The death has been announced of Mrs Aino Oni Okpaku who died on 26 December 2019, in her home country, Sweden.
Mrs Aino Oni Okpaku was the founder and owner of Quintessence, the highbrow gift and art shop which has remained a tireless supporter of the arts and writers serving as a ready space for readings by new and established authors.
Quintessence started off in 1975 as a shop for high quality audio, television and hi-fi equipment, accessories and furniture. It later pivoted into a major outlet for quality literary works, arts and craft.
Its first home was at Falomo shopping center on Awolowo road before it moved to Parkview.
Mrs Oni-Okpaku studied textile arts at the School of Arts and Crafts, Goteborg, Sweden and graduated in 1962. She later opened her own studio in Stockholm and practised her craft for almost a decade before travelling to the United States of America for her Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1971.
She came to Nigeria with her late husband in1973
(Additional reporting from Narrative Landscape.)
