Demas Nwoko
| Demas Nwoko | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1935 Idumoje Ugboko |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Known for | Stage design, Painting |
| Notable work | Cultural Center, Ibadan |
| Movement | Independence |
Demas Nwoko (born 1935) is a Nigerian artist, protean designer, architect and master builder. As an artist, he strives to incorporate modern techniques in architecture and stage design to enunciate African subject matter in most of his works. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Mbari club of Ibadan, a committee of burgeoning Nigerian and foreign artists. He was also a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. In the 1970s, he was the publisher of the now defunct New Culture magazine.
Nwoko, sees design as an ingenuous activity that carries with it a focus on social responsibility for positive influences in the environment and culture of the society.
Nwoko was born in 1935 in Idumuje Ugboko, a town that now has as its Obi (King) Nwoko's brother. Nwoko grew up in Idumuje Ugboko appreciating the newly constructed architectural edifices in the town and in the palace of the Obi, his father. He went to study fine arts at the Zaria College of Arts, Science and Technology in 1956, a year after the college was moved from its original location in Ibadan to Zaria. In 1962, he received a scholarship from the Congress of Cultural Freedom to study at the Centre Français du Théâtre in Paris where he learned scenic design.
From 1957 to 1961 he studied Fine Arts at the former College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University), where he was exposed to conventional Western techniques in art, though like most of the artists at the school their subject matter was predominantly African. In the late 1950s, together with Uche Okeke, Simon Okeke and few other art students, he formed the Art Society. This was during a period dominated by nationalistic fervour, with the attainment of national political independence in 1960. The Art Society became known for championing Natural Synthesis, a term coined by Uche Okeke to describe the combination of contemporary Western art techniques and African ideas, art forms, and themes.
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