Saturday, December 29, 2012

Colin Richards (1954-2012)



Azania Winter (for Colin Richards, Kindred Spirit)

In Azania tonight
It is cold as Christmas
Not even Mandela birds
With tear-wet wings
Dare the dry Veld

In Azania tonight
A Songbird crashes, headlong
Into River Orange
And Silence rumbles
In the Waters of the Cape

In Azania tonight
A rainbow serpent unfurls
From the sky’s roof, and
A comet fizzles in the waters
Of mighty Limpopo

© Chika Okeke-Agulu

*Here is an obituary announcement in Art Times.
 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!



Ogbanje


Christ is born today
For the one thousand
Nine hundred and
Ninety fifth time
Yet we live to die
again
Like Bethlehem’s star
Lost in the vast vaults
Of the fiery heavens

© 1995 Chika Okeke-Agulu

Sunday, December 9, 2012

On the Millennium Tower, Abuja

Five years ago, I wrote about the white elephant project in Abuja called Millennium Tower recently commissioned by the Nigerian government at the cost of 53 billion Naira (about $450 million). I was miffed by the fact that this towering glass structure was being built in the name of "culture," when the Nigerian government has shamelessly ignored art and culture institutions--museums, galleries, music halls, and theatres--in its original and revised masterplans of the Nigerian Federal Capital city. Construction is still ongoing, and is expected to be completed in 2014. But just as with such projects in Nigeria, the construction cost of the Tower miraculously ballooned to more than 69 billion Naira, to the consternation even of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory. In any case, even if the Tower were completed tomorrow, the glare from its fancy glass walls will not blind anyone still looking for respectable houses of culture in Nigeria's capital city. 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Call for Papers


CALL FOR PAPERS


African Dynamics in a Multipolar World
Fifth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS 2013), 26-28 June 2013, Lisbon

Panel no. 066:
Art and Social Engagement: Aesthetic articulations in African urban spaces

African cities are both centres for artistic practice and hotspots of social articulations from enriching encounter to violent conflict. On the one hand, they offer artists opportunities to study, establish networks, and interact with social, political, economic and aesthetic aspects of urban life. On the other hand, they offer the stage where artists negotiate these very topics, bringing attention to the materiality, sociality and politics of urban space. However, the artists’ agency in the urban public and their modes of social as well as aesthetic interaction, vary to a great degree. They may search for social encounters through performances in public spaces; they may commhent on urban planning through independent or commissioned design interventions, or they may pull the city into their studio or workshop by processing the materials found in the streets.

This panel asks: How do artists in African cities situate themselves in the public? How do their art practices relate to particular urban situations and topics? What are the dimensions of social engagement through creative practice, and how do they relate to the urban space as a social and public sphere? What audiences do creative practitioners address, and how do audiences actually emerge? What does artistic practice contribute to an understanding of “the public” in the diverse 
political and cultural urban settings?

The panel welcomes papers from a broad variety of disciplines including, but not limited to, art history, visual studies, anthropology, urban studies, performance studies, architecture, or design studies. Contributions by practicing artists are equally welcome.

Panel Convenors:
Prof. Dr. Till Förster, University of Basel
Dr. des. Fiona Siegenthaler, University of Basel
Deadline: 16 January 2013
Please submit directly via the online system of ECAS:

For questions concerning the panel, please contact:
For questions concerning the conference, see: http://cea.iscte.pt/ecas2013/index.shtml

Looking for Colette Omogbai

I desperately need to contact the Nigerian artist Colette Omogbai who was active as a painter in the early 1960s. I believe she later made a career as an educationist in present-day Edo State. Any help? Please email me. Thanks!

Monday, December 3, 2012

New Faculty Position at University of South Florida


Assistant Professor, Art History: African, Asian, Latin American/Pre-Columbian, Middle Eastern/Islamic

