About
Uchefuna Christopher Okeke, F.W.L.A, DDG, M.F.R
An outstanding artist of international repute, Professor Uche Okeke remains one of the pillars on which contemporary Nigerian art rests, and the unarguable kingpin of Uli art practice in Nigeria.
Uche Okeke was born on April 30, 1933 in Nimo, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Between 1940 and 1953, he attended St. Peter Claver’s (Primary) School, Kafanchan, Metropolitan College, Onitsha and Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu, during which time he had already begun to demonstrate an avid interest in drawing and painting. Before being admitted to read Fine Art at Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, now Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, UcheOkeke had already exhibited taxidermy work during the Field Society meeting in Jos Museum, participated in the preparation and presentation of Nigerian Drawings and Paintings with Bernard Fagg as curator and had a solo exhibition of drawings and paintings, in Jos and Kaduna with Sir Ahmadu Bello in attendance.
As an undergraduate in 1958, Uche Okeke together with Yusuf Grillo, Simon Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko, Oseloka Osadebe, Okechukwu Odita, Felix Ekeada and others inaugurated the now historically significant Zaria Art society. In that same year he opened a cultural centre at 30 Ibadan Street, Kafanchan which later grew into the world famous Asele Institute, Nimo, where among other cultural activities a part of the Smithsonian-Institution sponsored educational film Nigerian Art-Kindred Spirits was shot in 1996.
In 1970, after the end of hostilities in Nigeria, Uche was invited to join the Department of Fine Arts (now Fine and Applied Arts) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He consequently served as department head and reviewed the entire course program introducing new courses and research into Igbo Uli art tradition. In 1971 he was a member of the review panel for WAEC art syllabus. Also in 1973, he designed the first course program of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu and initiated postgraduate courses in the Department of Fine Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
At University of Nigeria, Nsukka he was also elected the Dean of Faculty of Arts in 1979 and served his two year term before going to the United States with his family where he spent his sabbatical leave in Twin Cities of Minnesota. In 1982 after his sabbatical leave Uche was appointed Director, Institute of African Studies a post he held until his retirement in 1986. Post UNN he held various other positions: including Visiting Professor to the Department of Creative Arts, University of Port Harcourt, Honorary Deputy Director-General (Africa) of International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, among numerous other engagements with many educational and cultural institutions in different parts of the world.
It is certainly difficult to encapsulate all of Uche Okeke’s activities and contributions to contemporary art in a brief sketch such as this one. Beginning from the 1950s, he has literally traversed the landscape of modern art in Nigeria, leaving in his stride bold, remarkable, and enduring foot prints which have inspired many Nigerian artists and Africanist art historians, including some of the world’s avant-garde.
That Okeke carried the Uli experiment beyond the walls of Zaria and stood in the forefront of its transformation into a modern idiom in the 1970s, from the studios at Nsukka remains a feat of inspired originality. That his “natural synthesis” philosophy blossomed to become fount and factor in the development of modern art in Nigeria represents a logical and sustained triumph of both vision and imagination. All these have transformed him into a father figure in the history of Nigerian modernism and he has carried the burden of history so gracefully that his ideas and legacies are sure to find followers among generations of artists to come.
Uche Okeke’s professional practice and academic career has been and continues to be very rich in content. This resume therefore encapsulates some key achievements in his artistic and scholarly pursuits.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2018 - Induction into the Society of Nigerian Artists Hall of Fame, Shell Nigeria Hall, MUSON Centre, 8/9 Marina, Onikan, Lagos.
1958 - 2016 Founder and Director, Asele Institute and Documentation Center, Nimo. Nigeria.
1986 – 2006 Visiting professor and external examiner, University of Portharcourt, Rivers State, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, ObafemiAwolowo University (formerly University of Ife). Federal Polythecnic, Oko, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.
1970 – 1985 University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. Positions held; Head of Department, Fine and Applied Arts Department Dean Faculty of Arts Director, Institute of African Studies.
1981 – 1982 Honorary Fellow, Department of Textile and Clothing Design, and Art History, University Minnesota, USA (1-year sabbatical leave).
1968 Refugee Affairs Committee Aba, Nigeria.
1964 – 1967 Director, Mbari Art Centre, Uwani Enugu, Nigeria.
