Uche Okeke
THE GREAT IROKO HAS FALLEN
By
Chinedu C Chukueggu
Department of Fine Arts and Design
University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
chriseggu@gmail.com
And
Vivian Timothy
Nigerian Germany based Artist,
Augsburg, Bayern, Germany
Email: viv.artunleashed@gmail.com
Yes indeed the great Iroko has fallen, Father of modernist art in Nigeria has passed on. In an emotion laden voice, Professor Uche Okeke’s wife Ego, a textile artist confirmed the demise of the creative genius on 5th January 2016. He had taken ill shortly after his return from vocation in the United States of America in 2005 and the protracted illness eventually claimed the life of the quintessential painter and creative thinker.
Born on Sunday 30th April 1933 at Nimo in Anambra State, His birth coincided with the Igbo traditional market calendar day of Eke. It is believed in Igbo tradition that children born on such days have destiny of greatness trust upon them. This was later proven by the creative activities of Uche Okeke which spanned over six decades. Although, the artist was born into a creative family, suffice it to say that the proximity of Nri and Awka to Nimo may have also posed some measure of influence on the progression of the artist. Nri is the traditional root of the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria while Awka is synonymous with cast sculpture and wood carving tradition.
Young Uche was just 10 years old when he lost his father- a railway worker and furniture maker. This shock did not deter his quest to leave an enduring art legacy in Nigeria. He attended St. Peter Clever Catholic Primary School, Kafanchan in Kaduna State between 1940-1947. In an interview with Prof. Chukueggu in 2002, he explained that as a little child he created kites, paper boats and also formed drums with paper mashe. His widowed mother encouraged him with the provision of art materials. She also acquired her son’s artworks and paid him with choice art materials instead of cash. This according to Uche Okeke was a better way of encouraging a young talent.
His artworks at this period were mostly painting and drawing in realism. In the primary school, Uche Okeke met Felix Ekeada and both formed a bond, which later transformed the creative landscape of Nigeria. Okeke also recalled that at the age of ten he led the funeral procession of his late father with a carved cross. The big cross according to him reminded him of the enormous responsibility ahead of him as first son and consequently moderated his lifestyle.
He entered metropolitan college, Onitsha in 1948 but withdrew because of the overcrowded nature of the classrooms. In 1949 he gained admission into the newly established Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu in Imo State. The School provided him the enabling environment to properly lay the foundation for a solid creative career. The trio of Rev Conleath, Brother Aloysius and Mr. John Anowi who were the principal, vice-principal and art teacher respectively, played key roles at this formative stage.
In 1953, Uche Okeke graduated from secondary school. He rejected an offer of appointment to work with the Nigerian Railway Corporation but rather established an art studio in Kafanchan, Kaduna State. In 1954, he enrolled into three correspondence Colleges to study both art and taxidermy. They are; International Correspondence College, (ICC), London, School of Taxidermy, Omaha, Nebraska and Lash Correspondence College, Ondo, Nigeria.
In 1955, he took up appointment in the colonial civil service to enable him explore the opportunities at the newly established Jos National Museum as well as the Nigerian Field Society. This provided the desired platform to exhibit his collections on taxidermy over the years along with his creative works. Plates 1, shows three of his drawings in 1955.
The exhibition was curated by Bernard Fagg and declared open by the Governor-general of Nigeria, Sir J.J Roberston. Also in 1956, Uche Okeke held a series of solo exhibitions in Jos, Kaduna and Kano. The exhibitions provided him with the opportunity to meet with renowned British art teacher Kenneth Murray. He also interacted with prominent Nigerian artists of the period such as Aina Onabolu, (1882-1964) Eke Okaybulu, (1916-1958), Akinola Lasekan, (1916-1974) and Sylvester Chukueggu, (1913-2006).
Uche Okeke’s Professional Training and the Turning Point
In 1958, Uche Okeke was admitted into the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria (now ABU) to study Fine Arts. Also in the same class were Felix Ekeada, Oseloka, Ogbonnaya Nwagbara and Okechukwu Odita. Led by Uche Okeke, this radical first year students determined the direction of art study and practice in Nigeria which has remained in place till date.
Also two major events in the life of the artist which not only reshaped and reinforced his creative destiny but later profoundly influenced the teaching of art in the country. The consequences of these events have continued to play positive roles in the promotion of art, culture and tourism in the country.
They are: (i) The formation of Zaira Art Society by Uche Okeke at the Nigerian College of Arts Science and Technology, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University). (ii) The establishment of a cultural centre in Kafanchan, Kaduna State in 1964.
