Shedrach Uzenab – Master Artist Biography
Shedrach Uzenab is a Nigerian-Swiss visual artist whose work explores memory, cultural identity, and humanity’s connection to the natural world. Like Soyinka’s Abiku — aware of the law but not the book of compassion — some repeat patterns without love. Uzenab’s work seeks to break such cycles, inviting reflection, empathy, and deeper human connection.
Working across sculpture, installation, and performance, he creates symbolic forms that reflect spirituality, heritage, and the shared human experience.
At the heart of his artistic philosophy is Olumëna – Mother Earth. Long before memory was written, before history took form, there was the Creator—unseen and infinite. From this divine power emerged woman, the living vessel of creation, to give life to the world and nurture its children. Uzenab calls her Olumëna. She is not only the source of life but the living embodiment of divine creative power. Through her, humanity learns to love, remember, and protect the world. Without women there would be no generations; civilizations would not rise. In every sculpted form, installation, and performance, Uzenab honors Olumëna, reminding us that women are the reflection of God’s creative power, and that humanity’s survival depends on their care, wisdom, and strength.
Uzenab has participated in international cultural initiatives, including the Peace and Development project for the African Union Office in Geneva, exhibited at the Kempinski Hotel Geneva, and projects connected to the United Nations. His artistic practice also includes a 9/11 remembrance project dedicated to reflection, unity, and resilience.
He is the founder of the intercultural initiatives Afrika in Town and Africa Meets Europe, parallel platforms promoting African art and cultural dialogue across Europe. These projects have been presented in venues including the Old Town Hall in Canton Zug, exhibitions in Nidwalden, Obwalden, and Lucerne in Switzerland, and internationally in Tarnowskie Góry, Poland.
His work also extends into community engagement and philanthropy through performance projects, including dancing initiatives supporting Water for the Third World, Rotary Club Baselland, and Taxi Tixi, Kanton Zug, as well as performances at the Old Börse Hall, Zurich. He has also exhibited at the International School of Zug & Lucerne and at Valiant Bank, Zug.
“I am not Picasso or the masters,” Uzenab reflects, “but history will tell — one day my artworks shall stand tall alongside them.”
An African adage reminds us that the fingers of the hand are not alike, yet they must work together. In the same way, humanity does not need to be the same — man or woman, educated or uneducated, West or East, Shedrach or Picasso. What matters is that each of us offers the best of what we can give, so that together we may serve humanity and make the world a better place.
Through his work, Shedrach Uzenab explores the fragile balance between unity and division in contemporary global society. Drawing from personal experiences across cultures and close observations of international politics, his artworks interrogate the complex tensions between Africa and the Western world, the paradoxes of global cooperation, and the human realities that often lie beneath political narratives.
His projects invite audiences to look beyond official narratives, encouraging deeper reflection on the underlying forces that shape our world today.
From exhibitions supported by international institutions to independent conceptual projects, Uzenab’s practice continues to engage viewers in critical conversations around culture, identity, and the dynamics of global power.
“The Art of Becoming: A Journey Through Life and Creation”
As left my country and came to Europe I become so much more: an unwished immigrant without right to stay or work, a street – salesman, a night-shift worker, an admired dancer, a taxi driver, a businessman, a painter, a care taker, an artist …. I was the worst enemy and the most precious friend, I was despised and I was admired, I met bad people and great people and at the end I met love, security and family.
I have been fascinated by form and structure my whole life long. I felt great weaving different liana, leaves or grasses into baskets, mats, plates or just beautiful shapes as a child, making wooden sculptures as a teenager, painting as a young adult and finally combining materials and techniques to enclose messages I want to share with the world.
Sometimes I see ac hair, an old lamp, a worn out carpet, a lonely earring, a lost pearl or a piece of wood and they are talking to me. They say “take me, free my soul, show the world, who I really am and what I can really do”.
And I free them, pamper them and let them help me tell my stories with their powerful expressions.
I do believe there is nothing, which is worthless in this universe, because one day it could serve as an example for others to learn from. Life is either so short or just too long. The moment we start to understand the logic of beautiful, decent life, we lose it; death – why are thou so unfriendly?
“Finding Value in Everything: A Life of Expression”
“Nothing in this universe is worthless; every soul, every object, every moment holds a story waiting to be freed and shared.”