The School of Art and Art History at the University of South Florida invites applications for a tenure-track position with a specialization in art of any period in one of the following areas: African, Asian, Latin American/Pre-Columbian, or Middle Eastern/Islamic art.  Art historians working on any region and epoch in these areas, and/or relevant diasporas are invited to apply. Interest in global interaction and cultural exchange is desirable. Begin August 2013. Qualifications: Ph.D. or close to completion, high level of engagement in research,  promise of scholarly productivity, and excellent teaching ability. Candidates must be committed to  interdisciplinary investigation and initiatives. Demonstrated knowledge of critical theory is preferred. Teaching experience beyond graduate assistantships and scholarly publications preferred.  Typical responsibilities: Teach two classes per semester in area of specialization and supervise M.A. theses, maintain active research agenda, and participate in program development and service. Competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience.  Interested and qualified candidates must complete the University’s online application at https://employment.usf.edu  and upload 1) a letter of application  describing research interests and teaching philosophy, 2) curriculum vitae, 3) a sample of scholarly writing, 4) dissertation abstract.  In addition, three letters of reference are to be sent by the referees either via email to pnmacgeorge@usf.edu,  or by mail to:
University of South Florida
School of Art and Art History
Attn: Academic Program Specialist
4202 East Fowler Ave. FAH 110
Tampa, FL 33620-5350

Applications must be received by 1/7/13. AA/EA/EO employer. Women, minorities, veterans and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.  The search and selection process will be conducted in accordance with provisions of the Government in the Sunshine laws of the State of Florida.  For additional search information or disability accommodations, contact Paula MacGeorge at 813-974-9240. This position is subject to a criminal background check.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Sidney Kasfir's Lecture at Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

If you are in the Tri-State area, this is one lecture that will be worth a trip to Princeton. Me, apart from the thrill of seeing my dear friend Sidney again, I really look forward to this lecture that is based on the fascinating research she has been doing in Uganda for more than a decade now.



Saturday, December 1, 2012

Photos from the Nka Reception at ASA

Last evening  at Marriott Downtown Philadelphia venue of the African Studies Association annual conference, many friends and colleagues showed up for the Nka reception for Ibrahim El Salahi's new book and our journal's latest, special double issue on the Black Arts Movement. But it was great to see Salahi who at 82 looks admirably healthy and in good spirits. It is a milestone for him and for his generation of African modernists that the book (edited by Nka's Salah M. Hassan) was published, and that his retrospective which will now go to the Tate Modern next summer, after its opening at the Sharjah Art Museum and second stop at Kara Art Center, Doha in Qatar. Thanks to all these friends and colleagues who showed up for the reception: Toyin Falola, Steve Nelson, Susan Vogel, Akin Adesokan, Amanda Carlson, Dominique Malaquais, Bill Dewey,  Andrea Frohne, Mario Pissara, Adedoyin Teriba, Bosede George, Kristen Windmuller-Luna, Joanna Grabski, Kinsey Katchka, Ahmad Sikainga, and...
In the meantime, I am simply itching to see El Salahi's new "Andalusian series" of large-scale multi-panel works, the making of which, he tells me, consumes him each day for at least 7 hours. The series, inspired by the figure of flamenco dancers he encountered at the south of Spain, should be something to behold, especially after he spent the last several years working on the motif of the evergreen Haraz tree--a subject that allowed him, perhaps more than ever before to bring disciplined graphic notation and composition as close as possible to the state of metaphysical grace to which Sufi mystics aspire through meditation. I am now wondering how he has translated the bodily sensuousness and lyricism of the flamenco dance into his largely black & white drawings and paintings. I have to go to England, to the Master's studio!

Ibrahm El Salahi, Salah M. Hassan, Susan Vogel

Dominique Malaquais (center)


Joanna Grabski

Andrea Frohne (center); Bill Dewey (right)

Ibrahim El Salahi




Ahmad Sikainga (center)

Kinsey Katchka (in white striped jacket)

Amanda Carlson and Adedoyin Teriba

Andrea Frohne and Natasha Becker

Carina Ray and Taj Hassan

Joanna Grabski and Susan Vogel

Akin Adesokan



Monday, November 26, 2012

Anthony Nsofor's exhibition in Lagos

http://nsoforanthony.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/img_0829w.jpg 

On December 8, the exhibition of my good friend Anthony Nsofor will open at the Pan-African University, Lagos. I look forward to seeing it--virtually I mean, since I won't be in Lagos during the show's one week run. Nsofor is one of the few painters from the Nsukka School whose work depended as much on the element of line--for which the School is famous--as on the sheer manipulation paint and color. His work, though bolder and more visceral, reminds me of Uche Okeke's achievement with paint in his later, 1980s gouache paintings. And in the tradition of Okeke, Obiora Udechukwu, Olu Oguibe, Blaise Gbaden, Ozioma Onuzulike, and others from Nsukka, he sure can speak for himself, about his work.




http://nsoforanthony.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/poster.jpg
 Here is Nsofor's blog about his upcoming show. Read!  

