In today’s extraordinary art world of heirs such as Peju Alatise, Tokini Peterside, and the list continues- women have always been pacesetters in the Art history of Nigeria and Africa. The female gender is the most substantial part of the global and local art industry.
Asides from ensuring the sustenance of the art industry through the birth of the next master artist, women have always been involved in clearing the path that has led to the blooming indigenous art industry we are proud of today.
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Therefore on a day like this, here are queens and foremothers whose name has earned and deserves respect wherever art made in Nigeria is exhibited, hung and cherished. Largely due to their efforts as a pioneer and contributors to the development of the Nigerian Art Industry.
They are queens and matriarchs who have played a huge part in the shaping of the Nigeria Art Industry as it is today.
Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu
In the days of the Zaria Rebels, an art society that stood against the dictation of western techniques as a rigid influence on indigenous artists’ creativity, Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu was one of the vanguards who led the movement: Nigerian Modernism Movement that became a historic achievement. As an art educator, she trained the Zaria Rebels which included the late Yusuf Grillo, UNESCO LIVING HUMAN TREASURE Bruce Onobrakpeya, Aina Onabolu, Jimo Akolo, and the list is endless…
Her students of art who are today’s art patriarchs would go on to create their own movement: post-colonial modernism. Displeased, however, that she is not as immortalized and acknowledged in today’s art world by most Nigerian artists because of her gender.
Chief Lady Constance Affiong Ekong
She is said to be one of the earliest members of the Society of Nigerian Artists. The fashion designer was part of the earliest women artists to be trained academically. The matriarch who also was a painter was the first female artist to hold a solo exhibition in Lagos. The art collector believed to be the founder of Nigerian Modernism, had her works displayed in the Centre of African Studies at the University of Lagos in 19689 becoming the first collection in the center.
Even though at the time, the royalty was a peer of Ben Enwonwu, she did not get as much attention as she should have. Little surprise she is rarely talked about on popular art occasions.
Being a renowned art promoter, she pushed artists to do more and created awareness around buzzing artists at the time with her TV program: CULTURAL HERITAGE. The activist for African arts and women’s education was recognized by the New York Times in 1963 as a model of the “ new African women” in a photo essay following Nigeria’s freedom from Britain.
Sussane Wenger
Popularly known as Adunni Olorisha, she trained matriarchs like Josephine Ifueko Osagimwese Omogie. She was an Austrian who converted to the Yoruba religion and promoted it till the end with her artworks which were mostly a collaboration of Yoruba art with European abstract art.
Her presence in Osogbo transformed the artistic aura into a desirable one and was a motivation that pulled the local community in to accept art and change their behavior towards the art practice.
Nike Okundaye
She remains solid as one of the most important figures in African art and crafts. Also one of the most famous artists and painters. Her galleries in Lagos, Abuja, and Osogbo continue to preserve the valuable art culture of Nigeria.
At an age many would have retired, she continues to support the everyday artist and offer them her prestigious reputation in the art collector’s world as a platform to excel. She remains the home to many artists: young and old.
CECILIA LAMPTEY BOTCHWAY ON THE INTRICACIES OF BEING A WOMAN IN A MALE-DOMINATED ART INDUSTRY.
She keeps the torch of foremothers such as Sussane Wenger on while fueling the passion of future masters and even doing more than can be told.
For more than four decades, she has been relentless in promoting indigenous Nigerian Textiles to the world through her workshops at home and abroad.
Collette Omogbai
She is a freethinker whose eccentric artworks rebelled against formal realism. Her works which were inspired by the traditional African sculptural forms aided the expansion of Nigeria’s postcolonial modernism.
She was the only female Nigerian artist whose artworks were promoted by Ulli Beier indirectly placing Nigerian art in the limelight of the international art community.
Lady Kwali
Recognized as the first female potter in Nigeria and innovator of modern Nigerian ceramic art. Through her outstanding talent as a ceramist, she gave publicity to traditional pottery through her techniques, forms, and materials.
According to Timeout ” It starts with Ladi Kwali, a Nigerian potter who came to England in the 1950s and fused her regional traditions with modern ceramic practices. Her earlier works here still serve a purpose – they’re still bowls, plates, and water jugs – but they sit at a cultural juncture between Nigeria and England, between hand-molded tradition and new approaches.”
Princess Elizabeth Olowu and Theresa Luck Akinwale
These are two other pioneers. Princess Elizabeth Olowu is said to be the first female bronze sculptor out of Nigeria and the mother of the renowned Nigerian female artist Professor Peju Layiwola.
While some are resting, others are still fighting against the subjugation and oppression of women that still happens low-key. Therefore, if you can: reach and appreciate the efforts of the living.