The Exhibition “Journey to Mastery” started with humble beginnings. Didi Museum is the brainchild of Chief Newton Jibunoh. His passion for art was first ignited when he visited the British Museum in the United Kingdom. Nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed during that first visit. The artefacts he saw proudly displayed in the Nigerian section, with extensive historical data and information bore an unsettling resemblance to those which were taken away from his village when he was a little boy.
As a young man growing up in Delta state, the missionaries were actively converting non believers to Christianity and as part of this process there was always a ceremony which involved the burning of art pieces. Not all pieces though were burned during these ceremonies but all the alleged nonChristian like objects were taken away by the missionaries. The memory of that experience marked the beginning of DIDI’s journey. Chief Newton Jibunoh’s desire to collect, preserve and educate fellow Africans on the beauty of African art was birthed and this led to a series of events. Upon return from his studies in the United Kingdom, he started collecting art pieces. As his collection grew he organised informal red wine gatherings in the parlour of his first flat with friends and art lovers. Those parlour exhibitions spearheaded the establishment of Didi Museum in 1983; the first privately owned museum in Nigeria.
Plot 175, Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos houses DIDI Museum. It is also the home of Chief Jibunoh and his wife Elizabeth. It is a home that is a museum and a museum that is a home. It is a place where art lives. The collection of works at DIDI Museum represents our struggles, our progress and most importantly our shared African character. The ‘Journey to Mastery’ Exhibition is a celebration of the respective journeys of DIDI Museum and two renowned Nigerian artists, Uche Edochie and Ayoola. Uche Edochie graduated from the University of Nsukka with a Major in painting and has been exhibiting his collections for the last 24 years. Ayoola graduated from Obafemi Awolowo university with a BA in Fine/Applied Art and has been exhibiting his collections since 2006. The Journey to Mastery Exhibition is being curated by the children of Newton Jibunoh, Mrs Ifeoma Dozie and Ceejay Jibunoh and will open on April 18th 2019.
