Osei Bonsu, Senior Curator of International Art, Africa and Diaspora at Tate Modern, on how artists redefined modernism in Nigeria through independence, imagination, and cultural synthesis
Installation view of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern, 8 October 2025-10 May 2026. © Tate Photography (Jai Monaghan)
Now open at Tate Modern, ‘Nigerian Modernism’ is the first major UK exhibition to trace the development of modern art in Nigeria from the 1940s to the 1990s. Curated by Osei Bonsu and Bilal Akkouche, the exhibition brings together over 250 works by more than 50 artists, exploring how painters, sculptors, photographers, and ceramicists redefined modernism during a period of profound political and cultural change.
From Aina Onabolu’s early portraits to the Zaria Art Society’s radical concept of Natural Synthesis and Uzo Egonu’s diasporic reflections, ‘Nigerian Modernism’ presents an expansive narrative of innovation, resilience, and creative independence. Osei Bonsu reflects on the exhibition’s curatorial vision, the legacies of decolonisation, and how Nigeria’s artistic modernism continues to reshape global art history.
Installation view of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern, 8 October 2025-10 May 2026. © Tate Photography (Jai Monaghan)
ART AFRICA: You’re presenting ‘Nigerian Modernism’—the first major UK exhibition to trace the evolution of modern art in Nigeria. How did you approach presenting this complex story within an international museum while staying true to local artistic, historical, and cultural contexts?
Osei Bonsu: Our approach was to foreground the local contexts that shaped Nigerian modernism while situating these within broader global artistic dialogues. The exhibition traces the multidirectional development of modern art in Nigeria, socially, politically, and culturally, beginning in the early 20th century.
We highlight pioneering figures such as Aina Onabolu and Akinola Lasekan, who worked within the academic realist tradition, alongside artists like the Olowe of Ise, who reinterpreted indigenous carving practices. Academic realism, in particular, emerged as both a challenge to colonial stereotypes about African creativity and as a form of self-representation for Nigeria’s educated, politically engaged classes.
As the exhibition unfolds, it examines the intersections between European art education and the rise of new artistic movements such as the Zaria Art Society, which advanced the concept of Natural Synthesis to decolonise art education. Across these interconnected chapters, ‘Nigerian Modernism’ reveals how negotiations between the local and the global, rooted in histories of cultural exchange and indigenous creativity, shaped a distinctly Nigerian modernism.
Installation view of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern, 8 October 2025-10 May 2026. © Tate Photography (Jai Monaghan)
The exhibition moves from the colonial period through independence to the late twentieth century, revealing shifting ideas of identity, belonging, and nationhood. How did you navigate these transitions without reducing them to a linear narrative of progress?
We deliberately moved away from a linear, chronological structure in favour of a more expansive, transhistorical approach. Rather than presenting a straightforward story of art, the exhibition places works in conversation across time, revealing continuities and ruptures in how artists have engaged with ideas of identity and nationhood.
During the independence era, many artists turned to the visual and cultural traditions of their forebears. Uche Okeke drew inspiration from Nigerian folklore and Igbo women’s Uli mural art, while Ben Enwonwu engaged deeply with indigenous masquerade practices rooted in his spiritual heritage. Both artists sought to recover and reimagine visual languages embedded in Igbo cosmology.
In one of the exhibition’s final galleries, Uli motifs that inspired Okeke and Enwonwu reappear in archival images of large-scale murals from southeastern Nigeria during the early 20th century. Here, abstraction is reinterpreted as an indigenous visual language, one grounded in centuries of women’s artistic knowledge. This closing gesture reframes abstraction itself as part of a long local lineage, challenging the foundations of Nigerian modernism.
Installation view of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern, 8 October 2025-10 May 2026. © Tate Photography (Jai Monaghan)
The Zaria Art Society’s idea of Natural Synthesis forms a central thread in the exhibition. How does this philosophy help us understand the broader relationship between tradition and modernity in Nigerian art?
The philosophy of Natural Synthesis, developed by members of the Zaria Art Society at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, was foundational in shaping a distinctly Nigerian approach to modernism. It encouraged artists to merge local and global influences to create an art form resonant with the realities of a new, postcolonial nation.
Each artist interpreted this philosophy differently, resulting in a dynamic spectrum of styles that reflected Nigeria’s multi-ethnic and multi-faith society. Their works combined aspects of European modernism with diverse African visual traditions, articulating new visions of national identity through deeply personal and culturally rooted forms.
Crucially, Natural Synthesis empowered artists to transcend rigid cultural boundaries and to redefine what modern African art could be. It remains a key framework for understanding how Nigerian modernism both absorbed and transformed global modernist ideas.
Installation view of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern, 8 October 2025-10 May 2026. © Tate Photography (Jai Monaghan)
The exhibition’s multidisciplinary scope—from painting and ceramics to photography and textiles—suggests a dialogue between artists, materials, and movements. How did curatorial decisions about display and pacing help bring these relationships to life?
A central curatorial aim was to honour the cultural contexts and hierarchies of value within which these artists worked. Historically, vernacular art forms such as textiles and ceramics have been positioned as secondary to painting and sculpture, a hierarchy that also reflects gendered biases in art history.
In ‘Nigerian Modernism’, we sought to redress this imbalance by foregrounding the contributions of women artists such as Ladi Kwali and Nike Davies-Okundaye. Their works are presented alongside those of their male contemporaries, revealing how dialogue across disciplines has always been integral to Nigerian creativity.
The exhibition’s spatial and visual rhythm encourages reflection, inviting visitors to move between mediums, generations, and artistic ideas. This approach creates a living conversation between materials and ideas, echoing the fluid exchanges that have long defined Nigerian artistic practice.
Installation view of ‘Nigerian Modernism’ at Tate Modern, 8 October 2025-10 May 2026. © Tate Photography (Jai Monaghan)
Looking ahead, what do you hope ‘Nigerian Modernism’ will contribute to the global reimagining of modern art history, and how might it open new conversations between institutions, scholars, and artists across Africa and the diaspora?
‘Nigerian Modernism’ represents one chapter in a larger, still-evolving story of modern African art. It has already sparked meaningful dialogue among scholars and artists within and beyond Nigeria and the UK.
I hope the exhibition empowers a new generation of artists and cultural practitioners to explore Africa’s storied modern art traditions and to see themselves as part of an ongoing global conversation. It also underscores the importance of sustained collaboration, particularly with institutions on the African continent.
Our partnership with MOWAA (the Museum of West African Art) in Benin City, for instance, supported conservation and condition reporting for over fifty Nigerian works, demonstrating how collaboration can strengthen exchange and sustainability across museum networks. Ultimately, I hope ‘Nigerian Modernism’ encourages continued exchange, research, and creativity, expanding how we understand and teach the histories of modern art.
‘Nigerian Modernism’ runs until 10 May 2026 at Tate Modern, London. For more information, visit www.tate.org.uk.
