Early years and education Emmanuel Taiwo Jegede was born in Ayegbaju Ekiti, a
Yoruba-speaking region of Nigeria. He undertook an apprenticeship with sculptor Pa Akerejola in
Ekiti before going on to the Yaba School of Technology in
Lagos, where he studied with
Edo sculptor Osagie Osifo. In 1970, he set up a studio and foundry at Riverside, London. 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). Also in the 1970s, Jegede was artist-in-residence at the
Keskidee Centre (the UK's first arts centre for the Black community), where he was exposed to resident and visiting artists who worked in a multi-disciplinary mode, including
Bob Marley,
Walter Rodney,
Edward Brathwaite,
Angela Davis and
Linton Kwesi Johnson. 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) that mounted its first exhibition the following year —
Paintings and Sculptures at Action Space, London. Among other exhibitions that included Jegede's work were
Afro-Caribbean Art (27 April–25 May 1978 at the Artists Market, London), organised by Drum Arts Centre, and
Transforming the Crown: African, Asian and Caribbean Artists in Britain 1966 – 1996, curated by the Caribbean Cultural Center,
New York City, in 1997–98. 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, 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, as well as its associated bookshop, where in the 1970s greetings cards featuring Jegede's artwork were sold. Jegede participated in his son
Tunde Jegede's theatrical project ''The Griot's Tale'', which was showcased in 2013 at
Yinka Shonibare's studio and subsequently performed at the
Africa Centre, London. He has also written a number of poems and children’s stories. ==Family==