The Zaria Art Society
In October 9th 1958, Uche Okeke and his group of first year students formed an art movement called “The Zaria Art Society”. With him as founding secretary and later president, they were able to galvanize the support of the entire student body. Though, initially regarded as rebels, however, subsequent events proved that they were indeed patriotic nationalists’ artists. Two major contentious issues prompted emergence of the art movement.
(a) The rejection of the quality of certificate offered to the art graduates by the colonial administrators of the college. The certificate was a mere diploma compared with the first degree equivalent offered to their colleagues in other departments
(b) Next was the issue of an art curriculum which negates the rich cultural heritage of the country.
The students felt that the essence of the country’s material culture should be blended with the European art instead of “epping European culture in Nigeria” Okeke 2002. The youngsters refused to bow to pressure and intimidation by those in senior classes and their lecturers. Ekeada (2002) explained that the political clamour for independence in Nigeria, provided them a window to strongly ventilate their opposition to art study that excluded Nigerian cultural heritage.
Uche Okeke therefore proposed on all inclusive art study, which he called the Natural Synthesis (merger of the essence of both European and Nigerian art cultures). To him, the expediency of focusing and giving the art profession its proper place in the national polity must be pursued with vigour and sacrifice. Amazingly, Uche Okeke and his group succeeded in turning around the art curriculum of the college to accommodate the essence of the country’s cultural heritage. Also, abstraction of artworks became integral part of the new curriculum. Thus the natural synthesis philosophy consequently became the focal point of art study in Nigeria. This tendency spread to other African countries particularly the Anglophone nations. Thus the Uche Okeke’s creative legacy remains indelible.
On graduation in 1961, they dissolved the Zaria Art Society and many of them moved into various tourism, culture management and academic positions where they continued with their Zarianist philosophy. In 1964, the group re-emerged and founded the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) – an umbrella body of all practicing visual artists in Nigeria. Yusuf Grillo and Bruce Onobrakpeya become the pioneer president and vice respectively.
The Zarianists therefore, were able to give the country’s cultural policy proper direction. In 1961, Uche Okeke joined hands with other young Nigerian literary and visual artists to establish the Mbari Writers and Artist Club at Ibadan. The members include; Wole Soyinka, J.P Clark, Michael Echemo, Chuina Achebe and Chris Okigbo. Their main objective was to promote the cultural values of the country through their literary and visual creative ingenuity.
In 1962, he left Nigeria to study mosaic and stained glass window techniques and also learn the workings in theatres, museums, art galleries and art schools. This was on a two-year West German Scholarship. There, he was attached to Franze Mayer Firm in Munich.
During the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970), he worked in the Biafran Directorate of Refugee Affairs as a war propagandist. The visual art aspect of the war propaganda was coordinated by him. He produced posters which reflected the war situation of the people, such as hunger, destruction, refugees etc. He was on a travelling art exhibition and propaganda mission in Germany when the Biafran Nation collapsed in 1970.
The Asele Institute, Nimo
Uche Okeke established a cultural centre in Kafanchan in Kaduna State in 1959. However, following the civil war crisis, he relocated it to Enugu the defunct Biafran capital in 1965. Finally, he moved the centre to its present permanent site in Nimo in 1970 and renamed it the Asele Institute. Today, the Institute has become a major resource centre in art teaching and practice in Nigeria. It occupies over 16 acres of land. Uche Okeke refers to the architecture of the Institute produced by his long time associate and Zarianist, Demas Nwoko as an “an artists ideal and functional design”. The two-storey edifice has adjoining bungalows classified into:
(i) Gallaries, (ii) Documentation Centre with Research Library (iii) Museum/Exhibition Hall (iv) Design Centre (v) UNESCO Conference Hall (vi) Charlets (vii) Gift Shop with Reception Hall.
Very old and treasured artworks acquired from pioneer artists in Nigeria as well as Uche Okeke’s early creativity are on display at the Institute. In 1985, the Institute hosted a UNESCO conference on the teaching of art in secondary schools in Nigeria. The Asele Institute also hosts foreign and local researchers, tourists, artists and students on industrial attachments. It is hoped that with exit of this creative giant his vision and legacy of the Asele Institute will be sustained.
Uche Okeke’s Incredible Career as an Academic.
At the end of the Nigeria civil war in 1970, Uche Okeke stayed back in West Germany, where he had gone on propaganda mission for the defunct Biafra nation. However, he later left for the United States of America; there he set up his studio practice. He had barely settled down when he was appointed a lecturer and head of the Department of Fine Arts at the post war University of Nigeria, Nsukka. To him it was a surprise because he never applied for the job nor did he speak to anybody about it.