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Sotheby's and the Monolith from Nigeria

Here we go again! So, I am looking at the catalogue of Sotheby's auction sale next month and I saw this really wonderful example of the famous stone monoliths from the Ejagham region of south-eastern Nigeria (auction estimate: 324, 000-520,000 US$). Really sublime piece, just like many of these mysterious sculptures that date back to the 15th century. But the real surprise for me is the information about the monolith's provenance--in other words, how and when it traveled from its original home in Nigeria to the auction block in Paris. The catalogue simply states that it was "acquired in 1978" by someone called Alain Javelaud, and from there to a "private" collection that has now put it up for sale. 1978? I thought the 1970 UNESCO Convention (on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property) made it illegal to sell or acquire works like this monolith? The big question is this: how come Mr. Javelaud acquired this in 1978, from where? Or is the Sotheby's provenance record for this sculpture incomplete; in other words, did Mr. Javelaud acquire it from another sources outside of Nigeria in 1978? Sotheby's could do well to fill in this critical but missing information; otherwise, they should put a little note on the sculpture: CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

El Anatsui at the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions

Just about about two weeks ago, I visited El Anatsui at Rutgers University where he was on a short studio residency. I have just published an account of the visit in my Huffington Post blog. Read about it HERE 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Hood Museum--Curator of African Art

Curator of African Art
General Summary

The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College seeks a Curator of African Art. The curator is responsible for the documentation, research, preservation, and growth of the historic and contemporary African art collection as well as oversight of the museum’s activity in other areas, such as Oceanic art. The curator is responsible for permanent collection and loan exhibitions related to their expertise and collection area.

Responsibilities include: advising the museum director on matters concerning the collections including documentation, care and disposition; researching and proposing new acquisitions to the museum’s director and acquisition committee; and proposing ideas for original exhibitions that place the collection in cultural and historical context. In addition, the curator organizes all aspects of scheduled exhibitions in their area, manages and implements exhibitions borrowed from other institutions, and collaborates with education and academic programming staff to develop and implement a wide range of interpretive programs based on the collection and exhibitions. The curator engages with Dartmouth faculty and students, providing expertise on museum objects for use by departments for teaching.

Job Requirements
The curator will hold either a Ph.D. in Art History or Anthropology with an emphasis on African art and culture; knowledge and understanding of curatorial practices; museum experience working with collections preferred.

Contact: 
If you have questions about the position or its requirements, please contact Juliette Bianco, Assistant Director, Hood Museum of Art at 603-646-3646 or juliette.bianco@dartmouth.edu.

To apply, attach a letter of application, curriculum vitae to the on-line application at 
http://jobs.dartmouth.edu/search for position #0013400. 
Dartmouth College is an Equal Opportunity employer.

Posting Date: 11/08/2012
Closing Date 04/01/2013

Thursday, November 1, 2012

On the Brutal attack on Nigerian performance artist Jelili Atiku


During the two weeks I spent in Lagos, Nigeria in October, I  looked forward to finally meeting Jelili Atiku, the Lagos-based performance artist, though we had corresponded many times in the past. I had long been impressed by and appreciated his commitment to his art, despite that performance art is such a marginal genre in the Nigerian contemporary art scene. Long before invitations to contemporary art venues outside Nigeria began to trickle in in the past couple of years, he performed in the only locally available space: the streets of Lagos. So, finally, we were going to meet in late October. But that was not to be. The day I was expecting to meet him, he was on emergency admission in a city hospital. Apparently, Atiku had been viciously assaulted by "security men" in a Surulere, Lagos neighborhood. Here below is a statement he has just released, an account of his ordeal in the hands of some drunken men paid to secure the lives of residents who cannot trust the state police with their safety. This is wishing Jelili a speedy recovery. And I fervently hope that the accused men will, if found guilty, be made to pay for this savage attack on one of the few bright lights of the Nigerian contemporary art scene.
While there does not seem to be a connection between Atiku's work and the attack on him, it is remarkable that here is one instance of life mirroring art; for he has consistently used his art to draw attention to the state of insecurity and unchecked violence levied on Nigerians by the very people and institutions that ought to guarantee the security of citizens. What is to be done, Nigeria? 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jelili Atiku, The Burnt, charcoal on paper, 2001
"Private Security” Agents Almost Killed Me"

