The London Underground will celebrate Njideka Akunyili Crosby, daughter of late former Director General of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Dora Akunyili, and other female artists with a programme of works by women.
The programme marks 100 years since women were granted suffrage.
And it also forms part of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan’s gender equality campaign, #BehindEveryGreatCity, which hopes to celebrate the city’s role in securing votes for women and looks to increasing gender equality in 2018.
“Over the next year, and beyond, we will highlight how women of all ages, ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds make London the great city it is,” Khan said.
“More importantly, we will redouble our efforts in the fight for gender equality. During this momentous year and beyond, we must do all we can to remove any barriers to women’s success and to unlock their full potential.”
The art programme will see Nigerian-born artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby creating something new at Brixton station, while British artist, Heather Phillipson, create what she calls “an ambitious sculptural project” on a disused platform at Gloucester Road Station.
25 million new tube maps will be designed by Romanian artist Geta Brătescu and French artist Marie Jacotey.
Born in Enugu State, Akunyili Crosby cites classic and contemporary painters as influences, and draws on her experience as a Nigerian woman living in America in her work.
In June 2016, she was awarded Prix Canson, an internationally-recognised prize for art on paper.
Akunyili Crosby won the 2015 Next Generation Prize by New Museum, an award for emerging artists and the Wein Prize from the Studio Museum cited for her “great innovation and promise.”
She was also recognised as the top of 10 black artists to celebrate in 2016 and awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2017.
