The Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art (YSMA) at Pan-Atlantic University, in partnership with SMO Contemporary Art, will host a major survey of work by Nigerian artist and scholar Chika Okeke-Agulu from November 1, 2026, to January 31, 2027.
Titled “Freedom Bird” and curated by Iheanyi Onwuegbucha alongside associate curator Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago, the retrospective brings together paintings, drawings, sculptures, poems, diary entries, photographs and archival materials.
The exhibition chronicles Okeke-Agulu’s practice across more than three decades, tracking how his artistic language emerged during the military rule of the 1980s and 1990s before expanding following his migration to the United States.
The exhibition explores themes of repression, civic life, democratic struggle, exile, memory and displacement.
Dr Jess Castellote, Director of the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art, noted that the showcase embodies the museum’s educational mission by engaging students, researchers, and the public with crucial conversations surrounding Nigerian and African art.
“YSMA was conceived as a museum where art is not simply seen, but studied, questioned and understood. ‘Freedom Bird’ embodies that philosophy in an exceptional way because Chika Okeke-Agulu’s artistic practice and intellectual work are inseparable from some of the most important conversations about Nigerian and African art today. Bringing this exhibition to YSMA gives us the opportunity to place the artist, his work and the historical questions that shaped them in conversation with our students, researchers and the wider public. It is precisely the kind of exhibition that demonstrates what an educational museum can contribute to the cultural life of Nigeria.”
Curator Iheanyi Onwuegbucha stated that the exhibition offers a chance to encounter Okeke-Agulu primarily as an artist who has spent decades producing influential scholarship without previously focusing a major retrospective on his own studio work. “‘Freedom Bird’ grew out of a sustained engagement with Chika Okeke-Agulu’s work and the historical and
intellectual questions surrounding the generation of artists shaped by the Nsukka School and Nigeria’s turbulent postcolonial history. For an artist who has played no small role in producing exhibition and scholarship on other artists of the Nsukka school, while excluding himself, the exhibition allows us to encounter Okeke-Agulu not only through the lens of his celebrated scholarship, but through his art because he is first an artist before becoming a scholar Presenting this exhibition at YSMA is particularly important
to me not only because of the museum’s commitment to connecting art with research, education and public
discourse, but because it is a homecoming for the artist.”
Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago, Founder and Creative Director of SMO Contemporary Art, described the exhibition as a pivotal showcase addressing individual and collective responsibility, nation-building, and social justice.“We consider ‘Freedom Bird’ a pivotal exhibition to challenge us to think more deeply about our individual
and collective responsibility towards building a more equitable world, touching on issues such as nation building, freedom and social justice. Chika Okeke-Agulu’s forty-year journey as artist and social critic is especially timely when we grapple with questions about leadership, followership and civic responsibility, against the backdrop of a rich body of incredibly important historic artworks which document our political history. Freedom Bird is probably one of the most important contemporary art showcases held in a museum
in Nigeria for many years.”
The retrospective is supported by sponsors including the law firm TEMPLARS and will feature a public programme of conversations regarding Nigeria’s political and cultural history.
•Featured image:Self Portrait of Chika Okeke-Agulu/YSMA