I wish to bring to the attention of the press and the general public my recent ordeal at Ajao Road, off Ogunlana Drive, Surulere in Lagos--where I was savagely beaten, tortured and almost killed by three “private street-security” men.  Importantly, I wish the public to be aware that my life and that of my colleague/friend, Sola Alamutu are in danger. This is because of assault threats made to us and the connection of the “private street-security” men to OPC (Oduduwa People's Congress) at Olufemi Street, off Ajao Road, off Ogunlana Drive, Surulere in Lagos. Sola’s neighbours confirmed that after we left the scene, the men involved continued to threaten that they would wait up for us anytime we come into the estate.

This ugly event occurred on Thursday 25th October, 2012; at about 7.30pm when I was being seen-off by Sola Alamutu.  I had left Sola’s flat with two bags. One of them contained my laptop and the other contained three 3 x 3 feet flex materials, ten yards of white fabric, brushes, textile ink, and costume for my performance in Harare. I had stepped out of the house with Sola carrying the two bags. We were approaching the entrance gate of Ajao Road/Olufemi Street when three men who later turned out to be the “private street-security” of Ajao Road appeared before us shouting and biding us to stop.

The shouts were so fierce and frightened me. I therefore, decided to step forward when they wanted us to stop. One thing that made me so frightened was the fact that the men were carrying sticks and I had the impression that they were likely robbers.

I had to stop when Sola said they were the “private street-security” of the street. As soon as we stopped they demanded to know the contents of the bags I was carrying. Sola responded that I was her guest and the bags belonged to me. She identified herself as a resident of Ajao Road stating her house number; but they insisted on knowing the contents of the bag which Sola said were art materials and mentioned them. However, the elderly man amongst them insisted that he wanted to see the contents of the art bag. At this point I decided to untie the bag and let him see the contents of the bags. He along with 2 other security men actually saw that the contents were art works and art materials.

However, Sola demanded to know the reason behind the “private street-security” behaviour in spite of the fact that they know where she lives and know her as a resident of Ajao Road. Their action was taken by us as an embarrassment and abuse of right of freedom. It was when the discussion was becoming heated up that I told Sola that we needed to discontinue the discussion because of the state of the men. Sola had mentioned that they were drunk and this was so glaring.

I had hardly finished my statement when the elderly man among the three “private street-security” slapped me, [he said the slap was for saying he was drunk]. The slap came unawares and I lost my balance. In the attempt to remain balanced and stop the man from making other advances in assaulting me, I made an attempt to hold him, but in the process he hit his leg on my bag on the ground and he fell. As the event unfolded, the other two security men that were otherwise engaged came over and I was attacked and savagely beaten with a metal rod, sticks and fists, and pushed me into the dirty gutter.  One of them suggested that they put one of the tyres that was lying beside the gate on me.

Atiku at the Randle General Hospital, after the attack

I screamed for my life with Sola helplessly shouting that the men assaulting me should let me go. Hence, the passersby were attracted to the scene. One of them begged the elderly man to let me go, but the old man demanded that I remain and swim in the gutter. The passerby directed attention to my bleeding and inability to stand because of the beating on my ribs.  At that the passersby tactically removed me from the gutter and rescued me with the help of Sola and two other persons. While I was being rescued, the men were shouting “we have marked you and the madam” referring to Sola.

I was taken to Sola’s flat; attempted to clean up, as blood was gushing out from my mouth. I screamed, thus alerting Sola who on seeing so much blood decided to telephone someone to come along with a vehicle to take me to the hospital because she couldn’t carry me and I was unable to walk to the taxi stand. I was thereafter rushed to the Emergency department of Randle General Hospital – where I was treated and the wound I sustained on my lips was sutured by Dr. Eniola Adebutu. When I was leaving the hospital I was weak and felt a lot of pains in my ribs and my mouth, especially my teeth.
Medical report
I felt I needed to report the incident to Surulere Police Station that night and CPL Mberev Merve was charged to investigate the matter. The investigation started immediately by CPL Merve and one other Policeman who came back with us to scene of the event. We met the older man and one of the young ones at the scene. CPL Merve questioned them and having considered the sensitivity of their security job; he invited them to report at the Police Station on Friday 26th October. Arrest was made thereafter and the men who I later got to know to be “Afolabi Alabi” (Age “58”), “Adewunmi Femi” (Age “26”) and “Olalekan Olawale” (Age “23”) were arraigned with charge no: SCH / 43 / 12 at Surulere Magistrate Court in Bode Thomas area, Surulere.


