DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/3QRM-5J37
Defense Date
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Art History
First Advisor
Babatunde Lawal
Second Advisor
Robert Hobbs
Third Advisor
Eric Garberson
Abstract
This thesis provides an analysis of the cartoons produced by Victor Ekpuk for The Daily Times newspaper of Nigeria from 1989 through 1998 and the artist’s use of ancient nsibidi script to “hide in plain sight” his social commentaries on sociopolitical and economic issues in Nigeria. Victor Ekpuk’s original cartoons within the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art are examined in the context of indigenous masking practices and other indirect methods employed by indigenous comedians to protect themselves. Moreover, the cartoons’ use of caricature and their nsibidi scripts within are argued to provide a connotative and denotative dichotomy which allowed the artist to work more freely during a period of oppression.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-12-2016
Included in
African Languages and Societies Commons, Contemporary Art Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Illustration Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons