OJO,John

Graphic Artist, Painter Address: Department of Fine Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, Oshun State. Birth: August 14, 1934, in Igbole Ekiti, Ondo State. Training: Studied painting and lithography at Woolwich Polytechnic, London, and S. W. Essex Technical College & School of Art, England, 1955-1959; BA in fine arts and art teacher's certificate, Ahmadu Bello University, 1963, specializing in painting; diploma in social anthropology, Edinburgh University, Scotland, 1972; MPhil in social anthropology, University of London, 1974. Profile: Full name, John Rowland Oluwafemi Ojo; art teacher, Government Teachers College, Ilesha, 1960-1962; art teacher, Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro-Egbado, 1964-1966; research fellow, Institute of African Studies, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, 1966- 1975; senior lecturer/reader/professor, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, from 1976; curator, University Antiquities Collections; visiting scholar, Center for Cultural Studies, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA, 1989-1990. Member: Arts Council of the African Studies Association. Solo Exhibitions Mbari Mbayo, Oshogbo, July 1962. British Council, Ibadan, September 1962. University of Ife, Ile-Ife, March 1969. Group Exhibitions Western Nigeria Festival of the Arts, British Council, Ibadan, 1952-1957. "Young Contemporaries," Arts Council of Great Britain, R. B. A. Galleries, London, 1957. "Contemporary African Painters," British Council, Ibadan, 1960. Society of Nigerian Artists, Lagos, 1965. "Arts and Crafts Teachers' Associations of Western Nigeria," Ibadan, 1965; Ayetoro- Egbado, 1966. "Contemporary Nigerian Art: Exhibition for Ori-Olokun Opening," Ori-Olokun Cultural Centre, Ile-Ife, June 1968. "Decorative Art" and "Paintings, Drawings and Prints," University of Ife, Ile-Ife, first and second terms, 1968-1969 session. "National Art Exhibition," National Theatre, Lagos, September 25-October 1, 1980. "Selections from the Collection of the National Council for Arts & Culture," Ilorin, August 1981. Ondo State Chapter of the National Society for Education Through Art, Akure, October 1981. "1989 Exhibition of Contemporary Ife Art," Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, February 20-25, 1989. Writings by the Artist "Examples of Yoruba Art From the University of Ife Institute of African Studies Museum," Odu (Ibadan) n.s. 4 (1): Plates I-IV (between pages 28 and 29), July 1967. "Some Ifa Divination Apparatus in the University of Ife Institute of African Studies Museum," Odu (Ibadan) n.s. 4 (2): Plates I-IV (between pages 52 and 53), January 1968. "Orisha Oko, Deity of the Farm and Agriculture Among the Ekiti," African Notes (Ibadan) 7 (1): 25-61, 1972/73. "Ogboni Drums," African Arts (Los Angeles) 6 (3): 50-52, 84, spring 1973. "The Diffusion of Artifacts Over a Limited Geographical Region," pp. 317-336. In: Symposium Leo Frobenius: Perspectives of Contemporary African Studies, Cologne: Deutsch UNESCO-Kommission, Cologne, 1974. Epa and Related Masquerades Among the Ekiti Yoruba of Western Nigeria. MPhil dissertation, University of London, 1974. [unpublished]. Folk Taxonomies and Analytical Models: The Classification of Epa Type Headpieces. Paper presented in absentia at the Research Seminar on Art, Artisans and Societies, University of Leicester, Leicester, England, January 3-5, 1975. [unpublished]. Semiological Prospects in Yoruba Art and Ritual. Paper presented at the Seminar of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ife, February 3, 1975. 17pp. [unpublished]. "Bronze Stool Collected in Ijebu-Ode," African Arts (Los Angeles) 9 (1): 48-51, 92, October 1975. illus. "Amerun Yanyan, an Osanyin Festival in a Small Ekiti Town," Nigeria Magazine (Lagos) no. 121: 50-60, 1976. illus. The Hierarchy of Yoruba Cults: An Aspect of Yoruba Cosmology. Paper presented at a Seminar in the Department of African Languages & Literature, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, 1977. [unpublished]. "Diffusion of Some Yoruba Artifactsand Social Constitution," pp. 364 ff. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Yoruba Civilisation, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, July 1976/ edited by I. A. Akinjogbin and G. O. Ekemode, Ile-Ife, Department of History, University of Ife, 1978. "Symbolism and Significance of Epa-Type Masquerade Headpiece," Man (London) n.s. 13 (3): 455-470, 1978. bibliog. "Semiotic Elements in Yoruba Art and Ritual," Semiotica (The Hague) 28 (3/4): 333- 348, 1979. 350 Ojo "Masked Dances of the Yoruba Peoples," The World of Music(Berlin) 23 (3): 37-51, 1981. "Art in Traditional African Culture," pp. 200-223. In: African History andCulture I edited by Richard Olaniyan, Lagos, Longman Nigeria, 1982. "Masks, Masquerades and Masking Rituals as Sources of Historical Data," pp. 118- 133. In: Masquerade in Nigerian Historyand Culture I edited by Nwanna Nzewunna, Port Harcourt, University of Port Harcourt Press, 1983. "Yoruba Ritual Pottery," pp. 181-207. In: Earthenware in Asia and Africa; a colloquium held June 21-23, 1982; edited by John Picton, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation for Chinese Art, 1984. "Traditional African Art and the Anthropologist," pp. 7-39. In: Yoruba Images: Essays in Honour of Lamidi Fakeye I edited by Moyo Okediji, Ile-Ife, Ife Humanities Society, 1988. "A Cross-Cultural Study of Some African Masquerades," pp. 119-132. In: African Unity: The Cultural Foundations, Lagos, Centre for Black & African Arts & Civilization, 1988. Awards & Honors West Regional Government scholarship to study in London, 1955; best all-round entry for drawing and painting, Western Nigerian Festival of the Arts, 1957; prize-winner, Leo Frobenius Centenary Essay Competition, December 1973; Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, Center for Cultural Studies, Rice University, Houston, 1989-1990. Public Collections National Council for Arts & Culture, Lagos. Lithographs: "Thames at Woolwich," 1957, and "Beckton at Night," 1958;watercolor: "College Ground," 1961;oil painting: "August Moon," 1963. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Lithograph: "Industrial Landscape," 1957; oil painting: "Figures in an Arid Landscape," 1968.