Okwui Enwezor during a press tour Kendall Geers exhibition.

Ten Exhibitions That Changed Global Art: The Igbo Genius of Okwui Enwezor

Okwui Enwezor in 2002 as he prepared the exhibition "Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994,* at what is now MoMA PSI. The work of Samuel Fosso is on the wall. Edward Keating/The New York Times Few figures have shaken the foundations of the global art world like Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019), the Igbo-born curator,…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Biography

Professor Ernest Nneji Emenyonu: The Voice That Traced Igbo Literature Back to 1857

Professor Ernest N. Emenyonu at a library. Source: Igbostudies.org. “Okwu bụ ndụ.” (Words are life). The old proverb could well summarise Emenyonu’s life's work. To him, literature was not simply art; it was history, language, and identity woven together like the intricate threads of akwete cloth. From Umuahia to the World Born…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Biography

Fredrick Nnabuenyi Ugonna: Guardian of Igbo Heritage

In the heart of Africa, where words carry rhythm and wisdom, stood Fredrick Nnabuenyi Ugonna, a man whose life became a testament to the saying, “A na-amụta asụsụ n’ụlọ ka e wee mara onye bụ onye” (One learns language at home to know where they come from). He was not just a linguist…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Okwui Enwezor – African Contemporary Art Icon, African Art Critic, African Writer, African Poet

Biography

Okwui Enwezor: The Igbo Curator Who Globalised African Art

Okwui Enwezor Nigerian curator, poet and art critic photographed in New York City 2008 (Photo by Steve Pyke/Getty Images) In the bustling world of contemporary art, few names evoke as much reverence and intellectual depth as Okwui Enwezor. Born in 1963 in Awkuzu, Anambra State, Enwezor’s story began far from the grand museums of Europe or…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Biography Cultural Heritage Historical Studies

Cyprian Ekwensi and the Cinema World: The Igbo Novelist as Actor, Scriptwriter, and Film Critic

Portrait Photo of Cyprian Ekwensi. credit:Writer Pictures. Long before Nollywood’s floodlights and rolling cameras, there was a man whose stories flickered like film reels in the minds of his readers, Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi, the Igbo novelist who blurred the lines between literature and cinema. Born in 1921 in Minna, Niger State, to Igbo parents from…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Dehlia Victoria Umunna. Source: Harvard law school - Harvard University

Biography

Professor Dehlia Victoria Umunna: The Igbo Woman Who Brought Humanity to Harvard Law

Dehlia Victoria Umunna. Source: Harvard Law School - Harvard University The hum of conversation filled the air as students entered Harvard Law School’s Ames Courtroom, where Professor Dehlia Victoria Umunna stood poised to teach. Her calm authority and deep compassion filled the room, yet her journey had begun far from the polished corridors of Cambridge, Massachusetts.…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Biography

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Igbo Woman, Global Leader

Credit: Bold & Beautiful Magazine In the quiet town of Ogwashi-Ukwu, nestled within the rich cultural soil of Delta State, a girl was born who would one day hold the world’s attention. Her name, Ngozi, means “blessing” in Igbo; a fitting prophecy for a life that would uplift millions. Born on June 13, 1954,…

ByChinemerem Okwuchukwu1 day ago0Comments

Chief Of Ndelle, Ikwerre Igbo. Credit: Tribes of the Niger Delta, P.A. Talbot 1910s.

Anthropology and Ethnography Ethnohistory Historical Studies

Dick Azundah Hekerem Emejuru: The Man Who Struck the Chord of Division Between the South-South and South-East Igbo People

By Ogwe Chibuzor & Edited by Idenze Ezeme In the contested terrain of southern Nigeria’s ethnic historiography, few individuals have influenced the identity discourse of the South-South Igbo People as profoundly—and controversially—as Late Elder Dick Azundah Hekerem Emejuru. Through his long career in education and his writings on the origins of the Ikwerre, Ogba, and…

ByIdenze EzemeOctober 20, 20250Comments

Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor speaking at a podium during a book reading.

Biography Cultural Heritage

The Journey of Nnedi Okorafor: From Comics and Paralysis to Black Panther

Nnedi Okorafor. Source: Americanlibrariesmagazine.com The Igbo say, “Nwata bulie aka gbagbuo ozu, o mara na ọ bụ ihe dị ndụ o buliri” ( when a child lifts what he believes to be a corpse and it moves, he learns it was alive all along). That is how Nnedi Okorafor’s journey began with a love…

ByChinemerem OkwuchukwuOctober 20, 20250Comments

Anthropology and Ethnography Ethnohistory

Akalaka: The Progenitor of the Ogba, Ekpeye, and Ikwerre People

A dancer Ogbukele festival, Ekpafia Igbo. Photographed by G.I. Jones The figure of Akalaka occupies a central position in the collective memory of the Igbo people of Ogba, Ekpeye, and Ikwerre peoples of present-day Rivers State, Nigeria. His story blends history, oral tradition, and ethnolinguistic continuity, linking three closely related…

ByIdenze EzemeOctober 19, 20250Comments