tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49505055197600687222008-07-26T15:16:51.160-07:00S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-77354662593035064622008-07-26T11:50:00.009-07:002008-07-26T14:28:37.864-07:00

Over the next few weeks, I'll blog on contemporary Nigerian art from Nigeria, while spending time in Lagos on a summer research project initiative that I've been planning for a long time. During the trip, I will revisit some major issues taken up by Aachronym since its inception, especially concerning the state of Nigerian art at a moment of increasing global attention to the economics of

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-55814914475361345642008-07-26T11:44:00.003-07:002008-07-26T11:50:16.778-07:00

Guest blogger Kwame Opoku continues to his prolific and insightful challenge of the Western museum establishment on matters of cultural patrimony and legal equity concerning looted African art in the West. His commentaries on Afrikanet draws the attention of significant readers and is a must read on the subject of African cultural patrimony and repatriation. He is also increasingly cited in other

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-19344211991187100322008-07-23T09:44:00.006-07:002008-07-23T20:06:18.852-07:00

The Art Newspaper reports that one third of the Coptic sculptures at the Brooklyn Museum of Art are modern fakes. Its collection of late Egyptian sculpture was, until now, the second largest in North America. Brooklyn curator Dr Edna Russmann, who is concluding a study of the works, warns that other museums which acquired Coptic sculptures in the past 50 years are likely to face similar problems

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-5055548813988549452008-07-18T09:46:00.006-07:002008-07-18T10:01:13.089-07:00

Currently showing on University of California Television (UCTV), videos of the proceedings of the 2007 Mbanefo Foundation Conference "Interrogating African Modernity: Art, Cultural Politics and Global Identities. The conference was sponsored by the Mbanefo Foundation at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in May 2007. The UCTV videos airs in different segments each focused on the

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-34414266696828951472008-07-15T05:07:00.007-07:002008-07-15T05:50:33.065-07:00

The New Yorker magazine's current cover page has set off a political firestorm and social outrage. The magazine's editors went on national news to defend the publication for what it described as a creative use of satire which supposedly defended Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama against persistent rumors that he is a sort of Islamic manchurian candidate. However, the tasteless cover

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-68530138091931749142008-07-14T07:24:00.005-07:002008-07-14T08:11:58.818-07:00

The Pan African University's Centre for Media and Communication in Lagos is holding a two-day workshop on Nollywood scheduled for July 18-19, 2008. Titled Nollywood: Challenges of Production, Entertainment Value and International Marketing Strategies, the seminar brings together an international group of scholars to discuss the technologies and economics of Nollywood film production in the

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-65515387569678565242008-07-14T06:29:00.008-07:002008-07-14T07:03:04.248-07:00

Guest Blogger Kwame Opoku considers issues of African cultural patrimony engendered by the traveling exhibition of Benin Art, at the Art Institute of Chicago. ****************** BENIN EXHIBITION IN CHICAGO: CUNO AGREES TO CONSIDER REQUEST FOR RESTITUTION OF BENIN BRONZES © Kwame Opoku, 2008 The exhibition, Benin - Kings and Rituals: Royal Arts from Nigeria, which started in Vienna, in 2007, went

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-29111292423644140162008-07-13T09:31:00.004-07:002008-07-13T12:33:49.427-07:00

Forthcoming in Abuja-Nigeria, the first African Regional Summit & Exhibition on Visual Arts (ARESUVA) scheduled for September 7-13, 2008. According to its website, "the First African Regional Summit & Exhibition on Visual Arts will promote visual arts as a strategy for achieving rapid economic development in the African region as envisioned in NEPAD – New Partnership for African Development. The

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-81973777713844979212008-07-12T12:18:00.004-07:002008-07-12T12:21:51.719-07:00

The following interview with Zac Orji appeared in the Vanguard newspapers of Nigeria, and it reports on the Nigerian delegation to the 2008 Nollywood Foundation Convention in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Nigerian Vanguard Newspapers reporter Okoh Aihe, who conducted the interview also attended the convention.

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-34386643498731614422008-07-10T06:10:00.004-07:002008-07-10T09:49:59.106-07:00

The Washington Post reports that: The country's largest medical association is set to issue a formal apology today for its historical antipathy toward African American doctors, expressing regret for a litany of transgressions, including barring black physicians from its ranks for decades and remaining silent during battles on landmark legislation to end racial discrimination. The apology marks

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-77282897708332787252008-07-09T08:36:00.001-07:002008-07-09T08:38:02.546-07:00

Okoh Aihe, a reporter for the Nigerian Vanguard, attended the 2008 Nollywood Foundation Convention and filed this report.

