If the late Professor Ali Mazrui, the renowned African historian and documentary filmmaker had been alive to see Afuevu Onakufe’s mini-documentary on Nigeria’s nine printmaking grandmasters and that exclusive interview with Professor Salubi Onakufe, he might have fought for a producer credit. And if the legendary Kenyan photojournalist Mohammed Amin were alive, no doubt he would have volunteered his lens to capture the stills for Reuters. That’s how powerfully interesting and emotionally engaging this forthcoming exhibition of Nine Printmaking Grandmasters is.

In just 29 minutes, Afuevu delivers what feels like a Netflix or Showmax original, a raw piece but deeply insightful, and emotionally rich. The centrepiece? A powerful interview and masterclass with Professor Salubi Onakufe, Afuevu’s father and a titan in his own right.

Watching him speak is like stepping into a postgraduate seminar wrapped in the warmth of home-grown wisdom. “Everything starts from one single room,” Prof. Onakufe says, distilling decades of experience in printmaking into a single unforgettable quote. No fancy studio needed just skill, passion, and purpose. He simply tutored everyone on mono – prints and Viscosity. His language of printmaking technique was simple, well spoken and fresh to the ears.

Afuevu doesn’t stop at the personal. He is curating the upcoming exhibition of the Nine – Printmaking Grandmasters in Nigeria at Fobally Art Gallery, Lekki, Lagos, on August 10. Afuevu brings together nine legends of Nigerian printmaking which is a rare moment in history.

The line-up is a powerful roll call of pioneers that included Chief Tayo Aiyegbusi, Prof. Solomon Wangboje, Prof. Bruce Onobrakpeya, Prof. Uche Okeke, Mr. David Dale, Mr. Ademola Williams, Prof. Salubi Onakufe, Mr. Tayo Quaye, and Dr. Kunle Adeyemi. While four of these names are no longer with us, five are still practising, still creating, still pushing boundaries as living reminders that greatness evolves, but never fades.

Those who have passed will surely be felt in spirit, while the living will share insights that only decades of hands-on mastery can offer.

For Afuevu, this project is more than an exhibition. It is a love letter to Nigerian art and a documentation feat few imagined possible. His effort reminds us that we have all dabbled in printmaking before while rubbing those old 5kobo and 10kobo coins under sheets of paper and spreading our ink or lead from the pens or pencils on the coins as children. Not at all knowing we were playing with the very building blocks of an art form. Now, the masters return to remind us how far that simple joy can go.

The curator of this ground-breaking exhibition Afuevu Onakufe was born into art. His extended family legacy, Onakufe and Onobrakpeya has been shaping Nigerian creative space for decades.

Afuevu Onakufe’s name and as an artist, curator, and cultural torchbearer, stirs much power and vision. Afuevu isn’t just making waves but carrying a legacy on his shoulders that some from illustrious background are finding difficult to shoulder.

Afuevu is the manager of Oyoma Visual Arts Studio & Gallery, a space where the past, present, and future of Nigerian art often collide in the most beautiful way. But here, what makes his story even more compelling is art runs in his blood.

His father, Professor Salubi Onakufe, is a respected artist and educator whose work spans decades. His uncle? None other than Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, a living legend and treasure in Nigerian art circles and a pioneer of modern printmaking in Africa. They have been running Harmattan Workshop at Agbarha Otor in Delta State for 27 years. They are precious icons!

But don’t get it twisted, Afuevu is not just riding on famous coattails. He is carving out his own bold path with an abstract expressionist style that speaks volumes without needing to shout. His canvases are emotional storms, layered, bold, and bursting with personal vision. They don’t whisper. They sing.

He confesses he also lived inside Ovuomaroro Gallery where the master himself Bruce Onobrakpeya gave the world those visual arts vocabulary in printmaking. Afuevu is related to the family and he crawled and walked in and out of that edifice situated in Mushin, a Lagos suburb for over 40 years.

At a time, Afuevu Onakufe and his mother were living with the father in the United States of America before one of Professor Salubi Onakufe’s uncles advised the father to return home as there were lot of prospects for his art odyssey than in America. Professor Salubi Onakufe adhered to the call and was back home.

While Afuevu is a powerful artist in his own right, Afuevu also shines behind the scenes. He’s the kind of curator who doesn’t just hang art on walls but tells stories through space. His recent curatorial projects are a who’s who of Nigerian art milestones.

From the “Warri Arts Festival: Kpakam!” in 2020 to the deeply moving “Solo Retrospective of Prof. Salubi Onakufe (1975–2023)” at Iwalewa Art Gallery in Lagos, Afuevu has proven time and again that he has the eye and the heart to bring Nigerian art history to life.