1964 – 1966 Artistic Director and Designer, Enugu Musical Society, Enugu, Nigeria.
1961 – 1962 Free-lance artist and Director, Cultural Centre Kafanchan, Nigeria.
1961 Publications Artist, Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos.
1958 Founder/Director, Cultural Centre Kafanchan (now Asele Institute Nimo), Nigeria.
1958 - 1961 Founder/First Secretary/Second President, Art Society Nigerian College of Arts Science and Technology, Zaria, Nigeria.
1955 – 1957 Clerk, Department of Labour, Jos and Lagos, Nigeria.
1956 Organizing Assistant, Exhibition of Nigerian Painting and Drawing, Jos Museum, Jos, Nigeria.
1954 – 1955 Designer, visual aids, St.Peter Claver’s Catholic and College of Mary Immaculate Heart Practicing Schools, Kafanchan, Nigeria.
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
AUCTIONS
2023 Sotheby’s “Modern & Contemporary African Art”, London, UK
2023 Bonhams “Modern & Contemporary African Art”, London, UK
2022 Bonhams “Africa Now”, London, UK
2017 Bonhams “Africa Now”, London, UK
2015 Arthouse Contemporary Limited Auction, Lagos Nigeria
2014 Bonhams “Africa Now”, London, UK.
2013 Arthouse Contemporary Limited Auction, Lagos Nigeria Bonhams “Africa Now, Contemporary and Modern Art”, London, UK.
2012 Arthouse Contemporary Limited Auction, Lagos Nigeria
Arthouse Contemporary Limited Auction, Lagos, Nigeria.
2010 Artcurial Auction, Paris, France.
2009 Arthouse Contemporary Limited Auction, Lagos, Nigeria.
2008 Arthouse Contemporary Limited Auction, Lagos, Nigeria.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 Uche Okeke: Works on Paper 1958 – 1993, SKOTO Gallery, New York, USA.
2012 Grillo Pavillion 4th Annual Visual Art Fiesta, Art Exhibition of Uche Okeke Ikorodu, Lagos.
2006 Another Modernity: Works on Paper by Uche Okeke, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, USA. Sherman Gallery of Boston University, USA (toured several other Locations in the USA).
2003 Retrospective Solo Exhibition, Pendulum Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
Celebrating Uche Okeke A Genuis, Art Exhibition, Launching and Presentation of Nku Di Na Mba, Asele Institute, Nimo, Nigeria
1993 Uche Okeke 60th Birthday Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition, Goethe Institut, Lagos
1982 Contemporary Nigerian Prints, Drawings and Paintings: Uche Okeke. Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota USA. Homage to Asele, Exhibition of Prints, Drawings and Paintings: Uche Okeke, African American Cultural Centre, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
1979 Retrospective Exhibition of Drawings and Prints, German Cultural Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.
1978 GraphikAus Nigeria, Germany.
1967 Uche Okeke Graphics, British Council Centre, Enugu, Nigeria.
1965 Drawings by Uche Okeke, German Cultural Institute, Lagos, Nigeria.
1965 Paintings, Uche Okeke, Hotel Presidential Art Gallery, Enugu, Nigeria. Paintings, Uche Okeke, British Council Centre, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
1964 Mbari House, Enugu, Nigeria.
1963 Exhibition of Mosaics and stained glass window, Franz Mayer and Company, Munich, Germany.
1962 Exhibition of drawings, Rottam Inn, Germany.
1958 British Council Centre, Kano, Nigeria. Anglo-Nigerian Art Centre, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 We will now go to Kpaaza, Transitions and journeys through Uche Okeke’s work, Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth, Germany
2021 Gruppen Dynamik - Collectives of the modernist period, Lenbachhaus Art Museum
2010 Nigerian 50th Independence Exhibition, Abuja, Nigeria. Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic, Tate Modern, Liverpool. NIVATOUR, Group Exhibition by the National Gallery of Art, Abuja, Alexandria and Cairo,Egypt.
2009 Society of Nigerian Artists Anniversary Exhibition, Omenka Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria. Group Exhibition in honor of Chinua Achebe and the 50th Anniversary of Things Fall Apart.
2008 ARESUVA, organized by the National Gallery of Art, Abuja, Nigeria.
2002 Poetics of Line: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group, National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
1995 Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1979 Christian Art in Nigeria, Parish Hall Holy Trinity Cathedral, Onitsha, Nigeria.
