Young Nigerian Sculptress Holds Her First Exhibition Of Her Works Showing The Lifestyle Back In Nigeria

Sokari Douglas Camp talks about her kinetic sculptures, inspired by the Kalabari people of her homeland.

Moving sculptures of Kalabari men and women in festive costumes and a fishing boat with a spirit figure aboard are displayed in Sokari Douglas Camp’s first public exhibition taking place at Milton Keynes. The artist talks about her most recent visit to the Kalabari delta during a celebratory festival and how she has captured the atmosphere in mild steel, drawing on her art school training in welding and electrical mechanisms. She mentions the effect of the recent Nigerian oil boom on employment in the local fishing industry. She explains the masquerader dancing figure representing a water spirit and the significance of dance as the main art form of the delta people. Sokari talks about the effect of the exhibited work as being like going to see a movie. More views of the sculptures and photographs on display with percussion music and singing. The reporter was Peter Lugg for this video made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Keywords

Art; Sculpture; Kinetic art; Exhibitions; Steel; Dancing; Water spirits; Nigeria

Additional Description

Sokari Douglas Camp CBE was born in 1958 in Buguma, Nigeria, a Kalabari town in the Niger Delta. She studied art at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California (1979–80), studied for her BA degree at the Central School of Art and Design, London (1980–83), and her MA at the Royal College of Art (1983–86). As a London-based artist she has had exhibitions around the world. ‘Describing her practice as "welding, cutting and bending sheet steel and recycled oil barrels into shape", she draws from her Kalabari heritage and the history of European art, creating pieces that address socio-political issues and the history of the African Diaspora.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_blZ_ZLtzxs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokari_Douglas_Camp https://awarewomenartists.com/en/artiste/sokari-douglas-camp/