J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere

JD'Okhai Ojeikere ( Ovbionu - Emai ) ( born 1930 in Nigeria, † February 2nd 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria) was a Nigerian photographer who became famous through the recordings of unique hairstyles of Nigerian women.

Life and work

, Also called JD'Okhai Ojeikere Ojomu Emai, was born in 1930 in a rural area in south-western Nigeria. He lived and worked in Lagos, Nigeria.

In 1950, at the age of twenty years JD'Okhai Ojeikere began photographing with a Kodak Brownie D, although this was not common in his village. He was introduced to the basics of photography through a cousin and he developed his talent as a self-taught on.

As an assistant in the photo lab of State Ministry of Information in Ibadan worked Ojeikere from 1954.

In 1961, when the decolonization of Nigeria, he became a photographer in the first television station in Ibadan Nigeria Television House, a division of the Western Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1963 he moved to Lagos and worked until 1975 in West Africa publicity.

Since 1967 Ojeikere member of the Nigerian Arts Council.

Hair Styles is the most acclaimed series with over a thousand photos. It is a documentation of hairstyles and headgear Nigerian women over a period of about 40 years. These sculptures for one day he picked up at weddings, on the road, in the office or at parties.

Exhibitions (selection)

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2005 Hairstyles Maison de France, Lagos, Nigeria
  • 2005 Hairstyles Blaffer Gallery, Houston, USA
  • 2002 Hair Styles Wedge Gallery, Toronto, Canada
  • 2000 J. D. ' Okhai Ojeikere Fondation Cartier pour l' Art Contemporain, Paris, France
  • In 1996 Nigerian Traditional Hairstyle Goethe -Institut Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
  • 1995 J. D. ' Okhai Ojeikere National Arts Council, Lagos

Group Exhibitions

  • 2013 Voyage Back, An exhibition project the photographic collection of the Museum Folkwang

Food. Federal Government Press, Broad Street, Lagos, Lagos Iceland, Nigeria

  • 2013 Chobi Mela International Photography Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • 2013 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
  • 2011 ARS 11 Kiasma Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
  • 2011 J. D. Okhai Ojeikere: Moments of Beauty Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos
  • 2010 Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm
  • 2008 Disguise - The art of attracting and deflecting attention, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town
  • 2007 Documenta 12, Kassel
  • 2006 100 % Africa Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain
  • 2006 About Africa, Part One Fifty One, Antwerp, Belgium
  • 2005 African Queen Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
  • 2004 City Views: Lagos ifa Gallery Berlin, Berlin
  • 2004 J. D. Okhai Ojeikere Malick Sidibé and Hara Museum, Tokyo
  • 2001 J. D. Okhai Ojeikere Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain ( Mamco ), Geneva
  • 2000 Africa Inside Noorderlicht Fries Museum Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
  • 2000 Africa: Past- Present, Fifty one Fine art photography Antwerp, Belgium
  • 2000 La Beauté in Fabula Papal Palace, Avignon France
  • 1995 Nigerian Contemporary Art, World International Property type WIPO Geneva, Switzerland
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