Contemporary African Art
Onyema Offoedu-Okeke is a recognized talent whose work has been exhibited in Africa, Europe,the Americas, Asia and found among the private collections of a number of noteworthy individuals around the world. As you navigate this visual anthology, you are bound to recognize the sheer expressive versatility as well as tonal poignancy that underline this artist’s practice as he concretizes his astute observations and mindscapes through an assiduous wedding of color, rhythm, pattern and poetry. Through the edginess of Onyema’s sharp and sometimes rebellious eyes, are arresting imagistic reminders of the manifold ways in which corruption, dictatorship, and sundry forms of misrule, have left their awful imprints on people in Africa and other parts of the world. His canvas seeks always to break out beyond any confines in order to create or sustain connections – an artist who wants us to realize that the grim harvest of malaise and maladies in the world are as bad for global instability as they are for the citizens who immediately endure them. Dr. Anueyiagu invites you to experience his gallery of this remarkable artist’s work. You will see that his paintings are shaped by, and reflect, the metamorphic dynamism to be encountered in Africa’s social, cultural and political experiences. The contributing editorial content of this book offers much to the interested reader to better understand and appreciate the rich culture of this specific genre or art.
BIAFRA: The Horrors of War
One of the most troubling questions that faced some of those who fought on the Nigerian side during and after that devastating war, was: what were they actually and essentially fighting for; were they fighting to integrate and restore normalcy to the tittering country, or fighting to create and enliven a new class of ruthlessly domineering and corrupt class? To many then, and more glaringly today, it has become clear that in addition to the many other insidious reasons for the prosecution of the war, the actors from the Nigerian side, used the war to breed a brigade of privileged vultures and what one can, conveniently and without hesitation refer to, as wicked preening maggots, who under the guise of patriotism, caused the death of well over three million Igbo and other Easterners. This new class of “victorious” Nigerians have plundered the commonwealth of the country and plunged it into political and economic turmoil and uncertainty.
For those minority believers who thought that they were actually fighting to enthrone equity, justice and peace, and for those who paid the ultimate price trying to do so, they must be reeling with pain and disbelief, and turning in their graves as they see what has become of their country.
Nigeria today, many years after the end of the war, is precariously hanging on a battered gale of anarchy and disintegration by centrifugal and perennial threats to the fabrics of its continuing existence. To me, the disintegration of Nigeria as intrinsically pernicious and innately destructive or injurious as it may be, continue to present an option that an obvious continuous existence as one nation in an atmosphere and conditions of intricate and internecine turmoil and conflicts, are more harmful with prolonged calamities and destructive outcomes.
THE MAKING OF A MODERN HOUSE
The Alpharetta Home of Okey & Hadiza
The deliberate and meticulous selection of the home’s finishes, fixtures, lighting and furnishings create a strong, but subtle ample harmonious combinations of all these elements.
When combined, the features of this home from the door handles, the light switches and sockets, the ceiling fans, the air vents, to the furniture and other amenities, create an environment that facilitates and enhances modern life.
I invite you to enjoy the photographs of some of the features of our home in this book.