When the art department of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was founded in 1961, one of its two pioneer teachers was Akinola Lasekan (1916-1974), an established painter who was perhaps better known as the nationalist cartoonist, Lash, whose cartoons appeared for some two decades in the West African Pilot (a newspaper publication). Why none of the first three sets of art graduates (1965, 1966, 1967) specialized in painting despite the presence of Lasekan, and later, in 1962/

Creative practice and political crusading could well be the sub-theme for this exhibition. Through the ages, the role of the artist in...