Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede

Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede (born June 1943)[2] is a Nigerian poet, storyteller and artist, best known as a painter, printmaker, and sculptor (in wood, bronze and ceramics).

[5] During the following decade, Jegede's work featured on the covers of books such as Buchi Emecheta's novels The Bride Price (1976) and The Slave Girl (1977), published by Allison & Busby.

In 1977, he was among the Black artists and photographers whose work represented the UK at the Second World Festival of Black Arts and African Culture (Festac '77) in Lagos, Nigeria (the others being Winston Branch, Ronald Moody, Mercian Carrena, Armet Francis, Uzo Egonu, Neil Kenlock, Donald Locke, Cyprian Mandala, Ossie Murray, Sue Smock, Lance Watson and Aubrey Williams).

In 1978, Jegede led to the founding of an initiative called the Rainbow Art Group (members included Indira Ariyanayagam, Uzo Egonu, Lancelot Ribeiro, Errol Lloyd, Yeshwant Mali, Gordon V. de La Mothe, Durlabh Singh, Suresh Vedak, Ibrahim Wagh, and Mohammad Zakir, as well as Jegede)[11] that mounted its first exhibition the following year — Paintings and Sculptures at Action Space, London.

[15] More recently, Jegede's work featured in the 2015 exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 at the Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London,[16] which is inspired by the papers held at London Metropolitan Archives of Jessica Huntley and Eric Huntley and the publishing company they founded, Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications,[17] as well as its associated bookshop, where in the 1970s greetings cards featuring Jegede's artwork were sold.