LIMCAF 2023 CURATOR AND THE NATIONAL JURY PANEL

Life In My City Art Festival is delighted to welcome its first, professionally trained Nigerian FEMALE CURATOR to join the long list mix of art scholars and professionals who help in various capacities to support the objectives of LIMCAF. The first female curator was Ms Sieglinde Oehler, a German national then working in Enugu with the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Initiative (LTR).

The LIMCAF 2023 National Jury Panel will be chaired by Ayo Aina, an acclaimed Nigerian painter, muralist, and multimedia artist.  He studied painting at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, graduating as the best student in fine arts, and with the Nigerian Art Council Award in 1990, and MFA in 1996. For over three decades, he has practiced full-time, and participated in several exhibitions in Nigeria, UK, Italy and Dubai, and also in the Dakar Biennale. He is famous for his use of uncommon exploratory platforms in dealing with contemporary political, social and environmental issues. His works can be found in public buildings and corporate institutions in Nigeria and beyond.

He has been mentioned in important books and journals, including Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa, Whitechapel, London; Paris based quarterly, Revue Noire; and New York based art editorial, Art Forum. He is the founder and artistic director of Masterpiece Artstec, a public art project studio based in Kaduna. He is a principal partner at Julicom Group Artists, and a coordinator for the Art-is-Everywhere project. He was chairman, LIMCAF 2011 national jury.

Sukanthy Visagapperumal-Egharevba obtained her first and second degrees in Painting from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a PhD from Delta State University, Abraka. She is basically a mixed media artist combining traditional iconographic influences from the Tamil Kolam of Sri-Lanka, her native homeland and the rich artistic cultures of the Middle-belt and South East Nigeria, her adopted country by marriage.

Through these influences, her scholarly and professional studio engagements open new vistas to engaging and understanding cultural hybridity and informs an uncommon uniqueness in her teaching approach and studio practice.  As a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cross River State, she teaches studio processes and theories at both the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels in the Department of Visual Arts and Technology and has many meritorious awards for services within and outside the institution. 

Otunba Oladotun Olatunbosun Alabi was born in Lagos Nigeria. His educational career began in Lagos from where he went on to higher studies in Azare, Bauchi State, returning to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, and the Federal College of Education also in Lagos before proceeding to the University of Winneba where in addition to the HND and PGD obtained in Nigeria, he earned the B.ED in 2012.

As a student he was a two-time Academy Press Award winner and also the Solidra Circle Award for painting (2008), Yaba college of technology faculty award 2011, and the Society of Nigerian Artist's Outstanding Service among several others. He has had several solo exhibitions with over 20 joint shows and numerous group exhibitions nationally and internationally including the Pan African Film and Art Festival in Los Angeles 2013-2015, Morino Valley exhibition 2015, 2016 and the SNA Lagos October Rain exhibitions since inception in 2008.

He is active member and Fellow of the Society of Nigerian artists (SNA), a former General secretary (2009- 2014) and past chairman (2013-2017) of the Lagos chapter and is the current Vice President (West). He manages Triad Studio Lagos.

Etiido Effiong William Inyang is a Printmaker and Professor of Design at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. His educational journey spans several historic Nigerian university towns including Calabar, Zaria, Uyo and Port Harcourt, culminating in degrees including a Bachelor of Arts in Graphics, an MFA in Graphics, and a PhD in African History. With a career exceeding two decades, he has made significant contributions to art, academia, and international scholarship.

Etiido's academic path includes roles as a Fulbright Scholar at PAS, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and as a Post-doctoral Fellow at TUT, Pretoria, South Africa. His work embraces studio practice, critical discourse, lectures, research, and professional development on the nuances of design and the designed space.

He has participated in exhibitions, workshops, and commissions at local, national, and international levels. Etiido has also been a lead facilitator in serigraphy workshops, including the prestigious Bruce Onobrakpeya Harmattan series. His prints are featured in esteemed collections such as the National Gallery of Art in Nigeria and the Le Meridien Hotel chain, both domestically and internationally. Additionally, he is a dedicated member of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) and a registered practitioner of advertising (rpa).

Jacob Enemona Onoja studied Fine Arts at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, and graduated as the best student in his class specialising in painting in 2001. He obtained a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Art history from the same institution in 2008 and 2017 respectively. He enjoys studio practice and has attended several exhibitions, workshops, and conferences on art and related disciplines locally and internationally with an array of over thirty (30) publications in journals and other literary materials as evidence. His passions include landscape paintings, photography, and discussions of art history.

He is currently the editor of University of Jos Fine and Applied Arts Journal (UJFAAJ) a thriving visual arts journal of the University, where he is a Senior Lecturer in drawing, painting, and art history. He is an enthusiastic researcher and always searching for new vistas of knowledge and opportunities to improve service delivery to the University system, the community, and internationally.He is a lover of peace and promotes the same through his artistic expressions and writings.

Professor Nkemdilim Angela Udeani is a lecturer of textile in the Department of Industrial Design, Modibbo Adama University Yola (formerly Federal University of Technology). She is a graduate of textile (1992) of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, where she also obtained her MFA degree (2002) and Ph.D  in Art Education (2011). She secured a teaching appointment in 1997 as a Graduate Assistant at the then Federal University of Technology Yola now Modibbo Adama University, Yola, where she gradually  rose to the rank of a professor in 2021. Nkemdilim Angela Udeani has travelled wide locally and internationally as an academic.

She mainly focuses on fiber and tactile materials as means of producing textile art pieces with a lot of interest in enhancing textile production through raw material sourcing. She has published several articles to this effect and has also participated in several exhibitions.

Ato Arinze is an artist with special interest in Portrait Sculptures, and a noted Potter. His grasp for forms, attest to his skills, particularly in handling figural sculptures. Born in Mushin, Lagos in the mid 60’s, his parents are from Southeastern State of Nigeria. He attended School in Lagos and Secondary School in Ozubulu, Anambra State between before he was admitted to study Art in Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State and later proceeded to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos his Higher Diploma, majoring in Sculpture.  He has been a full-time studio artist since 1991.

A good-natured humanitarian, who gains satisfaction through self-sacrifice, he finds happiness helping young ones grow mentally, physically and in other areas of life, Ato sees art as “a gift of life to those who have it and know, as well as for those who do not have and who know not.” He is not just a sculptor and a potter, but one who does his work with a great sense of commitment and sincerity,  a natural Teacher and a Leader, one who derives satisfaction from the joy of others, deriving pleasure from raising and building young artists to become proud of what they do.

Ato has participated in many group exhibitions within and outside Nigeria, with many sculpture commissions to his credit, such as the Bust of the first President of Nigeria Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as a collaborative project with Chike Oyeka and recently the Statue of Chief Bode Akindele, the Parakoyi of Ibadan Land. He is a recipient of the Solidra Award for Sculpture as well as the Society Nigerian Artists (Lagos State Chapter) Distinguished Artist Award.