Onobrakpeya, Soyinka in dialogue around ‘Idi Owena,’ the 60-year Retrospective show, opening March 2 at San Diego State University

Photo: Onobrakpeya and Soyinka in San Diego on March 1. Photo: Kennii Ekundayo

‘While the exhibition opened to the public from February 17 to March 18, 2022, public reception and walk through of the exhibition with Onobrakpeya and curator Kennii Ekundayo is set for Wednesday, March 2, 2022, from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. which culminates into an evening of live music performance by British-Nigerian award-winning singer Aduke, staged readings of select works of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and an open discussion between Soyinka and Onobrakpeya on “African Creativity and Performance” from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m’

BRUCE Onobrakpeya and Wole Soyinka, two preeminent patriarch of Nigerian artists yesterday March 1, arrived the campus of San Diego University, San Diego, USA, for the ‘Conversation” around “IDI OWENA”, the Retrospective exhibition on 60-year-old career of Onobrakpeya, which opens officially today, March 2. The exhibition had earlier opened to the public on February 17 at the SDSU School of Art & Design Art Gallery will be there till March 18.

An excited curator of the show, Kennii Ekundayo in a a post on her Facebook post titled ‘My EAGLES have landed,’ yesterday, March 1, stated: “The Opening Reception of Bruce Onobrakpeya’s retrospective exhibition, Idi Owena, as well as a Public Dialogue between him and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is scheduled for Wednesday – 2nd March, 2022. A day of history at the San Diego State University as these two champions and pioneers of African Creativity bless us with their presence and wisdom.”

The Art Gallery, where the opening ceremony would be held, is indeed witnessing a historical dialogue between the two illustrious artists of Nigeria descent: Onobrakpeya and Wole Soyinka, on the importance of art in the affairs of humanity.

With the theme set as “African Creativity and Performance,” the two illustrious African artists, teachers and mentors to generations of younger artists, would be exchanging ideas on how art can help to reorder the course of human society. And in Particular, the global cultural influencers from Africa would focus on the place of art and culture in the life of an African personae.

The exhibition is in “honour of Black History Month,” and would remain open till March 18 at the school, with the possibility of it going to other stations around the US, stated hardworking Ekundayo, who left Lagos early February and had been working out of San Diego in the past weeks to put the show together.

“While the exhibition opened to the public from February 17 to March 18, 2022, public reception and walk through of the exhibition with Onobrakpeya and curator Kennii Ekundayo is set for Wednesday, March 2, 2022, from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. which culminates into an evening of live music performance by British-Nigerian award-winning singer Aduke, staged readings of select works of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and an open discussion between Soyinka and Onobrakpeya on “African Creativity and Performance” from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m,” according to a statement from the SDSU School of Art.

And giving an insight into the content and context of the project, Ekundayo said: “The exhibition will take into cognizance the doctrines of revisits, continuities, and experimentation that have constituted the central point of Onobrakpeya’s artistic pursuit, this exhibition which follows a loose chronological order from the 1950s to the present serves both aesthetic and educational functions for the viewer. It is a visual documentation of Onobrakpeya’s eclecticism, development, and achievements as a trained painter, an icon of printmaking, an inventor, and an experimental artist per excellence.

“The foundation of Onobrakpeya’s artistic practice is in his experimental drive that sees the fusion of ideas to get the old and the new to project the future. As such, this retrospective takes into account how he has revolutionized contemporary art practice in the country; exploring also, the mechanics of his artistry that sees subjects and styles from the past (modern) and the present (contemporary) in constant dialectical dialogue.

“A distinguishable feature of Onobrakpeya’s career has been his meticulous and unwavering tenacity to document his work and life over the last 60 years; an action which has yielded bountifully to not just this artist but to curators, historians, researchers, and other such specialists who are today able to navigate with ease, the complex maze that describes the entirety of Bruce Onobrakpeya’s artistry. It has further contributed to this retrospective taking a detour from what has become a popular tradition [also reads: style] for retrospective exhibition projects where often the exhibits are sourced from varied collections and not just the artist’s repertoire. Nodding to this artist’s will, it is noteworthy to mention that every exhibit on display has come from his archives.”

The exhibition, stated Ekundayo, has  been realised through a joint collaboration by the School of Theatre, Television, and Film, the School of Art and Design, and the Department of Africana Studies of the San Diego State University and is a part of a joint program with Onobrakpeya and writer, playwright, and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, while ‘Niyi Coker, director of SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television, and Film, initiated the connection.

“The exhibition and related events were made possible by the SDSU Student Success Fees while additional funding was provided by avid Nigerian art collector, Akin Oyebode.”