The Faculty of Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka announces its interdisciplinary African Arts Conference Series in honour of Nigerian and other African scholars who have made landmark contributions to the humanities. Under the banner “Anya Fulu Ugo”, the maiden edition will be in honour of Professors El Anatsui and Obiora Udechukwu.

Every progressive community honours and celebrates its best. As Igbo peoples say: Anya fulu ugo jaa ya mma, na-adi afu ugo kwa daa (the eye that sees an eagle should adore it, for only rarely are eagles seen). In the field of African art, many artists and scholars have distinguished themselves globally both in practice and theory over the last five decades.  With the exertion of these artists, both in Nigeria and abroad, one also likens contemporary African art to an eagle that has completed its cycle of achievements and shed its less attractive feathers in the new glow of maturity and royal radiance (Ugo gbuzuo o chakee).  This is true of some of the major players in the field of African art. In this part of the world, a few of such artists and scholars have walked across our landscape, leaving footprints that continue to be a guiding  light to generations of younger artists. In the Nsukka School of art, which was born in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, a number of bright jewels have emerged. It is from this sterling group that we have chosen to honour Professors Anatsui and Udechukwu who are acclaimed for creating a respectable body of works that have grown to defy any marginal critical or historical narrative – a microcosm of the form and content of African art today.

The broad theme of the conference is “African Art and Artists After the Millennial Turn”. It proposes an interdisciplinary approach to the discourse of the current state of art and artists in Africa and in the African Diaspora. Invited are panel and paper proposals from Nigerian, African and world scholars in mass communication, theatre and film studies, linguistics, literary studies, music, economics, anthropology, history and international relations, archaeology, tourism and museum studies, political science, etc. that examine:

?the life and work of important contemporary African artists at home or in the Diaspora.

?the work of curators of contemporary African art.

? the rising concern surrounding ownership of Africa’s cultural patrimony and the call for the restitution of Africa’s art objects looted by the West.

? the place of African national museums and galleries in the global art world.

?auction houses and the commoditisation of contemporary African art.

?the low level of critical and theoretical engagements of artistic production within Africa, and the way forward.

?the intersections and divergences between African visual art today and other branches of the arts in general.

?the role of collection of African modern art today

Panel and paper proposals should not exceed 300 words and should reflect the theme and sub-themes of the conference or related areas. Panel proposals should include the list of potential participants with their contact addresses and those of the panel chair(s).

Deadline extended to February 15, 2015

Interested scholars should submit proposals via email to our Chairman, Professor Ikenna Dieke, at diekeikenna4@gmail.com or Faculty liaison, Dr. Ozioma Onuzulike, at ozioma.onuzulike@unn.edu.ng on or before February 15, 2015.