Ola Oloidi in the Development of Modern Art History in Nigeria, 1980 – 2020

Ola Oloidi in the Development of Modern Art History in Nigeria, 1980 – 2020

 Odoja Asogwa*, George C. Odoh, Nneka S. Odoh
Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
*Corresponding author

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2023.10409

Received: 10 March 2023; Accepted: 07 April 2023; Published: 10 May 2023

Abstract: Employing historiography, this article traces the roles of the art historian, Ola Oloidi, in the origin and development of modern Nigerian art history. The study of art history in Nigeria before Oloidi’s intervention was akin to anthropology. In the mid-1980s, he presumably changed this trend. He originated what is today known as the history of modern Nigerian art and initiated strategies to reposition art historical studies in their correct perspective. He defended the cause of modern Nigerian art and art history through incisive and insightful texts buttressed with objective, constructive, and critical arguments. Thus, he left indelible footprints in the field of art historical studies in Nigeria. Ola Oloidi’s innovative and ground-breaking ideas about art and its reportage in Nigeria provide an inestimable fount of knowledge that other Nigerian art historians have drawn from to further advance historical discourses that deepen understanding of modern Nigerian art. He bequeathed the Art Historical Association of Nigeria (AHAN) to art historians to fight against anthropological dominance and the scientification of the art historical space.

Keywords: Ola Oloidi, modern Nigerian art, modern Nigerian art history, development, Ola Oloidi foundation and gallery, Nsukka

I. Introduction

Art historians study works of art of all ages across cultures, to understand the intentions of the artist, as well as the art traditions of the cultures that produced them (D’Alleva, 2010). They present art as it changes in time and space and as well strive to explain those changes as products of thought patterns of the artists and their cultures with respect to the meaning of life and of art (Asogwa, 2021a). Art historians write about great artists to promote and immortalise them for posterity but rarely write about themselves; attitude akin to the Igbo adage that derides a cloth merchant that dresses in shabby clothing. Art historical studies have the odd tradition of art historians normally not writing about themselves but about great artists and their works. Ostensibly, they study mainly the works of art than they do the individuals who created the works. However, because hardly could art works be discussed in isolation of their creators

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