The Oxford Historian (2023)
Catch-up on the 2023 Slade Lectures
"African Artists in the Age of the Big Man" - Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu
During Hilary Term 2023, The Department of History of Art played host to Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu, the 2022-23 Slade Professor. He gave his Slade lecture series in Exam Schools on "African Artists in the Age of the Big Man".
Professor Okeke-Agulu said, "In these lectures I present five artists whose work exemplify the difficult relationship of art and power as Africa decolonization gave way to the emergence of undemocratic polities ruled by charismatic and repressive strongmen, in the second half of the twentieth century. I argue that these artists developed new artistic form through which they established themselves among the most articulate critical voices of their day. Moreover, by examining the relationship of art and strong-man politics, I reflect on power and critical culture, and juxtapose art’s imaginative ambitions with its limits and possibilities as a platform for critique of and resistance to regimes of domination in late 20th -century Africa."
