As the very last event of 2013 at CCA,Lagos and a first in Nigeria, we have great pleasure in inviting you to an informal artist talk and meeting with internationally acclaimed London based Nigerian artist Sokari Douglas Camp.
Sokari Douglas Camp CBE was born in 1958 in Buguma, Nigeria, to a Kalabari family.
Douglas Camp moved to the UK where she studied art, first at the Central School (1980-83) and then the Royal College of Art (1983- 86). Douglas Camp is a sculptor whose primary material is steel and she uses it to construct large scale sculptures. In observing both the British and Nigerian cultural realities from the perspectives described as ‘outside’, Douglas-Camp believes she perceives both cultures with a great clarity, describing her work as being ‘about what’s going on in London’ whilst also celebrating her Kalabari culture.
In 2005 Sokari exhibited as part of Africa 05 in the UK. Her piece Aso-Ebi Lace and Sweat and Tears was displayed as the centre piece for the Ground Force Africa Garden during the event. In the same year Sokari was awarded a CBE by HM Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her outstanding contribution to art.
Sokari’s work has featured in over 40 solo exhibitions internationally and her work is to be found in private and public collections such as the British Museum, London and the Museum of African Art in Washington and Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo. Her piece Memorial Bus (2006) for the murdered Nigerian activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwo have been touring in the United Kingdom.
