At 89,  Another “Rebel” Bows Out

Yinka Olatunbosun

The death of Oseloka Osadebe, one of the pioneer members of the famed Zaria Art Society, at age 89, was recently publicised in the art world. He died on Wednesday, December 27, in Jackson, Mississippi, USA, where he had lived since 1998, according to sources. This much was confirmed in a statement made by his nephew, Nn’emeka Maduegbuna, on behalf of the Osadebe family, confirming his death.

Professor Osadebe, who had been a US resident since 1965, returned  to Nigeria for the first time in 2018 for a retrospective solo exhibition of rare works he created from 1960 to 2014, titled Inner Light. 

Born in 1934, he was an outstanding artist, playwright, theatre director and teacher. Osadebe grew up in Onitsha, Anambra State, and, from an early age, distinguished himself as a brilliant draughtsman, eventually earning acceptance into the prestigious Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria. Buoyed by the intellectual energy at the institution, he joined a group of dynamic students who were seeking to express a fresh perspective on classical art – a perspective which embraced their rich African traditions. Those  forward-thinking art students, of whom only Demas Nwoko, Okechukwu Odita and Bruce Onobrakpeya, are still alive, formed the Zaria Arts Society. They  became known by the popular name “Zaria Rebels,” and the members would become the fathers of the contemporary art movement in Nigeria.

Osadebe  graduated from Zaria in 1962 with painting and sculpture as his specialisations. He proceeded to teach art at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1962 to 1965, during which period he featured prominently in the  Nigerian art scenes of the decade. Thereafter, he left  the country on an Aggrey Fellowship for African Students to pursue graduate studies in the US.

He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1967, and he received a second master’s degree in 1973 from the Goodman School of Drama, Chicago, specialising in scene design, lighting, and directing. He completed his doctoral work at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in 1981, specialising in Western and African theatre and drama and spent years teaching theatre and set design at numerous universities, including Spelman College, Jackson State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Tougaloo College, and Central State University.

Osadebe retired in 2007 and spent   the last 16 years of his life on  his passion for visual art at his studio in Jackson, Mississippi. 

Details of his burial will be released in due time.