Case file
Following the recent campus killings in Port Harcourt and Mubi, I had hitherto ruminated over the state of our nation security. I remembered the body works, which I did in 2001 as my campaign against lynching and killing in extra judicial circumstances. The works referencing the event of Wednesday 18th April 2001 – when a young man, was burnt to death on allegation of theft at Ejigbo. Eleven years later, I had hoped that we would have been more civilized and rid ourselves from this form of barbaric behaviour.  I feel so worried about this situation.

As I recuperate from the attack, I cannot but feel very sad about my trauma and the loss for not being at the event I was supposed to participate in Zimbabwe. I had been billed to attend the 4th Protest Arts International Festival (PAIF).  PAIF, which was organised yearly by Savanna Trust, is becoming the only forum in Africa where political motivated artists converge to dialogue, motivate and enhance the growth of humanity through artistic endeavours.


Harare Protest Art Festival Poster
Considering the theme of this year’s festival, “Protest Arts, Culture and Democracy: Imagining and inventing the future”; I had planned to present Paper, video screenings, and performance. Titling “Performance/Live Art: An Imagined Alternative Space, Venues and Audience for Protest Arts”; the paper would examine the historical contents of performance art, particularly in Africa and highlights its potentialities as a pivotal element in providing alternative space, venue and audience for protest art. On the other hand, my performance, which is titled “Cire Perdu” is Series # II of Too Much With Us, and is a social rapport and social intervention performance.  The performance will project the consequential effects of the event of 12 January 1897 in Nigeria – where Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson led an expedition to capture the Benin king and destroy Benin City. The expedition recorded the looting and destruction, especially monuments, and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs, and the Benin palace. The operation was widely named as “Benin Punitive Expedition”.

Apart from the above, I was also billed to facilitate "Our Bodies Do #1"-- a performance workshop, which would take place in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe from October 29 - 31, 2012. The participating artists are drawn from Bulawayo. They include Thembelihle Moyo, Nonhlalo Dube, Mgcini Nyoni,
Israel Israel, Owen Maseko, Sikhulile P. Sibanda, Danisile Ncube, Mthabisi Phili, Fisani Nkomo and Ellah Gongolo. These artists in the workshop would be encouraged to get involved in a broader perspective in artistic collaborations. Working together, the artists would expand the concept of human bodies in physical space. By so doing, they should combine or marry their identities and arsenal to create a kind of recursive interconnection.

It is pertinent to mention that "Our Bodies Do #1" is among preliminary activities as preparations for the upcoming 2013 Performance Biennale in Harare/Bulawayo. The Biennale is the first African Contemporary performance/live art in the African continent. It is being organised by AFiRIperFOMA under the general title "Mnemonic". AFiRIperFOMA is a collective of performance/live artists in Africa. It has its headquarter in Nigeria.

As the Artist Director of the collective I was supposed to give a talk on the essence of the Biennale at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare.  As mentioned earlier, the Biennial is an African contemporary performance/live art and it becomes indispensable as a way of replenishes the visual culture of performance in Africa continent. Focusing mainly on the African continent, the culture and its people, as observed by the artists through a contemporary visual outlook; it will aim at inspire the participants and the world at large in the appreciation of contemporary performance/live art in Africa. My participation in the above mentioned artistic events is supported by Art Moves Africa (AMA) in Brussels, Belgium. AMA aims to facilitate cultural and artistic exchanges within the African continent. AMA offers travel funds to artists, arts professionals and cultural operators living and working in Africa to travel within the continent, in order to engage in the exchange of information, the enhancement of skills, the development of informal networks and the pursuit of
cooperation.

