fact that costume and makeup go beyond articles of beautification, despite the socio-cultural, political, and economic context of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic groups. The style in which costume and makeup are made into, this day, no longer represents its cultural identity, It is a sure fact that no culture grows in isolation, but not recognizing the communicative essence of costumes and makeup is a difficult issue.

The lackadaisical attitude of this generation towards culture, especially the youth is overwhelming and degrading. Youths no longer research the important factors that make them members of a particular ethnic group and may wrongfully misrepresent an ideal costume and make all in the name of celebration.

The crux of this study is to join forces with preachers of good cultural identity, to show costume and makeup, not as a mere fashion, but rather as an indispensable tool in cultural representation, showing its sustainability and transformation. So that indigenes of various ethnic groups will understand through this work that beyond aesthetics in costume and makeup, there is an element of communication.

 

1.3 Objective of the Study

The main objective of the study is to assess costume and makeup as vital tools for cultural and tourism promotion and preservation in Nigeria.

The specific objectives of this study are as follows:

This study was guided by the following specific objectives:

1. How do makeup and costume festivals promote tourism development in Nigeria State?
2. To ascertain the importance of make-up and costume festivals on cultural and tourism preservation and development of host communities in Nigeria.

 

1.4 Research Questions

1. How do makeup and costume festivals promote tourism development in Nigeria State?
2. What is the importance of Makeup and costume festivals on cultural and tourism preservation and development of host communities in Nigeria?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study will also benefit the major stakeholders of tourism development. The study findings will benefit them since it will inform them of the opportunities available in costume festival events and engage the tourism business. The local community is an important stakeholder in tourism development since they own tourism attraction resources. The findings of this study will go along in offering first-hand information on the status of costume festivals that will help the community to develop costume festivals.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This study was restricted to the contribution of costume festivals to the development of tourism in Kwara State, Nigeria.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

The study also experienced challenges in collecting data from the respondents due to the limited time frame of the study. This resulted in the extension of data collection beyond the scheduled time because of unforeseen circumstances such as geographical spread and a large number of respondents. This limitation was alleviated by incorporating more research assistance. The local communities were not cooperative enough because they believed that the researcher was going to make money out of the work.

COSTUME AND MAKEUP A VITAL TOOLS FOR CULTURAL AND TOURISM PROMOTION AND PRESERVATION IN NIGERIA, GET MORE THEATRE ARTS PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS

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