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-57980929072495001062008-07-09T07:42:00.008-07:002008-07-09T08:43:14.063-07:00

The second issue of Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture has been published and is now ready for dissemination. CI#2 focuses on the question of Visual Publics with essays from top African, American and European scholars of African art history. The journal is available from Aachron Editions and is currently receiving positive responses from scholars of African

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-84867203459899908972008-07-09T07:10:00.004-07:002008-07-09T08:28:12.033-07:00

PND News Digest reports that "Sabinet Gateway, a South African-based nonprofit that promotes and supports library and information services in Africa, has announced a $1.8 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to create an archive of African journals. Believed to be the first online archive to contain only African content, the African Online Journal Archive will make academic

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-50219477456460107162008-07-08T08:19:00.005-07:002008-07-08T08:48:25.076-07:00

Guest blogger Kwame Opoku reviews two recently published books on African art. ************************** KWAME OPOKU EVEN THE FRIENDS OF AFRICA CANNOT ENTIRELY AVOID THE PREJUDICES EMBEDDED IN EUROPEAN CULTURE ABOUT AFRICA AND AFRICANS: REVIEW OF AFRIKA - KUNST UND ARCHITEKTUR AND AFRIKA - DER SCHWARZE KONTINENT BY IVAN BARGNA For sometime now, I have refused to buy any introductory or

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-64717284668255308442008-07-08T07:32:00.005-07:002008-07-08T07:58:25.761-07:00

The United Kingdom-based Nigerian artist Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy has been receiving significant notice in the UK. Mrs. Chukwuogo-Roy's new website is now active and contains important details about her practice to date. According to the website, "Chinwe is a versatile artist who works in oils, etchings, monotypes, pastels and sculpture. Her subjects range from portraiture, still life and landscape

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-59178869815565440592008-07-06T08:11:00.006-07:002008-07-06T10:21:40.482-07:00

I have been following with increasing disgust the public pronouncements of James Cuno, director of the Art Institute of Chicago, and self-styled crusader for the right of Western museums to hold on to centuries of looted art. Cuno has recently published a book (Who Owns Antiquity: Museums and the Battle over our Cultural Heritage. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, click here for

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-61846408447264213512008-07-02T20:12:00.006-07:002008-07-02T20:33:12.143-07:00

Images from Ndidi Dike's recent exhibition, Tapestry of Life: New Beginnings. I contributed an essay titled Ndidi Dike: New Beginnings to the catalog of this exhibition (read the full essay here). Pictured below, from top: (a) Poster for the exhibition, (b) Ndidi Dike with Bisi Silva, Director of the Center for Contemporary Art, Lagos, during the opening of Didi's 2007 exhibition--

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-5250904774397811112008-07-02T18:57:00.006-07:002008-07-02T19:15:58.224-07:00

A new organization called The Africa Convention is planning its inaugural program scheduled for Los Angeles in August 28-31 at the Hilton Universal City Hotel Los Angeles. According to its website, The Africa Convention aims to provide a platform to bring together expatriate African communities in the USA involved in art, culture and performance. Its rather Negritudist objective states that the

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-33425668281617946072008-07-02T11:34:00.002-07:002008-07-02T11:37:29.611-07:00

Philanthropy News Digest reports that the Carnegie Corporation is instituting a grant program to help develop Humanities scholarship in Africa. Given the low interest in support for humanities programs in institutional grant funding, this move could have important positive repercussions. The osting below is taken from the PND's report of the event. ******************* Carnegie Corporation of New

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-19482258656092946552008-06-28T12:06:00.003-07:002008-06-28T12:10:12.566-07:00

The Berlin journalist Peter Boehm attended the Nollywood Foundation Convention 2008 and posted this report in Die tTageszeitung, a Berlin newspaper he writes for. ************ Nollywood Die nigerianische Filmindustrie boomt. Doch auf internationalen Festivals spielen sie keine Rolle. Damit sich das ändert, suchen nigerianische Filmschaffende jetzt Rat in Hollywood. VON PETER BÖHM... (see full

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-26316875542204171822008-06-28T11:45:00.004-07:002008-06-28T12:11:41.313-07:00

NF Board of Directors with special guests of the convention. (Top, l-r: Hon. Dino Melaye--Nigerian House of Representatives, Senator Ayogu Eze--Nigeria Senate, Egbe Osifo Dawodu, Emeka Mba--Director General, Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board, Lisa Poole, Dapo Otunla, Sandra Obiago--Director, Communicating for Change, Sylvester Ogbechie. Bottom, NF Board with Nollywood Actors and Guests).

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-10217685983652897092008-06-28T11:36:00.005-07:002008-06-28T11:45:33.861-07:00

Top: Speech to the NF convention banquet Friday June 20. Bottom: l-r: Guest, Joke Silva, Okoh Aneh--Nigerian Vanguard reporter, and Bill Megalos of Megalomedia.

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-43847602757330722008-06-28T11:03:00.005-07:002008-06-28T11:59:04.885-07:00

Nancy Ogbechie with Zac Orji--dean of Nollywood Actors and (below) Said Kakese Dibinga--Hollywood Producer and Filmmaker

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-7790767993056643872008-06-28T10:52:00.005-07:002008-06-28T11:06:42.204-07:00

My wife, Nancy Ogbechie and I at the 2008 Nollywood Foundation Convention.

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4950505519760068722.post-3036693350028881342008-06-28T10:45:00.004-07:002008-06-28T10:51:37.755-07:00

Scenes from the opening night events at the Los Angeles Film Festival showing the main movie premier theater and red carpet. Middle: Sandra Obiago, Nollywood Foundation Advisory Board Member at the LAFF Opening. The Nollywood Foundation was a participating organization and hosted a film-THE CHOIR--at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival.

S. Okwunodu Ogbechiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977539449172936527noreply@blogger.com