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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Jason Okundaye

‘This is a west African story’: how modern art tackled Nigeria’s identity crisis

Our Journey, 1993, by Obiora Udechukwu at a preview of Nigerian Modernism at Tate Modern.
A multi-ethnic question … Nigerian Modernism is a conduit for the process that has seen the country become a hub for cultural resistance. Photograph: Stephen Chung/Alamy Live News

What distinguishes modern Nigerian art from its traditional form? I had this question in mind when I attended a private viewing of Tate Modern’s new exhibition, Nigerian Modernism, which traces artwork from the period of indirect colonial rule to post-independence.

Walking through the gallery with the curator Osei Bonsu, learning about the incredible ways in which modern Nigerian artists sought to define, shape and rebel against the beautiful but contested state, I found answers.

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