Demas Nwoko

Nwoko's works fuse modern techniques in architecture and stage design with African tradition. With works such as The Dominican Institute, Ibadan and The Akenzua Cultural Center, Benin, to his credit, Nwoko is one "artist-architect" who believes in celebrating the African tradition in his works. In 2007, Farafina Books published The Architecture of Demas Nwoko, a study of Nwoko's work and theories written by two British architects, John Godwin OBE and Gillian Hopwood. Reviewing the book, African Book Publishing Record states:

After completing his studies at Zaria and Paris, he moved to Ibadan in 1963. In Ibadan, he originally concentrated on designs for theatrical productions of the University of Ibadan's department of Drama while he was also a lecturer at the university. While in the ancient city, he was sometimes short on cash and expenses to build or buy a house and studio for his work. He then decided to build his studio and house from traditional methods to complement his cash shortage. He used clay and laterite found around the site chosen and built a brick house and studio from the natural resources lying around.

From 1957 to 1961 he studied Fine Arts at the former College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University), where he was exposed to conventional Western techniques in art, though like most of the artists at the school their subject matter was predominantly African. In the late 1950s, together with Uche Okeke, Simon Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya and few other art students, he formed the Art Society. This was during a period dominated by nationalistic fervour, with the attainment of national political independence in 1960. The Art Society became known for championing Natural Synthesis, a term coined by Uche Okeke to describe the combination of contemporary Western art techniques and African ideas, art forms, and themes.

In the 1950s, Nigeria's campaign for self-rule was dominated by two major ideas on how to achieve a truly independent and stable polity. One was based on regions as the foundation of the nation-state and politicians used the regions as a stepping stone for political success, the other embraced the ideas that emanated from the early Nigerian Youth Movement and the Zikist Movements to employ themes of Pan-Africanism and to forgo the regions as the foundation of the future Nigerian polity. In his art work, Nwoko moved slightly towards the latter. Nwoko's early sculpture and painting style were inspired by the findings at Nok. A lot of his early sculptures and paintings can be described as one of extrapolation. His terracotta's were designs that extended and expressed the art forms of the Ancient Nok with less deviation from an ancient African theme. This allowed the work to express less ambiguity and more clarity of intentions and to showcase a modern African art form.

Demas Nwoko (born 1935) is a Nigerian artist, protean designer, architect and master builder. As an artist, he strives to incorporate modern techniques in architecture and stage design to enunciate African subject matter in most of his works. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Mbari club of Ibadan, a committee of burgeoning Nigerian and foreign artists. He was also a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. In the 1970s, he was the publisher of the now defunct New Culture magazine.

Nwoko was born in 1935 in Idumuje Ugboko, a town that now has as its Obi (King) Nwoko's nephew (Chukwunomso Nwoko). Nwoko grew up in Idumuje Ugboko appreciating the newly constructed architectural edifices in the town and in the palace of the Obi, his father. He went to study fine arts at the College of Arts, Science and Technology, in 1956, a year after the college was moved from its original location in Ibadan to Zaria. In 1962, he received a scholarship from the Congress of Cultural Freedom to study at the Centre Français du Théâtre in Paris where he learned scenic design.