Engaging the third Dimension: Uli transmutation to Modern Realities of Synthesis

Abstract

Insufficient appraisal trails the harvest of the ‘Zarianists’ quest for the synthesis of tradition with new influences to post independence art in Nigeria. The oversight is unhealthy to the search for adequate historiography, deeper understanding and appreciation of the stylistic differentials in modern Nigerian art. The purpose of this paper is to report the transverse of traditionally sinuous two dimensional forms of Igbo Uli in transmutation to modern realities of volumes by the engagement of the third dimension. The study employed primary and secondary sources of information which included oral interviews, studio experiments with materials and forms, and library studies. It observed that the quest for synthesis of tradition with modern approaches have been met in the third dimension, a new platform that depicts Uli, traditionally a two dimensional art, that now transverses tradition and modernity. The study concluded that study and appraisal of the development of Nigerian art, in dire need of art historical and scholarly expositions, are crucial to national development. It calls for departure from ahistorical approaches to Nigerian art, and the continuation of the harvest of the pre independent indigenous quest for freedom of visual expression and celebration of culture in Nigeria.