Perspective on: Inspirations of African art  Scholarly and
artistic focus: An art historian and practicing artist from
Nigeria who has had more than 35 one-person and group
exhibitions around the world, Okeke-Agulu's research focuses on
classical, modern and contemporary African and African diaspora
art history. He is the co-curator of the exhibition"Life
Objects: Rites of Passage in African Art," currently at the
Princeton University Art Museum. His most recent
book,"Contemporary African Art Since 1980," co-written with art
curator and historian Okwui Enwezor, was published this fall.
How did the exhibition"Life Objects: Rites of Passage in African
Art" (open until Jan. 24) come about?  After I designed the
syllabus for"Art and Lifecycle in Africa," a freshman seminar I
am teaching this fall, I approached the museum with a request
for a precept show. Normally, this is a modest exhibit designed
to allow students to engage more directly and intimately with
art objects relevant to the course. As it turned out,