Flamboyant Jumper for Dino

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Flamboyant Jumper for Dino
Flamboyant Jumper for Dino
Artist/Maker (Nigerian, born 1972)
Date2023
MediumEarthenware and stoneware clays, ash glazes, recycled glasses and copper wire with 4,770 ceramic palm kernel shell beads
DimensionsOverall: 70 × 50 × 12 in. (177.8 × 127 × 30.5 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund.
Object number2024.19
Not on view
DescriptionFlamboyant Jumper for Dino was inspired by the Nigerian politician Dino Melaye (b. 1974), a popular ex-senator who challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the collection of votes during Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election. A controversial figure, Melaye is also known for his love of designer clothes and luxury cars. This garment-like work features 4,770 ceramic palm kernel–shell beads linked by copper wire. The palm is used for many purposes in Nigeria, including making oil and wine. However, the artist Ozioma Onuzulike is also referencing the history of colonialism and the slave trade through his use of ceramic palm kernel–shell forms. His utilization of beads has a similarly multifaceted meaning: popular signifiers of wealth and social status, they adorn the ceremonial objects of Nigerian kings, and were used as currency during the slave trade. Flamboyant Jumper for Dino is part of Onuzulike’s Bead series, which highlights the persistent imbalance in political and socioeconomic relations between Africa and the West. A graduate of the prestigious Nsukka School in southeastern Nigeria, the artist is now director of the university’s Institute of African Studies.
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Additional Details

Signature At front, lower right corner (painted onto an unembellished palm kernel shell bead): "OZ / 23"
Photograph by John Bentham.
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without frame. Photograph by John Bentham.
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Scarab
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Date: c. 600-570 BCE
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Beads
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Date: c. 300-900 CE
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Date: date unknown
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Object number: INV.606
String of beads with cat amulets
String of beads with cat amulets
Date: date unknown
Medium: Faience
Object number: INV.607