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Victor Ehikhamenor
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Nationality
Nigerian
Education
Ambrose Alli University
Occupation
Visual artist, writer, photographer.
Books
Excuse Me: One Nigerian's Funny Outsized Reality, Sordid Rituals
Keturah interviews visual artist victor ehikhamenor
Victor Ehighale Ehihkamenor is a Nigerian visual artist, writer, and photographer, once described as "undeniably one of Africa’s most innovative contemporary artists" and one of "42 African Innovators to Watch".
Culture diaries interview with artist and writer victor ehikhamenor
Education, work, and influence
Ehikhamenor was born in Udomi-Uwessan, Edo State, Nigeria. He was educated in Nigeria and in the United States. He returned from the United States in 2008 to work in Lagos. His work is strongly influenced by work done by villagers especially his grandmother who was a cloth weaver. His uncle was alsoa photographer, his maternal grandfather a blacksmith, and his mother, a local artist. He is also inspired by wall paintings and installation arts, mostly in community shrines. This has been an enduring feature of his work, which is abstract, symbolic and politically motivated; and influenced by the duality of African traditional religion and the interception of Western beliefs, memories and nostalgia.
Ehikhamenor's art and photographs have been used for editorials as well as cover art on books by authors such as Chimamanda Adichie, Helon Habila and Chika Unigwe. They have also been illustrated on fabric and exhibited at international fashion parades.
He has held numerous solo art exhibitions across the world. In 2016, he was one of 11 Nigerian artists invited to join twenty three Indonesian artists in the grand exhibition at the Biennale. At the Jogja National Museum, he showed an installation titled "The Wealth of Nations."
Ehikhamenor has published numerous fiction and critical essays with academic journals, mainstream magazines and newspapers from around the world including The New York Times, CNN Online, Washington Post, Farafina, AGNI Magazine and Wasafiri. His short story, "The Supreme Command", won the Association of Commonwealth Broadcasters Award in 2003. His debut poetry collection, Sordid Rituals, was published in 2002.
His second book, Excuse Me! (2012), a satirical creative non-fiction view of life as an African both at home and abroad, is a recommended text in two Nigerian universities.
Selected book cover designs
2003: Feeding Frenzy by Jonathan Luckett
2004: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie
2005: Sky High Flame by Unoma Azuah
2005: English In Africa Journal of the English Department, Rhodes University, South Africa
2007: Measuring Times by Helon Habila
2008: Jambula Tree and Other Stories Anthology of Caine Prize winners and shortlisted writer by Cassava Republic, Abuja Nigeria
2008: One World Anthology of short stories by New Internationlist Publishers, UK
2008: Of Friends, Money and Greed Anthology of three stories and a play by Hodders Publishers, UK
2009: Songs of Absence and Despair, collection of poems by Toni Kan
2009: Salutes without Guns, collection of poems by Ikeogu Oke
2010: Christopher Okigbo: Thirsting for Sunlight by Obi Nwakanma
2013: Oil on Water by Helon Habila
2014: frica in Fragments: Essays on Nigeria, Africa and Africanity by Moses Ochonu
2014: Half of a Yellow Sun (Movie Edition) by Chimamanda Adichie
2014: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2015: Story Collection for Caine Prize for African Writing, 2015
Awards and residencies
1999: Finalist for "Palace Dwellers" The Artist’s Magazine Art Competition
2000: 1st Place, Arts Club of Washington Juried Exhibition. Juror, Dr. Kimberly A. Jones, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
2003: Highly Commended Award for “The Supreme Command”, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, London
2006: Familiar Streets Writing Contest Award for “A Beautiful Freedom” by Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival, Washington, DC.
2008: Leon Forrest Africana Scholar Award
2014: Norman Mailer Fellowship for Writing
2015: Casa Zia Lina, Elba, Italy
2016: Greatmore Residency, Cape Town, South Africa
2016: Nirox Foundation Residency, Johannesburg, South Africa
2016: Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Africa in Residency programme
Selected solo exhibitions
2000: “Beyond The Surface” Utopia Art/Grill, Washington, D.C.
2000: “Spirits In Dialogue” The Brazilian-American Cultural Institute Gallery, Washington, D.C.
2001: “Discovering the gods” Monroe Gallery, Arts Club of Washington, Washington, D.C.
2004: “Songs and Stories: Moonlight Delight” Utopia Gallery, Washington, D.C.
2005: “Talking Walls” BB&T Bank, NW Washington, D.C.
2005: “Divine Intervention” Howard University A J Blackburn Center Gallery, Washington, D.C.
