Nwoko’s Heritage – Points of Action.

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The birth of a new cultural movement’, one participant called Legacy’s online event last week. In the presence of famous Nigerian artist Baba Demas Nwoko himself, the well attended webinar about how to preserve, protect and promote Nwoko’s work in Nigeria, brought together professionals and heritage lovers to deliberate about how to honour the artist’s heritage.

The winner of the Golden Lion for Life Time Achievement at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2023 described himself as ‘a simple worker in the vineyard’, and said he was overwhelmed by the attention he is getting these days. ‘Architecture to me is about geography and culture’, the 88-year-old artist said, and that it came to him naturally.

Dean of the Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning, Abimbola Asojo showed the audience how Nwoko’s work is an inspiration to her students, as researcher and architect Ayodele Arigbabu advocated for a well rounded curriculum covering Nigerian and African traditional and modern architecture at schools of architecture in Nigeria. Sierra Leonean architect Joseph Conteh explained that Baba has done much of the work for us by writing extensively about his work and philosophy. Nwoko’s daughter Anyibofu Nwoko Ugbodaga stressed the need to legally protect her father’s work.

About a hundred participants and the representatives stakeholder organisation in heritage management in Nigeria, from the Nigerian Institute for Architects (NIA) to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to United Nations Cultural Organisation UNESCO.

And the webinar did not stop at just talking. Four points of action were decided on:

1. Get Demas Nwoko’s work on the curriculum of Nigerian schools of architecture. NIA President Ben-Eboh was optimistic that this could be done in a reasonable amount of time.
2. Find out what happened to Demas Nwoko’s sculptures that used to be in the departure hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The monumental totems disappeared during a renovation decades ago. Lagos National Museum Curator Linus Kingi promised to help.
3. Making sure Demas Nwoko’s art and architecture get protected under national and international heritage laws. UNESCO National Programme Officer in Abuja, Victor Ajaegbo, said to be invested in this.
4. Organise tours to sites with Baba’s architecture, like for instance Ibadan where the Dominican Chapel and the New Culture Studios can be visited. This is something Legacy will pick up.

Legacy will keep reminding the attending organisations and participants of these points of action, meant to preserve, protect and promote Demas Nwoko’s heritage.

You missed the webinar? No problem! Click here to view its recording on Youtube.