The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art

Book excerpt: The Nsukka artists, a loosely affiliated group associated with the University of Nigeria, demonstrate the rich and sensitive face of creativity under the rapidly changing conditions of present-day Africa. This collection is weighted toward writings by African artists and art historians and is informed by an African perspective on contemporary art. In a major addition to the literature on contemporary African art, contributors explore the questions of identity faced by African artists, in both Africa and the West; broach the topic of the sometimes conflicting theories about art and the art market; and examine the tensions between traditional and postmodern approaches to making and viewing art. The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art offers pioneering and insightful material for the emergent field of contemporary African art and aesthetics. The Nsukka experience is of broad significance, not only for Africa in general, but as one aspect of a major third world contemporary art movement embracing Native American, Australian Aboriginal, and Oceanic cultures.