SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP

Nigerian British

Internationally renowned sculptor

Sokari Douglas Camp is a highly acclaimed sculptor known for her remarkable works predominantly crafted in steel.

Her large-scale sculptures often draw inspiration from her Nigerian heritage while also delving into contemporary global issues.

Notable achievements include winning the Memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa in London and being shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth in 2003.

With a distinctive style that merges cultural influences with modern themes, Douglas Camp's artistry captivates audiences worldwide with sculptures that serve as a reflection of societal narratives, engaging viewers with thought-provoking interpretations.

Through Sokari's innovative approach, she bridges traditional craftsmanship with contemporary art practices, establishing herself as a prominent figure in the international art scene.

Exploring themes of identity, history, and social justice, Sokari Douglas Camp's creations invite contemplation and dialogue. Her ability to seamlessly blend cultural motifs with contemporary aesthetics results in visually stunning artworks that resonate with diverse audiences.

Each piece tells a story, inviting viewers to explore the intersections of heritage and modernity, tradition and innovation.

Sokari Douglas Camp

CBE

Born 1958

Buguma, Nigeria

Alma mater Central School of Art and Design; Royal College of

Art Known for Steel sculpture

Awards1981: Amy Sadur Friedlander Prize

1982: Saatchi & Saatchi Award

1983: Princess of Wales Scholarship and Henry Moore Foundation bursary

2000: Commonwealth Grant

2005: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

2006: Honorary Fellow of the University of the Arts London

2008: Governor, University of the Arts

2017: Honorary Fellowship of SOAS, University of London

Website sokari.co.uk

In April 2025, Christina Jordean of Black Lives Matter UK visited, sat down with Sokari at her studio in Walworth, Southwark district of London, England, where she spent several delightful hours getting to know Sokari better and a personal close-up narration, spoken description of the artists art pieces exhibited in the studio. Christina & Sokari had briefly met (by chance) at a reception at the Houses of Parliament in October 2024 for the 1833 Commemoration Group Launch Event. This short opening of discussion provided an opportunity for Sokari to share introduction and to her work and planned community project ahead and in the making...

Christina was curious to learn more about Sokari inner self, known for her British Nigerian background, how does she manage to preserve her African, Nigerian identity, culture, and traditions. So, Christina took opportunity of a one-to-one visit to delve a little deeper... Clearly her Africanness, and heritage is openly obvious with cultural richness evident in Sokari's art pieces, and Christina found this is also equally and deeply ingrained in Sokari's psyche, which Christina says was a "pleasure to observe, listen, to hear, understand and thoroughly take in and fully appreciate."

Originally from Kalabari heritage, Sokari's identity is intertwined with her roots back in Nigeria that not lost amongst roots laid here in Britain. Her Kalabari heritage remains a central and authentic part of her character and mental characteristic in way of artistically thinking 'til this day. The motifs in her artwork play a significant role in expressing the unique aesthetics and cultural identity of the Kalabari community, along with pieces relevant, reflecting life in modern Britain.

Sokari has lived most of her life in Britain, educated, worked, brought up a family here in UK, yet still her Nigerian, Kalabari roots are profoundly deep and as important now as they were there growing up as young girl in Nigeria. She identifies as Kalabari, this belonging is what makes Sokari who she is, knowing herself every day, she knows exactly who she is, and this absolute knowing gives her ownership to her own voice and narrative doing it her way in and society that can still be very much discriminatory, often works to silence people of Black skin, of African heritage and descent.

Sokari enjoys being her whole self whether it be here in London where she resides, UK, as guests exhibiting her work overseas and abroad or when in Nigeria participating in traditional Kalabari tribal activities whenever she visits her family, showcasing her deep connection to her heritage.

Christina " It was an amazing visit and meeting, to Sokari the artist's studio, an amazing character and sculptor I will not forget and will remember in awe of Sokari Douglas Camp artistry, craftmanship and accomplishment."

Sokari Douglas Camp was born in Buguma, Rivers State, Nigeria. She studied fine art at Central School of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art. Sokari has represented Britain and Nigeria in National exhibitions and has had more than 40 solo shows worldwide. In venues such as National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute 1988-89, the Museum of Mankind, London 1994/5. Her public artworks include Battle Bus: Living Memorial for Ken Saro‐Wiwa (2006), a full-scale replica of a Nigerian steel bus, which stands as a monument to the late Niger Delta activist and writer.

