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It’s the first UK exhibition to address the development of this 20th century art movement. Many artists during this period took European techniques and combined them with their own Indigenous traditions.
A new exhibition at London’s Tate Modern Museum charts the development of Nigerian modernism. Covering around 50 years, from the 1940s to the 1990s, through colonial rule to independence and civil war, there are more than 300 works of art by about 60 artists.
The aim is to reflect just how broad the rich artistic output of Nigerian artists has been, says Bilal Akkouche, assistant curator of International Art at Tate.
It’s the first UK exhibition to address the development of this 20th century art movement. Many artists during this period took European techniques and combined them with their own Indigenous traditions. Tate wants to show that artists like this deserve their place alongside the Picassos and Matisses of the day.
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Born in 1940, his paintings often feature landscapes and earthy tones inspired by his hometown of Iragbiji, to the north of Ibadan. The exhibition could be seen as groundbreaking for Nigerian art in Europe, he is not convinced that it should have a separate platform of its own.
