Art As His Life

Tobenna Okwosa, first class scholar finds fulfilment in visual art, vegetarianism and celibacy

By Sylvester Asoya

In appearance, Tobenna Okwuosa, art teacher at Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State looks weird and outlandish with his bushy hairstyle and Hare Krishna  beads that hang permanently on his neck. Although vegetarianism, celibacy and Krishna consciousness are latter additions to Okwuosa’s long list of interests, visual art remains very central to his life. “I was born with art, and I have always been aware of this. Even my parents knew about this talent during those early days,” he told TheNEWS.

Son of a retired school principal father and a headmistress mother, Okwuosa began expressing himself artistically very early. As a child in the late 1970s, he would draw sketches of the then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo by merely watching his television broadcasts. Those were his days in primary school. But soon, his drawing and painting improved so much so that before he rounded off his primary school programme, he had started winning awards in art and craft competitions in Oji-River Local Government Area in present Enugu State.

From there, Okwuosa proceeded to Denis Memorial Grammar School, DMGS, Onitsha, Anambra State on the insistence of his father who wanted his young son to be taught by a certain Rowland Ndaefo, a well known art teacher in the old Eastern Region. Incidentally, Ndaefo had taught the famous University of Nigeria, Nsukka art lecturer, Professor Obiora Udechukwu. So, DMGS turned out to be the ultimate training ground where the young artist, Tobenna, honed his skills and finally decided to pursue a career in visual art.

From DMGS, he proceeded to the University of Benin for a degree in visual art. But Tobenna actually chose Uniben for selfish reasons. According to him, the reputation of Benin City as the undisputed centre of arts and culture inspired his choice. And Benin did not disappoint him as he navigated the length and breadth of the city, learning and complementing his classroom lessons with the raw skills and experiences from artisans on the streets of Benin City.

He described Uniben art school as a melting pot where the greater influence came mainly from fellow students with whom he interacted and experimented on practically every artistic front. He also encountered art teachers who were not only proficient in classroom work, but were also active in their respective studios outside the university.

In 1996, Okwuosa made a first class in sculpture. For the artist, sculpture is an unlikely area of interest or specialisation, but he actually went into it because of the challenges it presented. In many ways, he is a natural painter, so he quickly returned to painting at the post-graduate level because, according to him: “I find painting less challenging. I have always seen myself as a painter, maybe that is why I do it effortlessly.”

But before Okwuosa became an art teacher, he had practised professionally for about nine years in Lagos. During those years of practice, he claimed that his confidence and sustenance came largely from his belief that he was called to the art profession, and for that reason, he was certain that one day, he would make it big. First, he started by attending exhibitions and equally visiting artists in their studios. Later, four of his classmates at the University of Benin came together and organised an exhibition entitled Dynamism in 1999.

Less than five years after, he emerged the first recipient of Philip Ravenhill Fellowship from the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles. He also became an artist-in-residence at Worcester State College, Worcester, Massachusetts. Although Okwuosa was in the US for just four months, he made good use of the opportunity. At Worcester, he held an exhibition which he called The Igbo World and equally had speaking engagements on Igbo religion and art in some states in the United States. “In the US, I discovered myself through my art, as I realised that given the necessary environment, there is no limit to what one can produce,” he said.

For the artist, peace is the only solution to the crises in the world. So he lent his voice many years ago to this campaign with his dissertation entitled: The Cry For Global Peace. “ I have always been interested in world peace, especially regarding what could be done to achieve global peace. But for us to achieve this, we must take a look at the family as a starting point where we can cultivate this attitude of peace,” he said.

Okwuosa described the fast disappearing spirit of brotherhood which had existed among Africans as one of the obstacles on the way of peace, particularly among Africans. But he is optimistic. This optimism rests on women as not only care givers, but as a group which plays a very important role in the society. This obviously inspired his first solo exhibition at the French Cultural Centre in Lagos which he titled: Motherhood, Feminism and Values. Since the exhibition which took place about five years ago, the artist has also worked in the area of cultural activism.

He told TheNEWS that peace and harmony can only be achieved when we all begin to show love to one another, even though he regretted that Africans are getting more and more disconnected because they are alienated from natural ways. Maybe that was why he chose vegetarianism and celibacy as a way out. Two extremes loaded in just an individual? But he justified his spiritual persuasion. According to him, his “strength comes from ancient spiritual knowledge and principle of life which recommends a more simple and less violent way of eating”.