Sokari Douglas Camp (2015) Europe Supported by Africa and America

Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, a London based artist born in the Niger Delta in 1958, draws from her Kalabari heritage to cultivate its culture and actively engages in raising awareness of the disastrous situation of her people and land through her creations. This paper will explore inspirations behind one of her sculptures, Europe Supported by Africa and America (2015) (Fig.1) and show that it carries a significant message for international audiences conveying artist’s faith in the power of love, collaboration, and re-birth. It will also discuss how it links the past and present exploitation of the Niger Delta – first through enslaving its people, then through extraction of the oil, and will examine how this evocative artwork relates to Camp’s own body of work and to those of other artists, who explore similar subjects.