Ademola Ojo (b. 1995) hails from the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. He studied Fine & Applied Arts at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Ojo’s work seeks to outline the history, culture, and identity of the Ife people. His work is characterized by the scarification patterns inspired by the popular known Ife Bronze Head, to depict the Tribal Identity of the Yoruba people.

Ojo is a highly skilled painter and tactically employs the use of oil and acrylic on usually large-scale canvases to advocate for his culture, idiosyncrasies, and the importance of the bronze head to his people, who hold a high reverence for the head as an integral part of one’s identity and fate. Ojo’s work explores the effect of Western contemporary culture and its influence on the culture and style of the present generation.

There is a saying in Yoruba: Odo toba gbagbe orisun re, yoo gbe. This implies that any river that forgets its source will dry.  Culture is meant to be preserved. The extent to which indigenous culture is seen as primitive cannot be overemphasized. Consequently, this happens to be the root cause of the current state of Nigeria’s problem.  My works tend to take us back to the cradle of my cultural identity; exploring the Ife bronze Head as a tool for discussion of our Identity, Origin, Tribe, and Lineage as Cultural people.  Ile-Ife is considered the site of creation that is where gods descended from heaven and created the World as we know it in Yoruba History. Ife was founded by deities Oduduwa and Obatala fashioned the first Human out of clay.  The average indigenous African needs to have an indebt understanding of their cultural identity and appreciate their peculiarity