He explained that he had to accept the appointment because he saw it was his humble contribution to the process of re-construction and re-integration of the war-torn Biafra into the Nigeria nation. To him it was a rescue mission. His arrival at Nsukka signaled a new beginning for the Department. According to him, the civil war had destroyed everything “so we had to start the Department afresh”. He introduced radical changes: the nomenclature of the Department was changed to accommodate applied arts. Also the Igbo Uli art idiom and his natural synthesis philosophy were incorporated into the art curriculum.
In 1971, he curated the first successful post-war art exhibition at Nsukka. It was in honour of visiting Nigeria Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. Among the exhibits were Okeke’s drawings based on his art philosophy. Uche Okeke nurtured the art department from its war-ravaged situation to an enviable status. Post-graduate programmes were later introduced. He became a professor in 1975. He supervised the first PhD degree in Art History in a Nigerian University. Prominent among his former students are Professors Ola Oloidi, Udechukwu Obiora and Osa D. Egonwa. He served in several panels and committees of the university and was also the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and later Director, Institute of African Studies.
His former students and colleagues have not relented in teaching art based on the uli art idion and the natural synthesis philosophy. About three decades after his exit from the Nsukka Art School, his philosophy and creative idiom have spread across all the Art Schools in Nigeria and Africa. Also in Europe, Africa, America and some Asia countries his former students preach and teach his art philosophy. The Nsukka Art School is today referred to as the Uli Art School, this is indeed one of the creative legacies left by Uche Okeke. He is regarded not only as the exponent of the Uli art idiom and the natural synthesis philosophy but also as the patriarch of many amazing art movements in Africa.
Dr. Felix Ekeada, a former Zarianist asserts that “every other visual artist in the country today hooked on to Okeke’s style and creative vision”. He explained that very few artists today in Nigeria are aware of the origin of compulsory presentation of art portfolios and catalogue at interviews and this is to him is one of Okeke’s footprints in the creative development in Nigeria. Ulle Beier (1960) refers to his stylistic approach as “entirely new world of imagination”.
Conclusion
He participated in over 80 solo and joint art exhibitions, he also won 40 major awards and honours nationally and internationally. He appeared in over dozen of Who is Who in Art in Nigeria and Africa. Uche Okeke was a visiting scholar to several universities in Europe and the United States. He has a couple of books and over 100 publications to his credit. His artworks are several public and private collections in Africa, Europe, America and Asia nations. In November 2000, the Federal Government of Nigeria conferred on the creative genius the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR). He was a painter par excellence, a great researcher and teacher, an art collector and historian, a gifted administrator, unique trailblazer in creative art and a prominent chief of the Nimo kingdom.
The remains of this great teacher will be laid to rest at his much cherished Asele Institute, Nimo. Indeed, the great Iroko has fallen.
Plate 1: Uche OKeke, Nze The Smart, 1958
Plate 2: Uche Okeke, Refugee Family, 1966
Plate 3 : Uche Okeke, Okpaladike and his Obu, 1961
References
Chukueggu, C.C. (1998). Contemporary Nigerian Art and Its Classifications. Abraka: DELSU consult.
Chukueggu, C.C. (2011). Uche Okeke Father of Modernist Art in Nigeria. Saarbrücken: LAP Lamberts Academic Publishing.
Okeke, U. (1982). Art in Development, a Nigerian Perspective. Nimo: Asele Institute.
Okeke , U. (1993). Creative Conscience Nimo: Asele Institute.
Okeke , U. (1983). Design Inspiration Through Uli. Minesota: University of Minnesota.
Okeke, U (1956). Some Paintings Jos: (Unpublished)
Otternberg, S. (2002). The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art : Washington DC: Smithsoman Institute.
Otternberg, S (1997). New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artist of the Nsukka Group. Washington.
Oloidi, O. (1998). Zarianism: The Crusading Spirit of Revolution in Nigeria: In Dike PC and Oyelola P. (Ed). The Zaria Art Society: A New Consciousness Lagos. National Gallery of Art.
Beier, U. (1960). Three Zaria Artist London, West African Review No 31.
Personal Interview with:
Prof Uche Okeke – February 2002
Dr Felix I.N. Ekeada – July 2002
Chinedu C. Chukueggu is a Professor of Nigeria Art History at the University of Port Harcourt Nigeria. He did a PhD work on Uche Okeke’s creative development.
Vivian Timothy is a German based Nigeria Artist and a BEFFTA award winner, 2015. She is a painter and art collector.
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