Subsisting on Popular Art and Design: A Nigerian Context.

According to World Poverty Clock online, Nigeria's population of extreme poverty is currently 50% of the entire nation. Hence, following several problems of the economy, a good part of the population is below poverty line and so lacks optimum means of living. Graduate and non-graduate youths are among the teeming population of seekers of employment. Yet it is clear how practical skills are highly relevant in securing a lucrative career towards earning a living. The creative industry presents itself as an important field that can support subsistence for the young people. We have explored the potentials that popular art can provide in making subsistence possible even for those who do not hold degrees in the field of art but desire to survive therefrom. In this qualitative paper, we have examined selected popular artists and their creative foci, and how digital technology avails for the production of popular design and art. This study has made use of interviews, and images as visual data from selected popular artists in Nsukka Metropolis, Enugu, Nigeria. The data is analyzed technically and functionally to foreground the imperative of harnessing the huge possibilities that exists in the popular arts industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]