INCONGRU MAGAZINE
Visual Art
A Playful Saturday Noon is an oil painting on Masonite board that captures children immersed in the uncomplicated freedom of play. The moment represents far more than fleeting childhood amusement; these ordinary hours of running, inventing games, playing traditional pastimes like “tinko tinko,” and simply being together form a vital foundation in shaping who these children will eventually become.
Rooted in the realities of growing up in Nigeria and across many African communities, the work reflects a childhood deeply shaped by communal closeness. Children created their own vibrant worlds from whatever was available—rolling tyres, gathering outside, and learning empathy and resilience through shared imagination. There was an inherent simplicity to it, yet that simplicity carried something enduring, teaching how to relate, negotiate, belong, and find profound joy in one another.
The painting is also a meditation on memory. As children increasingly grow up surrounded by screens and individual digital entertainment, scenes like this can feel like fragments of a bygone era. Yet, encountering children playing together in the open air can unexpectedly pull observers back to their own formative years.
Ultimately, the piece stands not simply out of nostalgia, but as a reminder that what appears to be “just play” quietly builds the bedrock of human connection and personal growth.
Utubor Shadrach Melvin is a contemporary Nigerian painter whose practice explores human experiences, identity, movement, and spiritual presence through expressive figurative painting. He holds an ND in General Art and an HND in Painting from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. He trained under renowned Nigerian painter Edosa Oguigo at Lucent Brushwork Atelier, where he further developed his approach to expressive painting and studio practice. His works combine vibrant colour, gestural brushwork, and layered narratives drawn from everyday life and his cultural environment.