Ada Udechukwu (born 1960) is a Nigerian artist and poet associated with the

Nsukka group The Nsukka group is the name given to a group of Nigerian artists associated with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Description The Nsukka group was known for working to revive the practice of ''uli (design), uli'' and incorporate its designs ...

Biography

Born in the city of

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Én ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

, Udechukwu is the daughter of an Igbo father and an American mother. When the Eastern part of Nigeria attempted to break out of Nigeria to form what was called the Republic of Biafra, this led to a civil war in Nigeria which was generally called the

Biafran war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

of 1967–70. Due to the war, she and her siblings took refuge in Michigan USA with their mother while their father stayed back in Nigeria. They remained in Michigan until 1971, a year after the end of the

Biafran War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

. She studied under the author

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and '' magnum opus'', '' Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

, earning her bachelor's degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

and literature at the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has thr ...

. She began to paint on fabric, painting designs on clothing using a restrained linear style. In 1988 she began to make drawings on paper, using ink and

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

. These drawings are more personal than her other work, reflecting her attempts to balance being a woman and an artist. Her work also examines the complexities of multicultural and intercultural identities, inside and outside Africa. Her work is in the collection of

The Newark Museum of Art The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Af ...

. Udechukwu is one of the few women artists associated with the

In 1997, at the height of Nigeria's military dictatorship, her husband, the artist

Obiora Udechukwu Obiora Udechukwu (born 1946) is a Nigerian painter and poet. Biography Obiora Udechukwu was born June 4, 1946, in Onitsha in 1946 to parents from Agulu in Anambra State, Nigeria. Angulu is where he first encountered '' uli'' murals at family c ...

, accepted a teaching position at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. Together with their daughter, Ijeanuli, and son, Nwora, the couple left Nigeria for America, where they have been living ever since. As a writer, Ada Udechukwu is primarily a poet. She is also a well-regarded short story writer. Her book of poems and drawings, ''Woman, Me'', was published by Boomerang Press (1993). Her short story
Night Bus
was published in the Fiction Issue of the journal
The Atlantic
' (August 2006). She also published a children's book, ''Herero'', in 1995.

References

1960 births Living people Igbo writers Igbo painters Igbo women writers University of Nigeria alumni People from Enugu 20th-century Nigerian painters 20th-century Nigerian poets 20th-century Nigerian women writers 21st-century Nigerian painters 21st-century Nigerian poets 21st-century Nigerian women writers {{Nigeria-writer-stub