Artists

Sokari Douglas Camp (b. 1958)

Sokari Douglas Camp was born in Buguma, Nigeria. She studied at California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland (1979-80), before completing a BA Hons in Sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design, London (1980-83), and then an MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London (1983-86).

Although Douglas Camp has lived and worked in the U.K. for over twenty-five years, her work, predominately sculpted in steel, is strongly influenced by African culture and inspired by her Kalabari heritage.

She has exhibited internationally and notable solo shows include: Spirits in Steel - The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (1998-9); and Imagined Steel at The Lowry Arts Centre, Manchester, which toured to Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno; Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester; and Derby Museum and Art Gallery (2002-03).

Douglas Camp's work is to be found in collections around the world including: the American Museum of Natural History, New York; the British Museum, London; Miniapolis Museum of Art, Miniapolis; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo; and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

She has completed numerous commissions and her proposal, NO-O-War No-O-War-R, was shortlisted for Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. Her 'Living Memorial' to the late Nigerian activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa was unveiled in 2006.

In 2005 Douglas Camp was awarded a C.B.E.

Select Bibliography

Exhibition catalogue, Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, The New Musuem of Contemporary Art, New York, 2003.
P. Burton, 'Man on Man', Artery, August - September 2003.
L. Hoggard, 'What is African Art', Crafts, no. 194, May/June 2005, pp. 52-5.
'Battle of Trafalgar: How the Artists describe their work', The Independent, 12 December 2003.
'Unorthodox memorial: a sculpture on wheels: Bus tribute hails hanged hero', The Observer, 23 October 2005, p. 6.