1978 National Art Exhibition, Lagos, Nigeria. Society of Nigerian Artists, 14th Annual Conference, Nsukka, Nigeria. Eastern Zonal Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery, Institute of African Studies, Unibersity of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. Graphik aus Nigeria, Germany.
1977 Exhibition of African Contemporary Art, Howard University, Department of Art, College of Fine Arts, Washington D.C. USA. Exhibition of Nigerian Contemporary Art (FESTAC), National Council for Arts and Culture, Lagos.
1976 Joint Exhibition of prints and textiles, Department of Human Environment and Design/African Studies Centre, Kresge Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan USA.
1974 African Prints, an Exhibition of Contemporary African Art, Kresge Art Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
1972 Group Exhibition, Nasprstek Museum Prague, Czechoslovakia.
1969 Kunstaus Biafra, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Bonn, Trier, Dortmund, Essen and Munich, Germany.
1967 DreiKreuzwege – DreiKontinente, with Hansen-Bahia (Germany) and Vivial Ellis (USA), Munich, Germany.
1966 World Festival of Negro Arts Exhibition, Dakar, Senegal
1964 Group Exhibition, Harmon Foundation Inc., New York, USA. African Arts of our Time, Philadelphia’s Civic Centre Museum, USA.
1963/64 3 man show with Ibrahim El Salahi (Sudan) and Valente Malagantana (Mozambique), Committee for Cultural Freedom, India and Pakistan.
1962 Group Exhibition, Rhodes National Gallery, Salisbury, Rhodesia. Gallery Lambert, Paris, France. Ugandan Independence Art Exhibition, Kampala.
1961 Bienale, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
1960 Nigerian Independence Exhibition, Lagos. Joint show with Demas Nwoko, British Council Centre, Ibadan.
SELECTED COMMISSIONED WORK
1989 Oko Cross, St. John’s Anglican Church, Oko, Anambra State. Portraits of Father IweneTansi, commissioned by the Holy Trinity Cathedral Onitsha, Anambra State
1976 Park and fountain designs for the Open Spaces Developmet Commission, Anambra State.
1975 Fourteen Station of the Cross, St Peter’s Catholic Church chapel, University of Nigeria Nsukka.
1971 – 1974 Designed Archbishop’s Throne and portals, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State.
1971 Designed and produced carved wooden doors for Holy Trinity Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State.
1967 Stage design for television serial, Heritage, ENTV production.
1966 EDI Sculpture, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Film titles design, Eastern Nigeria Information Service’s Film Division, Enugu, Nigeria. Sketch designs for the wrought metal screen wall, Anglican Church chapel, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Designed robes for the Presbytarian Church Choir, Uwani, Enugu.
1965 Illustrated Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Designed book jacket and cover for John Munonye’s The Only Son.
1964 Designed Boys Scouts of Nigeria Badges Designed Oil Murals and Paintings for the Eastern Nigeria Central Library, Children’s Section. Theme: Animals in Procession.
1962 – 1963 3 Murals in mosaic and stained glass for Franz Meyer and Company, Munich, Germany.
1961 Mural for the Mbari Artists and Writers Club House and Gallery, Ibadan, Nigeria.
1960 Mother Nigeria and Her Children, mural for Independence Exhibition, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
AWARDS
2009 Federal Government Award for distinguished service in the Arts and Culture Sector.
2000 Presidential award of MFR by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
1977 Prize for Terra Cotta Sculpture titled Dance of Unity, Murtala Mohammed International Sculpture competition,Lagos.
1973 British Council Bursary Award
1972 Illustrator of the Year 1972, for Tales of Land of Death, Igbo Folk Tales, published by Doubleday, New York, awarded by National UNESCO Commission’s Book of the Year competition.
1971 Drama award by the African Studies Centre, University of California, USA.
1962 – 1963 Fellowship award to study mosaic and stained glass window techniques awarded by the West German government.
1960 Poetry price in a national literary competition organized by the National Arts Council.
1959 First place Esso Inc., Nigerian Independence calendar design competition, Lagos.
1958 – 1961 Nigerian Federal Government Scholarship
1957 Out-of-doors painting award by the Head of Department of Fine Art, NCAST, Zaria.
SELECTED HONORS/DISTINCTIONS/MEMBERSHIPS
2006 – 2007 ASAI - Patrons.
