Words, Ireho Aito | Don’t Keep Your Art in the Finger! Photographs, Ireho Aito, Babatunde Muyi

It all began on December 1, 1965, when Ebun Clark picked up a discarded print by Bruce Onobrakpeya titled “Moon and Offending Christian,” a lino print that caught her discerning eye. Captivated, she went on to acquire two additional works, spending a total of nine British pounds — three pounds each. That simple purchase would set the tone for a lifelong journey in print collection and mark the beginning of a remarkable friendship and the evolution of a modernist vision.

Nearly sixty years later, on October 19, 2025, that story came full circle as the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, hosted a landmark exhibition titled “Six Decades of Vision: Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Prints and The Global Print Family in the Collection of Prof. Ebun Clark.”

A no-sale showcase of friendship, artistry, and cultural devotion, the exhibition celebrated two icons whose intertwined journeys have profoundly shaped Nigeria’s art history Professor Ebun Clark and Bruce Onobrakpeya.

The exhibition was sponsored by Oluwani Creative Arts Foundation, Legacy Art Foundation and MT Management Transformation, a strategic consulting firm.

The exhibition unfolds like a visual memoir, weaving together six decades of shared passion, artistry, and mutual admiration. Each piece on display tells a story not just of artistic evolution, but of a relationship grounded in respect, curiosity, and enduring faith in the power of art to connect worlds.

Visitors, patrons, and friends were ushered into the gallery with a room dedicated to the iconic Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, setting the tone for an evening steeped in nostalgia and brilliance. The curation was masterfully handled by Moses Ohiomokhare and Mudiare Onobrakpeya and both captured the depth and rhythm of a lifelong dialogue between collector and creator.

The event was as colourful as the decades it represented. Photographs chronicled 60 years of consistent collecting, evoking memories of artistic milestones, shared milestones, and the evolving story of Nigerian modern art.

In that hall of memories, surrounded by prints from three continents, it became clear that this was more than an exhibition, indeed it was a celebration of vision, devotion, and friendship that has shaped the landscape of African art for over half a century.