New Directions

These artists represent innovative approaches to addressing global phenomena through a diverse range of mediums and artistic forms. They employ experimental processes to reimagine natural and found materials in symbolic ways, drawing inspiration from the Nsukka School's embrace of Igwebuike art ideologies and the Igbo belief in the strength of community and multitude. Curated by Ugonna Ibekwe, this exhibition celebrates a new generation carrying forward the influential

"Nsukka School" artistic philosophy while forging innovative paths in contemporary and conceptual art.
The term "Nsukka School" emerged as an artistic movement founded on the teachings of Uche Okeke, who advocated for a "natural synthesis" fusing Nigerian indigenous art traditions like uli body painting with modern techniques. Earlier Nsukka artists like Obiora Udechukwu experimented with uli forms, expanding it from abstract and pictorial storytelling. El Anatsui carved out a new idiom known as the Igwebuike, meaning "unity is strength.” This concept resonates within the artistic practice of students of the Nsukka School in the transformative potential of their chosen
materials. Individually, these materials may not amount to a work of art, but through various artistic techniques, they coalesce into a unified whole, imbued with communal and metaphorical significance.
The artists in this exhibition transform humble, everyday materials into striking visual poetry through meticulous processes of binding, stitching, and assembling. Disparate elements coalesce, transcending their individual forms to convey powerful themes around identity, community, and the human condition. The exhibition reveals the vast creative possibilities when diverse visual languages unite under a shared artistic vision, exemplifying the continued vitality of the Nsukka School as a global force propelling Nigerian contemporary art into new, boundary-pushing directions.