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Nigeria

Born in: 1932

Painting, Sketching, Sculpture, and Print-making.

Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya is a Nigerian printmaker, painter, and sculptor. He was born on August 30, 1932, in Agbarha-Otor in Delta State to an Urhobo carver, his family moved to Benin City, Edo State when he was a child. He attended Western Boys High School, where he was taught art by Edward Ivehivboje, among other subjects. He also attended drawing classes at the British Council Art Club in Benin City. After leaving high school, Onobrakpeya was hired as an art teacher at the Western Boys High School (1953–56). In 1956 he left for Ondo, where he taught at the Ondo Boys High School for a year. In October 1957, Onobrakpeya got a Federal Government Scholarship to study the Western tradition of representational art at Ahmadu Bello University, which was then known as the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology. 

Awards

Bruce Onobrakpeya has exhibited his works at prominent arts and cultural institutions like Tate Modern in London, the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Malmö Konsthall in Malmö in Sweden. We have also received numerous awards and is highly recognized internationally. Among all of his awards and achievements we can highlight the following ones:

1. Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Ibadan in 1989.
2. Honorable mention at the Venice Biennale.
3. Fellowship of the Society of Nigerian Artists on 6 June 2000.
4. Pope John Paul II award for painting the life of Saint Paul.
5. Fellowship of Asele Institute award.
6. Sadam Hussein Award.
7. Solidra Circle award, and Fulbright Exchange Scholar award.

8. Onobrakpeya is the recipient of the Living Human Treasure Award given by UNESCO in 2006.
9. Second winner of Nigeria's prestigious Nigerian Creativity Award by the Federal Government of Nigeria on 14 September 2010. Its first winner was Chinua Achebe.
10. Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts (Hon. D. A) from the Delta State University, 2017.
11. Recipient of (NNOM) Nigerian National Order of Merit, the apex and the most important award for scholastic excellence in Nigeria, in 2017.‘Ibeere’ Lagos State, Nigeria – 2018