1987 Member, Adjudication Panel, Biennale of Children’s Book Illustration, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia.
1985 Member, Nigerian Delegation to UNESCO General Conference, Sophia, Bulgaria
1984 Delegate, International Artists’ Congress, Helsinki, Finland.
1983 Member, Nigerian Delegation to UNESCO General Conference, Paris, France.
1981 - 1982 Who’s Who in the World 5th ed., Chicago, USA, Marquis Publications.
1981 UNESCO Delegate to the 24th General Conference, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1979 Chldren’sBooks on Africa and their Authors, an annotated bibliography – Nancy J. Schmidt. New York and London, Africana Publishing Company.
1978 Member Editorial Board, Black Orpheus, University of Lagos. Chairman of the Cultural Sector, UNESCO Commission, Lagos.
1977 Africa Yearbook and Who’s Who 1977, London, Africa Journal Ltd. International Who’s Who of Intellectuals, 1st ed., I.B.C. Cambridge, England. International Directory of Scholars and Specialists in African Studies, 1st ed., Waltham, Massachusetts, USA: Brandels University African Studies Association. Men of Achievement 4th ed., I.B.C. Cambridge, England.
1976 – 1977 Member, Visual Arts Committee, FESTAC ’77 Lagos. Member International Association of Artists (IIA) Paris, France. Vice President Society for Nigerian Artists.
1976 The International Biographical Centre, Second Conference, Who’s Who at the I.B.C. Conference, Washington, DC. Associate member, the Nigerian Art Education Association (NAEA), Reston, Virginia, USA. Member Nigerian Society for Education Through Art (NSEA) Lagos. Founder Fellow, International Academy of Poets (FIAP), I.B.C., Cambridge, England. Fellow International Biographical Association (F.I.B.A.), I.B.C., Cambridge,England.
1975 Member, International Society of Education Through Art (INSEA), Hereford, England.
1974 International Directory of Arts, 12th ed., Verlag Muller GMBH and Company K.G. Frankfurt/Main, Germany. International Who’s Who in Art and Antiques 2nd ed., I.B.C. Cambridge England. American Council on Education Lecture Tour to 8 American Universities in the USA.
1971 Member review panel W.A.E.C. Art Syllabus. IskusstuoStran I Narodov Mira Vol.3 Soviet Arts Encyclopedia, Moscow, USSR.
1971 – 1978 Member, Advisory Committee, Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
1971 – 1976 Member, East Central State Arts Council and Chief Art Organiser for the State Festival of Arts.
1970 Member, International Bibliophile Association, Paris, France.
SELECTED MEDIA PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED PAPERS
2012 Grillo Pavillion presents Uche Okeke, 4th Annual Visual Art Fiesta.
2010 Nigeria @ 50, a publication by the Federal Government of Nigeria in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. Nigerian Artistry. Pat Oyelola, Mosuro Publishers, Ibadan, Nigeria.
2007 Uche Okeke and Chinua Achebe: Artist and Author in Conversation by Christa Clarke (The Newark Museum) in Critical Interventions, journal of African art history and visual culture (Number 1. July 2007).
2005 The rediscovery of tradition: Uli and the politics of culture Lagos: Pendulum Centre for Culture and Development.
2003 NKU DI NA MBA: Uche Okeke and Modern Nigerian Art, National Gallery of Art, Lagos. The Triumph of a Vision: an Anthology on Uche Okeke and Modern Art in Nigeria, published by Pendulum Art Gallery.
2002 Creative traditions in Nigerian art, Culture and Creative Art forum. Lagos. The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art. Simon OTTENBERG (Ed.) Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
2001 Historical Sketch of the Growth of the Catholic Church in Nimo, publication for 50th Anniversary of Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Nimo, Anambra State.
1998 The Zaria Art Society: A New Consciousness, published by the National Gallery of Art, Lagos. Contemporary Nigerian Art and its classifications, Delsu Consult Publishing House, Abraka, Nigeria.
1997 New Traditions from Nigeria: seven artists of the Nsukka group. Simon OTTENBERG Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
1995 Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa, published by Whitechapel Art Gallery, London Nigerian Art. Its traditions and modern tendencies. JODAD Publishers, Ibadan, Nigeria.
