BIO/CV

 

Emeka Okereke born in 1980 is a Nigerian photographer who currently lives and works between  Nigeria  and The Netherlands. He came in contact with photography in 2001.He is a member of Depth of Field (DOF) collective, a group made up of six Nigerian photographers. His works mingles between conceptual photography and documentary. Over the past years, he has worked strictly in black & white, but currently, employs other media (graphics, video, sound, and literature), which makes his artistic practices seem more and more active and dynamic by the day. His works deal mostly with subjects and issues that involve the society and the emotions disipated through cosmic coexistence of human beings alongside the non-humans . In the past, he has explored versatile ways of communicating his own particular vision - in poetry, in video works, in multi-layered exhibitions in the public space as opposed to the gallery, in power point and video presentations of the various projects he was involved in.

 Another aspect of his practise lies in project organising which promotes cultural exchanges cutting across indigenous and international platforms. In one occasion he commented on his approach saying: “My work as an artist explores the relation between people within the context of homogeneity as well as cultural diversity. As an artist constantly at a crossroad of several cultures, I am convinced that cultural diversity – when well exploited – is of an immense benefit to humanity”.

 To this effect he organized the first ever photographic exchange projects between a school in France and one in Nigeria involving the Fine Art School of Paris and Yaba College of Arts and Technology Lagos. He also initiated “Invisible Borders” an annual photographic project which assembles up to 10 Nigerian photographers towards a roadtrip across Africa. There has been two editions of the project since 2009. He is the founder and artistic director of “Creative House” an organization operating locally and internationally, geared towards creating a stable platform for artistic interventions.

 In 2003, he won the Best Young Photographer award from the AFAA “Afrique en Création” in the 5thedition of the Bamako Photo Festival of photography. He has a Bachelors/Masters degree from the National Fine Art School of Paris and has exhibited in biennales and art festivals in different cities of the world, notably Lagos, Bamako, Cape Town, London, Berlin, Bayreuth, Frankfurt, Nurnberg, Brussels, Johannesburg, New York, Washington, Barcelona, Seville, Madrid, Paris, etc. He has also won several awards both in Nigeria and Internationally. 

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