And now, he is gearing up for a landmark show entitled “Nine Printmaking Grandmasters,” an extraordinary exhibition, celebrating the heroes of Nigerian printmaking. Think Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke, Salubi Onakufe, and other masters whose artistic sojourn dutifully shaped generations, their printworks and footsteps have lived forever with us right from our cradle and the time of reading African Writers’ Series.

For the sceptics, this exhibition is more than an art show. This time, it stands to be a movement, a statement and a revival.

Afuevu Onakufe in an exclusive interview with Ireho Aito, speaks about art as something sacred but accessible, something personal yet universal. He is not only here just to preserve a legacy but to elevate and evolve it.

Q: This exhibition brings together the legends of Nigerian printmaking. What inspired this gathering of grandmasters at this particular moment in time?

A:
The inspiration came from a need to highlight an artistic form that has long been underappreciated despite its unique power. While painting and sculpture often steal the spotlight in Nigeria’s art scene, printmaking has played an equally pivotal role.

Artists like Bruce Onobrakpeya are rightly celebrated, but others like Uche Okeke and Salubi Onakufe, though well-known as painters, made significant contributions to printmaking that are often overlooked. This show puts that overlooked genius on full display.

Q: How did you decide on the final list of nine artists. Was there a guiding principle or unifying thread among them?

A:
We wanted to showcase artists who represent the best of Nigerian printmaking from their generation. It is a curated perspective, of course another curator might choose differently but the focus here is on those whose work defines excellence.

The older masters and contemporary creatives form a symphonic whole, different threads in a single tapestry.

Q: Several of these artists have passed on, yet their works remain timeless. How did you approach the task of curating their legacies alongside living artists still practicing today?

A:
Timelessness was the guiding vision. These artists created work that transcends time and space whether made decades ago or today. By exhibiting both deceased and living artists side-by-side, we’ve created a symphony of visual voices. It’s not about age it’s about impact.

Q: In what ways does this exhibition speak to Nigeria’s cultural memory and visual heritage?

A:
This show situates Nigerian printmaking in a global context alongside Rembrandt, Hokusai, and other world-renowned printmakers. But it also uniquely expresses Nigeria’s cultural, communal, and environmental identity.

Each artist here visualizes Nigeria in a way that connects our local realities to universal artistic language. Their work places Nigeria firmly within the global conversation.

Prints carry voices across time and borders. Nigerian artists belong in the same creative galaxy as Rembrandt and Hokusai.”

Q: What role do you believe printmaking plays in contemporary Nigerian art, and how has it evolved since the era of these grandmasters?

A:
Printmaking needs more attention today. Many artists focus solely on unique, unreproducible works which is valid but printmaking adds depth and reach.

Through reproduction, an artist can connect with broader audiences and offer different price points. Think of Onobrakpeya’s postcards or Victor Ekpuk’s T-shirts. Prints multiply both meaning and access.

We should flood the culture with printmaking masterpieces the way Van Gogh’s Starry Night or Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam have become global icons.

Q: Were there any surprising discoveries during the preparation?

A:
Absolutely. My appreciation deepened as I saw how these artists’ lives and practices intersected and influenced each other. The idea that “our tradition is always new,” as Yoruba scholar Olabiyi Yai once said, became real for me through this process.

Q: How do you want younger artists or emerging creatives to engage with this show?

A:
Every exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. I encourage young artists to come open-minded.

If a work doesn’t move you, let it go. If it does, stay with it. Study it. Ask why it speaks to you. Let that inspiration shape your own unique voice that is a voice that connects deeply, even if appreciation takes time.

Let the works speak to you. If they touch you, stay. If not, move on. Art is about resonance.”

Q: This exhibition is being called a “landmark celebration.” Beyond the nostalgia and reverence, what do you think it says about the future of art in Nigeria?

A:
This isn’t about nostalgia or putting art behind glass. These works still speak to today’s issues and emotions.

The artists use colour, line, and form to convey Nigerian experience in ways that are eternally vibrant. I hope this exhibition pushes more artists to see printmaking as a vital expressive and economic resource not just a historical footnote.

Q: What were some of the curatorial challenges or emotional highlights of bringing these giants together under one roof?

A
It’s been humbling, like standing before a mountain. You feel small, yet inspired.

As a curator, I found myself walking a path paved by ancestors, surrounded by my peers, and preparing the way for the next generation. The journey has been emotionally rich, and I owe so much to my mentors and collaborators, my father Prof. Salubi Onakufe, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Mr. Ademola Williams, Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, and the team at Fobally Art Gallery.

Their faith, creativity, and tension helped shape this exhibition. I am eternally grateful.

“A mountain can humble and yet elevate you. That’s what this curatorial journey has been.”

For further information
afuevuonakufe@yahoomail.com
+2348080486347

Words/Interview/Ireho Aito/Don’t Keep Your Art in the Finger!/Photographs/Artists Works/Images/Dr. Afuevu Onakufe