Ada Udechukwu

Ada Udechukwu was born in 1960 in Enugu, Nigeria. Self taught in the visual arts, she earned her B.A. in English and African literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1981 and has completed work on an MFA in writing and literature at Bennington College in the United States.

She is the author of a collection of poems, Woman, Me and Herero, a non-fiction title for young adults. Udechukwu’s visual media, express many of the same personal qualities as her poetry and fiction writing, and include painting on textiles along with her painting and drawing on paper and creation of artist’s books.

From 1984 to the present, she has participated in several joint and group exhibitions. Some of these include a 2003 joint exhibition, Lyrical Lines [with Obiora Udechukwu], at Guilford College, Greensboro, NC.; the 1997 group exhibition, The Poetics of Line: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group held at the National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.; and Celebrating Africa, a 1993 group exhibition of textiles and silver jewelry at the Goethe Institut, Lagos.

In addition to these exhibitions, Udechukwu was the curated and exhibited in the 1992 Uli: Different Hands, Different Times exhibit (held at the University of Nigeria) that featured the work of traditional uli artists and the work of contemporary female artists who draw from the uli tradition. Udechukwu’s one person exhibitions include: InMidmomenT: lines. spaces. Boundaries (at The Richard R. Brush Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, 2000) and Hand Drawn and Painted Fabrics (at Continuing Education Centre, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1990).