1994 African Art: a contemporary source book, Osazu Publishers, Benin City, Nigeria.
1993 Nigerian Artists. A who’s who and Bibliography; Bernice M. KELLY & Janet L. STANLEY. London, New York: Published for the National Museum of African Art Branch, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC, by Hans Zell, 1993.
1991 Terms of Art: Contemporary Nigerian Art in the International Context, Ministry of Culture, Nordrhine-Westfalen/KunstsammilungNordrhine-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Germany.
1990 Eze Institution in Igboland, by Hanny Hahn-Waanders, published by Asele Institute Documentation Centre, Nimo, Anambra State.
1986/93 20th Century Art of Africa Zaria: Gaskiya Corporation and Accra: Artist Alliance.
1982 Art in Development: A Nigerian Perspective published by Asele Institute Documentation Centre and the African American Cultural Center, Minneapolis, USA.
1980 Bi-Annual Conference, Society of Nigerian Artists, paper: Art and Modern Nigerian Society: In Search of a Political Role, Benin, Nigeria.
1978 Annual Conference, the Society of Nigerian Artists. Theme: The future of Visual Arts in Nigeria - Strategy for Survival, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
1976 Search for the Theoretical Basis of Contemporary Art, paper presented at the International Symposium on Contemporary Art, University of Nigeria,Nsukka. Modern Nigerian Art, Documentation Centre, Asele Institute, Nimo. Igbo Art, Asele Institute, Nimo. Everyman’s guide to Nigerian art. Pat Oyelola. Cultural Division, Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos, Nigeria. Second Art Appreciation Workshop; paper and slides presentation; Contemporary Nigerian Art, Bayero University College, Kano, Nigeria.
2nd International Conference on Arts and Communications; recorded talk with slides: Contemporary African Painting and Sculpture, Washington D.C., USA. Conference of Etnographers; titles of lecture notes; (a)Igbo Ethno-Aesthethics; (b) Igbo Drawing and Painting; (c) Igbo Wood Sculpture; and (d) Notes on Igbo Metal Craft, Jos, Nigeria. Symposium on Contemporary Nigerian Art; paper: The Search for the Theoretical Basis of Contemporary Nigerian Art, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
1971 Tales of land of death: Igbo folktales by Uche Okeke, Doubleday, Zenith Books.
1969 Geschichte der Ibo Kunst, Dortmund Lecture No. 97, Dortmund: Kulturamt der Stadt Dortmund.
1967 The Artist and his Society; television interview with ENTV programme ‘Calvacade’. Enugu, Nigeria.
1966 Rewrote Fine and Applied Arts syllabus for the Eastern Nigeria Festival of the Arts Committee, Enugu, Nigeria.
1965 Eastern Nigeria Television serial on the theme of ‘Art and Artists’. Enugu, Nigeria.
1961 Drawings by Uche Okeke, intro. By Ulli Beier, Ibadan.Mabari Productions
SELECTED WORKS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art, Newyork, USA.
National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution, USA.
National Gallery of Art, Abuja, Nigeria.
Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
IwalewaHaus, Bayreuth, Germany.
Staatliche GraphischeSammlung, Munich Germany.
Franz Mayer Hofkunstanstalt, Munich, Germany.
Tate Modern Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom
OYASAF Foundation, Lagos Nigeria.
Broadcast House Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, Nigeria.
Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Nigeria.
National Council for Arts and Culture, Lagos, Nigeria.
Murtala Mohammed international Airport Lagos.
Akademie der Kunst, Berlin, Germany.
State House, Enugu, Nigeria.
Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Dolly Fiterman Art Gallery Inc, Minneapolis, USA.
Beke Memorial Hospital, Nigeria.
Ministry of Education and Information, Cultural Division, Enugu, Nigeria.
Mr. and Mrs. Chellarams.
Dr. Ronald Severino, USA.
A.R. Jellings, United Kingdom.
W.J. Plume, United Kingdom.
Lady Dorothy Head, United Kingdom.
Frau Gertrude Buchta, Deisenhofen near Munich, Germany.
Demas Nwoko, Nigeria.
Mr.and Mrs. Alec Armstrong, United Kingdom.
Professor and Mrs.Chinua Achebe.