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In 2006, Nigerian-British sculptor, Sokari Douglas-Camp, was commissioned by human and environment rights organization, Platform, to create a work of art in honour of the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Douglas-Camp created a life-sized replica of a Nigerian steel bus, called ‘Battle Bus: Living Memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa'. It was an artistic symbol of movement and change. In 2015, 20 years after the execution of the Ogoni Nine, Platform planned to commemorate the Ogoni Nine execution and wanted Douglas-Camp's Battle Bus to feature at the event held in Bori, Saro-Wiwa's hometown. But when the battle bus arrived at the Lagos Seaport that year, it was impounded by the port authorities.It is now 2025*, nearly 30 years since the executions happened. Presidents have come and gone; Niger-Delta resistance has, arguably, become more violent and more commercially motivated; public memory of the Ogoni Nine has atrophied, and the battle bus, an artistic work crafted to honour the memory of the Ogoni Nine, is still under arrest by the Nigerian authorities. What is it about Saro-Wiwa that continues to aggravate and possibly even terrify the Nigerian ruling establishment? How have the Ogoni people been able to come to terms with the execution of the Ogoni Nine, and deal with the unresolved environmental crisis caused by oil exploration till this day? What does the crisis in Ogoni and the Niger Delta more broadly tell us about what it means to be Nigerian?In this episode, our final of the season, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at republic.com.ng/podcasts/.*Note: this podcast was produced in 2024; as such, when Wale says ‘next year', he is referring to 2025.
Dee Haughney is Head of Learning at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-sea. She was born in Ireland, studied Photography at TU Dublin, Curatorial Practice at Falmouth University and Asian Art at Sotheby's Institute of Art. She worked with the Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall and The Photographers' Gallery, London before joining October Gallery in 2012. As Curator of October Gallery for over eight years, she managed exhibitions, international art fairs and major installations working closely with artists such as El Anatsui, James Barnor and Sokari Douglas Camp. In 2018, she undertook a research trip, cycling the length of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town. Since 2022 she has been Head of Learning at De La Warr Pavilion, one of the largest contemporary arts centres in the southeast. Outside of this she works as an Independent Curator working with artists from Ireland and around the world. Links: https://www.deehaughney.com/aboutdeehaughney https://www.dlwp.com/ https://www.madeinbed.co.uk/interviews/anindya-sen-in-conversation-with-curator-of-october-gallery-dee-haughney music ‘Baby, I Miss The Internet' (Rama, Rama, Rama) by TOT TAYLOR is used by kind permission of the artist ©Tot Taylor/Songmatic Music (2020) PRS/MCPS/PPL
In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Sokari Douglas Camp CBE (@sokaridouglascamp) Sokari Douglas Camp was born in Buguma, Rivers State, Nigeria. She studied fine art at Central School of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art. Sokari has represented Britain and Nigeria in National exhibitions and has had more than 40 solo shows worldwide. In venues such as National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute 1988-89, the Museum of Mankind, London 1994/5. Sokari works intuitively and on her own, she draws ideas and works on the scale suggested by her drawings. Works vary in size from 30cm to 5 meters and more depending on the project. She is interested in movement, clothing, Kalabari culture, theatre and the environment. Kensington + Chelsea Art Week (KCAW) is delighted to present its fifth annual Public Art Trail. West London will be brought to life with vibrant and immersive public art, free for all to enjoy for the duration of the summer.Opening on 18 June, the Public Art Trail will feature world-class sculpture, installations and exhibits throughout the borough. Presented across nine zones, the Art Trail will take up residence at some of West London's most beautiful and iconic sites, including Napoleon Garden in Holland Park, Sloane Street, Duke of York Square, Royal Avenue, Pavilion Road, Earl's Court, Notting Hill Gate, Kensington Memorial Park, Brompton Cemetery Chapel, and High Street Kensington. For more information on the Kensington + Chelsea Art Week go tohttps:// www.kcaw.co.uk | @kcawlondon To Support this podcast from as little as £3 per month: www.patreon/ministryofarts For full line up of confirmed artists go to https://www.ministryofarts.orgEmail: ministryofartsorg@gmail.comSocial Media: @ministryofartsorg See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
"Battle Bus" was a sculpture made by Sokari Douglas Camp in memory of Nigerian environmentalist Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other activists who were controversially executed in 1995. The sculpture was seized and impounded by Nigerian port authorities in 2015 when the art work was shipped to Nigeria. Sokari Douglas Camp talks to Rebecca Kesby about growing up in the Niger Delta and how it's shaped her art work. PHOTO: "Battle Bus" by Sokari Douglas Camp on show in London in 2015 (Sam Roberts Photography).
