Reaching out towards the light

The artwork of sculptor, painter and graphic artist Tony Nwachukwu reflects the ethnic diversity of modern Nigeria. In the paintings that he made for this calendar, Nwachukwu explores the relationship between ancient civilizations, such as that of the Igbo, and present-day Western influences.

Born in 1959 in the city of Enugu, Nwachukwu belongs to the Igbo, a Christian population of some 18 million people who live mainly in southeastern Nigeria. Relations remain strained between the Igbo and the country’s other two large ethnic groups, the Hausa and the Yoruba.

Raised in a Christian family, Nwachukwu’s faith waned during his student years, but was rekindled when he became a teacher. “Since then, Jesus again lives for me. With my paintings and sculptures, I in fact bear witness to my reborn spirituality.”

After art studies at the University of Nigeria, he started out as an art history teacher, but soon gave this up and opened a gallery in the city of Owerri.

The environment and society are two themes that run through Nwachukwu’s artwork.

The enormous corruption and frequent outbursts of violence between Christians and Muslims are due to poor management of cultural conflicts, says the artist.

The export of oil from the coastal region has enriched a tiny elite, but left the local population poor. Oil is in abundance, whereas drinking water is in short supply.

Nwachukwu is critical of how African countries base their development on Western concepts that are unsuitable. With the paintings in this calendar, he calls for “an openness to new insights and ideas, and this time not only from the West”.

His hunger cloth for the 2010 Lenten campaign is titled ‘Preserve Creation, so that all can Live’. At the centre of the cloth, a group of people are shown gathered around the Easter light of Christ.

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