Uche Okeke

Christopher Uchefuna Okeke (April 30, 1933 – January 5, 2016), also known as Uche Okeke, was an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and teacher.

He was an art and aesthetic theorist, seminal to Nigerian modernism.

Christopher Uchefuna Okeke was born on 30 April 1933 in Nimo, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria, to Isaac Okonkwo Okeke and Monica Mgboye Okeke (née Okoye).

Between 1940 and 1953, he attended St. Peter Claver's (Primary) School, Kafanchan, Metropolitan College, Onitsha, and Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu, Nigeria, 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 (NCAST), now Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Okeke 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 a young artist, Okeke was a founding member of the Zaria Art Society in 1958.

The group was a result of political conflict in Nigeria struggling to gain independence and was founded by important protagonists of modernism in Nigerian Art like Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Oseloka Osadebe, Demas Nwoko and others.

Most of his professors at the Nigerian College were British and taught western style techniques however, The Zaria Society opposed the imposition of European art school ideas on young artists in Africa.

In school, Okeke studied the Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa ethnic groups, looking for a way to express his Nigerian self.

Ancient Nigerian symbols are most commonly found on pottery or in body paintings.

Igbo designs are called Uli Patterns.

In 1971 Uche Okoke joined the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka as a professor and teacher.

Together with colleagues and students he developed a unique style which became characteristic for the so called Nsukka School.

With Chike Aniakor and Obiora Udechukwu he established the formation of art and aesthetics of Nigerian modernism in the seventies.

Okeke was first exposed to Igbo folktales as a child and later used them as inspiration in his art.

In some of his drawings, the artist rendered the heroic mythological figures to bring attention to his Igbo heritage.

The Igbo culture area is east of the Niger River, west of the Cross River, and West of the Great Niger waterway of southeastern Nigeria.

Throughout this area there is evidence of an ancient artistic culture.

The traditional Igbo art form is called Uli Drawing.

According to Okeke, Uli is an attempt to enhance the beauty of the human body.

Traditionally, a Uli artist is a female person in Igbo society who paints patterns on the body and sometimes on the walls of sacred places.

This process is called Ide Uli or Ise Uli.

The motifs and symbols in Uli usually remain consistent however, it is the ordering of the design elements that challenge the ingenuity of traditional Igbo artists.

Many of the design elements in Uli are derived from nature.

Striped and spotted beings like pythons and jaguars are examples of the sources the patterns come from.

Uli patterns have geometric, plant, and animal motifs.

Additionally, the color choices the artist makes have significance.

Okeke explains how colors are used and where they come from.

The medium in Uli Drawings are extracted from the pods of plants.

Uli Oba, Uli Nkilisi, and Uli Ede Eji are names of the plants from which the medium is extracted.

Art in ‘Igboland’ is attributed to the earth goddess Ala.

Art springs from mother nature and is seen as a means of fostering the spiritual and physical well being of kindred communities.

It represents the life of the people and the bare bones of creativity.

Uli also has certain lyrical qualities which have inspired songs in Igbo folklore.

Uche Okeke's artistic productivity was backed by several aesthetic considerations coming along with his artistic projects.

His early writings seize on the ideas of Pan-Africanism and Négritude.

Among others it was the compelling style of his essays that earned the group of young students at the Ahmadu Bello University the title "Zaria rebels".

In his later reflections he focused on the political role artists should cultivate.

He also opened a cultural centre at 30 Ibadan Street, Kafanchan, which later became the 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.

The institute contains a collection of artifacts, objects, and artwork from friends Okeke acquired during his travels to different parts of Nigeria.