Nkemdiche-Why We Do Not Grow Beards

Between 2018 and 2020, I had the immense honor to create the illustrations for a beautiful story : Nkemdiche, Why We Do Not Grow Beards.

Nkemdiche is an Igbo folktale written by Obiora Nwazota, a visionary architect and designer from Nigeria. We worked together for months getting the right aesthetic, character design, patterns, colors and overall message. Through research, discussions and storytelling and I got the chance to get immersed in the culture of the Igbo people.

From the architecture, the Igbo cosmology and philosophy (Omenala), to the wonderful diversity of patterns (Uli, the Nsibidi Alphabet, and the coded Ukara cloth from the mysterious Ekpe society), the more I learned, the more I had to learn.

Okpara House was founded by Obiora to celebrate the Igbo culture and place it back on the map, and by doing so, elevating the culture and history of all African countries and placing it on the same level than white western countries and culture, with the mission to elevate the diversity of African art and vision, and emphasize, again and again that African culture is all but monolithic.

It took nearly two years to put the book together, thanks to Obiora’s guidance and vision, Nick Adam and Bud Rodecker from Span Studio for their expertise, typesetting and cover design, Tasha and Ebere Agwuncha for the documentation, graphic design, planning, production and so much more.