Orìkí, Nifemi Marcus Bello

Oríkì: Material Affirmations in Three Acts is the first monograph by Nigerian artist Nifemi Marcus-Bello, published by Apartamento Publishing. The book takes its name from the Yoruba tradition of praise poetry and unfolds as a journey through the artist’s trajectory, incorporating a personal text written by his mother, Folake Marcus-Bello, as well as an autobiographical essay that connects childhood and artistic practice.

The publication is structured around the sculptural series Oríkì, divided into three acts — Friction Ridge, Tales by Moonlight and Whispers of a Trail — in which Marcus-Bello works with materials such as bronze, aluminium and copper. The volume includes a foreword by Eames Demetrios and texts by Irene Sunwoo, Glenn Adamson and Rita Ouédraogo, as well as an interview with Camille Okhio. The project is completed with photographs by several authors: Ọlájídé Ayẹni, Kadara Enyeasi, Erik Benjamins, Eric Petschek and the artist himself.

At Nexe Impressions, we managed the production of the volume, featuring 128 pages printed on Munken Print White by Munken Paper, interleaved with 24 pages on Creator Star by Lecta. The cover is produced on gloss-coated paper. Printing combines black ink and a fluorescent green Pantone for the main interior, and full colour for the Creator Star section. The cover includes a metallic ink, black and fluorescent Pantone, finished with gloss PP lamination on the front and acrylic varnish on the reverse. The binding is sewn paperback, and the whole is enclosed in a dust jacket.