Afi Ekong was born into African royalty in Calabar, Southern Nigeria, in 1930. In 1949, aged 19, Ekong was betrothed to Prince Abdul Azizi Attah. In 1951, Ekong, with her husband, arrived in London, England, to study at the Oxford College of Arts and Technology, St Martin's School of Art and the Central School of Art. On returning to her hoeland, she became one of the few female African modernist painters; she was also a philanthropist who empowered younger artists to follow in her artistic path. Afi Ekong died in Calabar, Nigeria, in 2009.
Painter and philanthropist, Afi Ekong was born in Calabar, Southern Nigeria, in 1930, into African royalty, a descendant of the family dynasty of Edidem Bassey Eyo Epharaim Adam III, with her parents of Efik and Ibibio heritage. The young Ekong had a British colonial education, as her parents enrolled her at an early age in the Scottish missionary institution, Duke Town School, established in the 1800s to provide a Presbyterian education to Nigerians. Ekong's schooling included the study of Christianity, with its biblical teachings translated from English into the local Efik language. (Diara, 2013, p. 92) Christianity was further emphasised during her secondary education at Christ Church School and Wusasa Girls' High School in Zaria (Akande, 2024, n.p), which was directed under Anglican traditions and aimed to create middle- and upper-class, anglicised, Christian, Nigerian academics, teachers, and members of the elite Nigerian civil service. Ekong studied art, European art history, and fashion design, in which she excelled, and she maintained a keen interest in further studies in painting and design. In 1949, aged 19, Ekong was betrothed to Prince Abdul Azizi Attah, son of a senior government official and District Officer. Instead of hindering her future ambitions, Ekong was supported by her husband, who helped her develop her career and passion for fashion, art, and design, even while she sought to develop her creative skills abroad.
In 1951, Ekong arrived in London, England, to study and master dressmaking, tailoring, and fashion design at Oxford College of Arts and Technology. Ekong's training incorporated the highest standards in technical skills, drafting, pattern design, cutting, garment construction, and fabric composition. The 1950s were the peak of made-to-order clothes, specifically tailored for the perfect fit, and, at the time, it was very much a male-dominated profession. Ekong was one of the few women who undertook training in bespoke tailoring.
In 1955, Ekong gained places at St Martin's School of Art and the Central School of Art to study fine art and began producing paintings that would establish her as one of the first female African Modernist painters. Ekong's most renowened works are her semi-abstract, highly expressive pieces, such as her oil, Grief (1961), which presents a partially clothed female African figure, drenched in fiery red and orange tones, set in the far left of the canvas; her top half is exposed, with a cloth wrapper around her waist. The woman's head tilts downwards, with her eyes closed, revealing only a partial glimpse of her face. The heat of mourning is so raw that it distorts her expression, and the seeming isolation of her grief exacerbates her anguish. Perhaps it is the death of a husband or young child, as Ekong shows her left breast exposed, as if ready for a baby's suckling. The depth of silent suffering is emphasised by a parallel mood of cold despair, evoked by Ekong's application of cool emerald green, grey and blues, within an insurmountable vertical 'waterfall' or 'wall'. Her visual 'prison' contains dark patches of shadow and glimpses of former brightness, with a pink colour suggesting a former innocence amid the later wave of despair. In Before the Storm, Atlantic view from Lagos (1988). Ekong captures the terrifying mood of an approaching sea storm, amid the sky's warning grey. Tashae Smith points out that Ekong 'depicts two boats engulfed by the storm' (Smith, 2022, np). On closer inspection, they appear as two fishing vessels, rendered as mere shadows, as Ekong washes the forms of ships, sterns, and masts into a vanishing blackness, as the last bright daylight disappears.
Upon Ekong's return to Nigeria in 1958 she held first solo exhibition at the Centre Marina, Lagos. In 1960, Nelson Rockefeller, governor of New York, USA, visited Nigeria during its independence festivities and purchased Ekong's painting, Old Blind Man (c1950s-1960) (Hartlepool, Northern Daily Mail, 1960, p.15). Ekong became an important figure in the Nigerian Modern art movement and encouraged younger artists to pursue their artistic goals. As a philanthropist, Ekong aimed towards 'elevating the social status of the modern Nigerian artists' (Ecoma, 2013, p. 43) and established the Bronze Gallery while, through her campaigning and position in political and social organisations, she sought to empower women's rights and create opportunities for women artists. Afi Ekong died in Calabar, Nigeria in 2009 and her work was shown posthumously at the Hampton University Museum, USA (2024). In the UK public domain her work is represented in the Tate collection. Circa 1956-7, Ekong was sculpted by the renowned Nigeerian artist, Benedict Enwonwu (1917-94), also part of ther Nigerian diaspora. His bronze bust (Royal Collection Trust), showing Ekong with her hair in a bun, with earrings and her eyes half-closed was displayed in the exhibition, Nigerian Modernism, Tate Modern, London (2025-26), which also featured Ekong's painting, Olumo Rock (1960). Ekong's image depicts a massive, granite formation in Abeokuta, Ogun State, which served as a historic 19th-century fortress for the Egba people, which the artist used as a symbol of Nigerian independence.
Joy Onyejiako