This extraordinary illustrated story – Toyin Ojih Odutola’s best-known body of work – chronicles the private lives of two fictional aristocratic Nigerian families, the UmuEze Amara Clan and the House of Obafemi, if colonialist and slave-trade interventions had never disrupted the country. Rendered life-size in charcoal, pastel, and pencil, Ojih Odutola’s figures appear enigmatic and mysterious, set against the artist’s larger conceived narrative, highlighting the malleability of identity and assumptions about race, wealth, and class. The UmuEze Amara Clan and the House of Obafemi presents the story of these families in four chapters illustrated and authored by Ojih Odutola, accompanied by the artist’s sketches and notes. Also included are several insightful essays on the artist herself by noted writers and critics Zadie Smith, Leigh Raiford, and others.
An introduction to the artist’s vivid fictionalised world, as well as a reflection on the role of this body of work within her broader practice, this remarkable volume serves as the essential guide to Ojih Odutola’s unique form of storytelling.
This extraordinary illustrated story – Toyin Ojih Odutola’s best-known body of work – chronicles the private lives of two fictional aristocratic Nigerian families, the UmuEze Amara Clan and the House of Obafemi, if colonialist and slave-trade interventions had never disrupted the country. Rendered life-size in charcoal, pastel, and pencil, Ojih Odutola’s figures appear enigmatic and mysterious, set against the artist’s larger conceived narrative, highlighting the malleability of identity and assumptions about race, wealth, and class. The UmuEze Amara Clan and the House of Obafemi presents the story of these families in four chapters illustrated and authored by Ojih Odutola, accompanied by the artist’s sketches and notes. Also included are several insightful essays on the artist herself by noted writers and critics Zadie Smith, Leigh Raiford, and others.
An introduction to the artist’s vivid fictionalised world, as well as a reflection on the role of this body of work within her broader practice, this remarkable volume serves as the essential guide to Ojih Odutola’s unique form of storytelling.
Zadie Smith is an English novelist, essayist, and
short-story writer. Leigh Raiford is Associate Professor
of African American Studies at UC Berkeley.
Osman Can Yerebakan is a curator and writer based in
New York. A
mber Jamilla Musser is an Associate Professor of American
Studies at George Washington University.
Rujeko Hockley is Assistant Curator at the Whitney
Museum of American Art.
Melinda Lang is Curatorial Assistant at the Whitney
Museum.
Joeonna Bellorado-Samuels is Director of the Jack
Shainman Gallery in New York.
"Featuring essays by Zadie Smith and others, this illustrated tale
by a Nigerian American artist renders in charcoal, pastel and
pencil two elite families in a Nigeria untouched by colonialism and
the slave trade." —NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Best Gift Books of 2021: The UmuEze Amara Clan and the House of
Obafemi tells the story of two fictional aristocratic Nigerian
families living in a world untouched by colonialism and the slave
trade. The narrative is told by Ojih Odutola through words and
life-size charcoal and pastel illustrations. The book is an
excellent introduction to the artist’s work and includes her
original sketches and notes as well as several insightful essays by
noted writers and critics Zadie Smith, Leigh Raiford, and
others." —NEW YORK MAGAZINE
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