Celebrating Nigerian postcolonial modernist artist, Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu.
This talk is about researching the ‘Danford Collection of West African Art and Artefacts’ in ways which ‘unsettle’ its primary narratives and allow a multiplicity of perspectives to emerge. Searching for women’s stories within the collection uncovered a rare artwork by female Nigerian postcolonial modernist artist Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu. Artists in Lagos describe Ugbodaga-Ngu as a pioneer, but like so many women, her contribution is obscured in the historical record and her work is not visible in collections. This talk celebrates an influential artist and educator, whose biography complicates and destabilises orthodox understandings of Nigerian female artists and their contributions to modernism.
[The main event image shows Clara Esto Ugbodaga with her self-portrait and Nigerian Federal Commissioner, Matthew Mbu, London August 1st 1958 (photograph by John Franks/Keystone/Getty Images)]
Event Details
Speaker: Stacey Kennedy (M4C PhD Candidate in the School of History and Cultures)
Location: Danford Room (Arts 224), Edgbaston Campus
Date: 26 October 2021
Time: 13:00-14:00
Event Information
This event will be taking place on campus in Danford Room in the Arts Building as part of Black History Month.
We ask that attendees register so that we do not exceed the room capacity. The room will be well-ventilated and where possible we encourage and recommend that attendees wear face masks.
If you have registered but are unable to attend, please let us know, so that the ticket can be offered to someone else.
The talk will be recorded and made available on the School of History and Cultures New pages.
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