About the Artist
Tijani Mayakiri (Nigeria, 1937 - 1992)
Tijani Mayakiri was another participant in the 1964 Oshogbo workshop; he too began his work as a visual artist much later. Joining Duro Ladipo's troupe in 1962, he took the part of Mammon in the play Eda - a Yoruba adaptation of Everyman - and the major role of Timi in Oba Koso. After leaving the troupe in 1966, he formed a troupe of his own and gave performances in institutions and schools in the area.
After participating in a workshop organized in 1967 by Susanne Wenger, he found more time to paint, creating unusual monoprints - dark forms delineated by fine white lines. Like Yinka Adeyemi and Sangodare, Mayakiri is familiar with the rituals and philosophy of Yoruba culture and they are his major themes.
Moving to Ife in 1968, he became a founding member of another art workshop, Ogun Timehin, made up of the Oshogbo artists living in Ife. He has exhibited in various countries, and Mbari Mayo has published his book, Ifa. In Ife he continued his acting career by joining the Ori Olokun Players of Obafemi Awolowo University, where he was a "star performer in many dance dramas".
(above biography from New Currents, Ancient Rivers: Contemporary African Artists in a Generation of Change by Jean Kennedy, 1992)