Diaspora and Africa’s Educational Transformation: Moyo Okediji’s Visual Arts Exploits

As far back as in the late 19th Century, African Art became popular in Europe and America due to the fact that they were gifted out or stolen as historical fact has it, with the well-known examples of the looted Benin Artifacts. There are however, new waves of globalization of African Art going on through the exploits of many African artists in the Diaspora for more than two decades. Notable among them are artists of Nigerian origin such as Dele Jegede, Obiora Udechukwu, Moyo Okedeiji, Ray Soko and Yisa Akinbolaji to mention but a few. While each of these artists is renowned for certain peculiarities of their works. This paper focuses on the artistic exploits of Moyo Okediji for a number of reasons, especially because he is known to have derived his artistic ideas from Yoruba cultural idioms. In pursuance of his art practices, he co-founded the “Ona Group” (an art movement known for adaptation of Yoruba traditional motifs and icons in their artworks) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. It later gained wider acceptance by the students and lecturers in the department who apply them in their works. This paper elucidates how Moyo Okediji carried the Yoruba “Onaism” cultural concept into the global art space through his art practices and teachings at the University of Texas, Austin, USA, as well as his continued influences on the art department of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Keywords: Diaspora, Yoruba Culture, Traditional Motifs, Artistic Exploits, Visual Adaptation