Sokari works intuitively and on her own, she draws ideas and works on the scale suggested by her drawings. Works vary in size from 30cm to 5 meters and more depending on the project. She is interested in movement, clothing, Kalabari culture, theatre and the environment.

Working with steel is very physical, and she used to joke that this was a way of keeping warm in the UK, but she enjoys the repetition of welding cutting and bending metal into shape. She works with sheet steel and has recently started working with recycled oil barrels. These barrels are all over the world and familiar.

Oil is a big feature in Sokari’s work because she comes from the Niger Delta where oil is the main produce. Her place of birth is unsafe to return to because of bad governance and pollution. Living in London and being gifted oil barrels by her local garage introduced this material to her work. This made Sokari think of her environment and the products that are derived from oil/ petroleum. Everything seems to have an element of this product, for example, on my desk, my keyboard, pen, sellotape, headphones, my jumper, and the concoction which has created my lipstick.

Sokari edits and selects what to bring forth in her sculpture. For example, ‘Manmade’ focuses on a car and oil barrels for a platform (illustrating that asphalt is a petroleum derivative). These items for this installation sit in a wagon on a station in Japan. Trains are a fantastic form of transport and engineering, running on diesel or steam but needing oil to keep lubricated. This recent sculpture embraces our past and our current state, and our attachment to oil.

In 2003 Sokari was shortlisted for the Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth. Her work is in permanent collections at The Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C., Setagaya Museum, Tokyo and the British Museum, London. In 2005 she was awarded a CBE in recognition of her services to art.

‘All the World is Now Richer’, a memorial to commemorate the abolition of slavery was exhibited in The House of Commons 2012. The sculpture was exhibited in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, 2014. This works is being proposed for a permanent site in London

Battle Bus travelled to Nigeria as part of Action Saro – Wiwa a campaign to clean up the Niger Delta. Battle Bus was impounded by Lagos Port authority when it arrived in Summer 2015.

The ‘Manmade’ sculpture was made for ‘Journey’ Exhibition Ichihara Art Mix 2020. The festival which would have coincided with the Olympics, was postponed because of the pandemic.

-- Source: About Sokari | Sokari Douglas Camp

Sokari Douglas Camp:

Sokari Douglas Camp - Artist's Talkk

Sokari Douglas Camp CBE is a Nigerian-born sculptor working primarily with steel. No Colour Bar’s Juanita Cox got to know more about this award-winning artist, gaining insights into her artistic techniques and inspirations at her bright and airy studio in Walworth, District of South London.

Slavery, power, gender and the climate crisis | Sokari Douglas Camp | V&A

Sokari Douglas Camp is a British Nigerian sculptor based in London. Describing her practice as "welding, cutting and bending sheet steel and recycled oil barrels into shape", she draws from her Kalabari heritage and the history of European art, creating pieces that address socio-political issues and the history of the African Diaspora. Born at a time when oil was discovered in the Rivers State in Nigeria (to devastating effect for the Niger Delta), her work references the environmental and human impact of fossil fuel extraction – an economic colonialism perpetuated by multinational oil companies and exacerbated by poor governance. Inspired by William Blake's abolitionist print of the same title, her piece ‘Europe Supported by Africa and America’ addresses the legacies of slavery, issues of power and gender, and the climate crisis. Standing on a fertile mound of grass and flowers against a mountainous backdrop, the wreath held by the figures ends in petroleum nozzles, emphasising our shared responsibility to care for the environment.

Cloth also plays a major role in Douglas Camp's work, expressing identity and cultural heritage. The figures' outfits denote the material style of each continent: Europe wears a Mondrian-like pattern; Africa a West African Kente cloth; but by dressing America in Paisley – a textile whose patterns are of Persian and Indian origin, but whose name derives from the Scottish town where that fabric was mainly produced – she reminds us that cloth carries within itself interwoven narratives of trade, often complicated by geopolitics.

Find out more about the sculpture:

Europe Supported by Africa and America by Sokari Douglas Camp - The Dorothy and Michael Hintze

Sokari
Douglas
Camp

Welding, cutting and
shaping sheet steel...

The Artwork & Commissions of Sokari Douglas Camp

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