Uche Okeke as A Precursor of Contemporary Nigerian Art Education

Abstract

It is forty-five years since the Zaria Art Society was founded at Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria. One of its founding members, Uche Okeke, is in his eight decade of life. The artistic revolution he engineered as a student in Zaria was not the kind that devours its children. If anything, it turned him into a pathfinder and today he is canonized as one of the heroes of modernism in Nigeria. Without prejudice to the contribution of Onabolu and the historic activities of Enwonwu, the location of the “Zarianist”, as the art society was popularly called, remains most historically significant, not so much for their activities in Zaria but for their influence in different corners of the art arena over several years. In this regard, one must remember the roles played by Uche Okeke through his studio projects and writings in the post-war period, and perhaps until now. Above all, the significant roles of Uche Okeke as a pioneer of art education in Nigeria are elucidated in this paper.