The Slade Lectures, which were founded in pursuance of the will of Felix Slade in 1869, focused on art historical topics, as they continue to do so today. John Ruskin delivered his first lecture as the Slade Professor of Fine Art in 1870. The Slade Professorship in conjunction with the University's museums, libraries and college collections helped to foster a wider interest in the history of art. Find out more about past Slade Lectures on the History of Art Department homepage: https://www.hoa.ox.ac.uk/slade-lectures
Slade Lecture Series 2023: Defiant Sculpture: Isek Bodys Kingelez and Mobutu Sese-Seko’s Authenticité, 1990s
Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu argues that the extravagant hypermodernity of Isek Bodys Kingelez’s architectural sculptures, as with segments of popular arts, constitute a distinctive form of imaginative resistance to official culture under Mobutu. In this lecture, Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu discusses Mobutu Sese-Seko who, as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (1965-1996), exemplified the theatrical Big Man ruler in postcolonial Africa. By deploying anti-Communist rhetoric, he secured Western Bloc support of his spectacularly kleptocratic regime and, through his anti-Western Authenticité program, created a national culture in his own image. Against Mobutu’s repressive political practice and ideology, Okeke-Agulu reads the architectural sculptures of Isek Bodys Kingelez (1948-2015). He argues that their extravagant hypermodernity, as with segments of popular arts, constitute a distinctive form of imaginative resistance to official culture under Mobutu. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
18 May 2023
Slade Lecture Series 2023: Drawing the Line: Obiora Udechukwu and Nigeria’s Smiling General 1980s-1990s
In the 1980’s, the painter and poet Obiora Udechukwu (b. 1946), a leading figure of the Nsukka School, was at the height of his powers, with drawings and paintings celebrated for their lyrical power and trenchant social commentary. Nigeria witnessed its first military coup in 1966, a civil war (1967-70), oil boom in the 1970s. In the 1980s, General Ibrahim Babangida, the smiling, brutal dictator, enforced Structural Adjustment, raised corruption to statecraft and impoverished the citizenry. In that same decade, the painter and poet Obiora Udechukwu (b. 1946), a leading figure of the Nsukka School, was at the height of his powers, with drawings and paintings celebrated for their lyrical power and trenchant social commentary. Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu considers the fate of art and the broader critical culture during the long decade, in the shadow of the military regimes. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
18 May 2023
Slade Lecture Series 2023: Prison Drawing: Ibrahim El Salahi in Al Nimeiry’s Sudan, 1970s
In this lecture, Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu focuses on the calligraphic figuration of Ibrahim El Salahi (b. 1930), the country’s leading modernist and onetime political prisoner. Two years after its political independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956, Sudan witnessed the first of many military coups that have been a recurring feature of the country’s postcolonial history. In this lecture, Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu focuses on the calligraphic figuration of Ibrahim El Salahi (b. 1930), the country’s leading modernist and onetime political prisoner. Okeke-Agulu shows how the sophisticated formalism of Salahi’s drawings constituted a meditative critique of General Jaafar Al Nimeiry’s dictatorship (1969-1985), which survived multiple coups d’état, by stoking religious and ethnic crises, and systematic suppression of all political opposition. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Contact History of Art: Slade Lecture Series
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of History of Art: Slade Lecture Series?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