Deze eerste aflevering geeft een introductie. Cunera Buijs, samensteller van de tentoonstelling, legt uit dat ‘inheemse kennis’ over het lichaam en gezondheid door de eeuwen heen is gemarginaliseerd, maar steeds vaker gecombineerd wordt met westerse geneeswijzen. Wouter Welling, medesamensteller van de tentoonstelling, vertelt over de helende kracht in de kunstwerken van Sokari Douglas Camp en Marina Abramović.
Adelaide Damoah is a British artist of Ghanaian descent with a compelling body of work exploring themes of colour, race, and gender. Before dedicating herself to being a full-time artist, Adelaide worked in the pharmaceutical industry specialising in a range of therapeutic solutions. After dealing with the chronic pain of endometriosis, she decided to dedicate her time to developing as an artist. Adelaide cites her main influences as Judy Chicago, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hammons, Yves Klein, Sokari Douglas Camp, Rachel Ara, and Ana Mendieta. I met with Adelaide during her solo exhibition called 'Genesis' which was on view in London earlier this ear in October. Adelaide took me through the show and shared about her journey as an artist. IN STUDIO with Sharon Obuobi is a series about the stories of art makers, curators and influencers who inspire thoughtful perspectives on the world around us. To see more from our interview, visit our Instagram page @InStudiowithSO. Learn more about us at www.instudiowithso.com. -- All views and opinions expressed by guests are their own.
In Studio with Sharon Obuobi is a series of conversations with artists, curators, influencers, exploring the process of art making. In this episode, I speak with Sokari Douglas Camp, a British-Nigerian artist who welds sculptures from steel. Sokari has received various awards which include the recipient of the 1982 Saatchi & Saatchi Aware, the 1983 Princess of Wales Scholarship and Henry Moore Foundation bursary, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005. To see more of Sokari's work, visit our Instagram page @InStudiowithSO. Learn more about us at www.instudiowithso.com. -- All views and opinions expressed by guests are their own.
Nigeria hangs human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Kenule “Ken” Saro-Wiwa was born on October 10, 1941 in Bori, Nigeria, a member of the Ogoni ethnic minority. The homelands of the Ogoni are in the Niger Delta, where oil extraction has negatively impacted the environment. As an adult, Saro-Wiwa became a successful businessman who in time turned his attention to writing novels and producing television programs – both to high acclaim. However, his political and environmental involvement caught the attention of Nigeria’s military government. In 1990, Saro-Wiwa founded MOSOP, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, through which he and other supporters pressed the government to address the environmental damage from oil companies Shell and British Petroleum. In May 1994, the government arrested Saro-Wiwa, later sentencing him to death for the alleged murders of four Ogoni elders. Leaders from around the globe urged Nigeria’s government to grant clemency for what everyone knew to be trumped-up convictions. Despite world attention, however, Saro-Wiwa and eight other dissidents were executed on November 10, 1995. International response was swift; the Commonwealth suspended Nigeria and the European Union imposed sanctions. Despite UN resolutions to revisit the trial, the Nigerian government has not budged and Saro-Wiwa is still a convicted murderer. On the tenth anniversary of his hanging, at least 28 countries took place in commemorating Saro-Wiwa and the other eight victims. A year later a Living Memorial was unveiled by Saro-Wiwa’s son in London, England. Nigerian artist Sokari Douglas Camp sculpted an enormous silver steel bus which toured England in 2006. Douglas Camp said she was “trying to convey a bit of Nigerian spirit which laughs at itself all the time.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
1-54 Forum London 16 - 19 October 2014 Artist Talk Simon Njami (writer, curator and co-founder of the seminal magazine Revue Noire) on the establishment of a canon with artists Sokari Douglas Camp and Abdoulaye Konaté. www.1-54.com
This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is exploring the impact of the great European age of expansion and discovery during the 15th and 16th Centuries. In the last programme he described the technology that allowed Europeans to sail around the world in great galleons, the "space ships of their age". Today he looks at what happens when Europeans started trading in West Africa and first came upon the ancient culture of Benin in present day Nigeria. Neil describes the world of this hugely successful warrior kingdom and the culture that produced such exquisite artwork. He also describes what happened when the British raided Benin at the end of the 19th Century and the effect that these brass portraits first had when they arrived in London. The artist Sokari Douglas Camp reflects on the sculptures as art while the Nigerian poet and playwright Wole Soyinka reacts to the violent history of Benin and the loss of part of their great heritage. Producer: Anthony Denselow.