I wish to urge the Local, State and Federal government to look at issue of security in Nigeria. I had opinionated sometime in a paper presentation during a seminar on community policing in 2008 that “the issue of security is known to be primordial, dynamic, problematic and tied to the stability, survival, growth and development of any country”.
Yours Sincerely,

Jelili O. Atiku

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Images from the formal presentation Of Ezumeezu

Demas Nwoko (photos by Anthony Nsofor)
 On October 23 the Goethe-Institut (German Cultural Centre), Lagos, hosted the formal presentation of Ezumeezu: Essays on Nigerian Art & Architecture, a Festschrift in Honour of Demas Nwoko (published by Goldline & Jacobs Publishing, 2012) coedited by Obiora Udechukwu and me. Few if any could remember being in one room with such artistic and literary eminence in Nigeria. In the room was the celebrant, Demas Nwoko, arguably Nigeria's most important architect and leading member of the 1960s avant-garde. His closest friends Bruce Onobrakpeya and Uche Okeke, both members of the legendary Art Society at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria (1958-61) were there. There was JP Clark, the preeminent poet and writer, as well as novelist and first Nigerian editor of Nigeria Magazine (1962-66) Onuora Nzekwu. Igwe Nnanyelugo Nnaemeka Achebe "Agbogidi" (Obi of Onitsha), and Oba Gbenga Sonuga (who before his coronation was a noted theatre scholar and practitioner), were in attendance. From the art world, we had Jerry Buhari, Ndidi Dike, Olu Amoda, Tony Nsofor, Emeka Udemba, Chinwe Uwatse, George Nwadiogbu, Oliver Enwonwu, Ada Udechukwu, Tunde Soyinka and many others; also the collectors Yemisi Shyllon and Folabi Kofo-Abayomi. Toyin Akinosho (leading art critic) and Jahman Anikulapo (editor Guardian on Sunday; and compere for the event), my two colleagues at Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) were present, along with journalists from The Guardian, National Mirror and Nigerian Compass. The architect Jilian Hopwood showed up; the book, The Architecture of Demas Nwoko, she recently authored with her partner and architect John Godwin was available in the stand. I was thrilled to have in the room my classmates at Nsukka (1990 class), now media executives Bedford Bokromo and Goziem Ufodike, and my seniors Reginald Akuchie (publisher, Black Trend Magazine), Chijioke Onuora (Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, at Nsukka). Memorable is the word!


At the high table, from left: Igwe Nnanyelugo Achebe "Agbogidi" (Obi of Onitsha), Demas Nwoko, J. P. Clark and Oba Gbenga Sonuga
Jahman Anikulapo (editor of The Guardian on Sunday), was the compere

Marc-Andre Schmachtel, Director of the Goethe-Institut, Lagos giving his welcome


Frank Ugiomoh of University of Port Harcourt, the book reviewer


The artist and writer, Ada Udechukwu

Nwoko's life-long friend and influential artist, Bruce Onobrakpeya

Emeka Udemba, the artist who recently established Project-Space, Lagos

The artists Chinwe Uwatse, and Ndidi Dike (back to viewer)

My mother, Joy Okeke-Agulu

Ndidi Nwuneli of LEAP Africa, and artist Onyema Offoedu-Okeke




Obiora Udechukwu
The musician Ori Okoro (left), Obiora and Ada Udechukwu

Toyin Akinosho, foremost critic and publisher of Africa Oil+Gas Report


with good friend and artist Jerry  Buhari

The editors with Father Akosa Emodi, Ada Udechukwu, and Joy Okeke-Agulu

Standing, Photography critic Tam Fiofori and J. P. Clark, with Bruce Onobrakpeya seated lower left

Ifeoma Uche-Okeke and Ndidi Dike

Demas Nwoko, Chief Okey Ononye, Oba Sonuga, "Agbogidi," and J. P. Clark

Demas Nwoko with part of the Okeke-Agulu family: Chika, Mama, Okwudili and Ejike

Demas Nwoko greets my mother

Demas Nwoko with Oliver Enwonwu, President of Society of Nigerian Artists

From left, Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Chief Okey Ononye, and J. P. Clark

 Oba Sonuga with Bruce Onobrakpeya
Obiora Udechukwu with architect and award-winning environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey of Environmental Rights Action. Bassey is one of the contributors to the book.

Standing: artists, Emeka Udemba, Oliver Enwonwu, and Victor Ehikhamenor

Frank Ugiomoh (second from left) with Udechukwu (center) and his former students at Nsukka: my classmates, Goziem Ufodike (left), Bedford Bokromo (3rd from right); Uche Nwosu, and Chijioke Onoura whose interview with Nwoko is included in the book.
Igwe Achebe formally presenting Ezumeezu. The conclusion of a journey that began years ago