Kwubiri was born and raised in Amafor, a small town in the province Abia, Nigeria. He had to experience the trauma of the Biafra-war as a child, suffering from malnutrition and having to flee from his home. Despite those extreme conditions, and the fact, that he barely had any artistic materials at hand as a child, he managed to train himself and make a living from his painting from his teenage years on, being even able to support his family. Based on his will to become a professionally trained artist, he decided to move to Germany on his own as a young adult.
Düsseldorf Art Academy
Entering the Düsseldorf Art Academy as a guest student in 1993, Kwubiri shortly afterwards was included in the painting class of Michael Buthe. After Buthe's death in 1994, he switched to A. R. Penck's master class, which he successfully completed in 2002 as a master student.
Chidi Kwubiri lives and works in Pulheim, just outside Cologne, where he moved with his family in 2000. His studio is located at the “WALZWERK”, a historic industrial complex now used as a commercial and cultural location. Kwubiri can already look back on numerous national and international solo and group exhibitions, which have been located especially in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the USA. One of the peaks of his career to date, was being chosen to design the MISEREOR hunger cloth in 2016, which is part of a 40-year tradition, for the global MISEREOR Lenten campaigns 2017/2018.
Chidi Kwubiri has won several awards and art promotion prizes
Kwubiri draws inspiration for his work from memories of the people and their culture of his upbringing in Nigeria. His topics range from light-hearted memories, such as ritual dances and masks, to heavier topics, like female genital mutilation. His style, which remains colorful, vibrant and appealing, even when dealing with such serious matter, does not stand in contrast to its heavy content, as it is supposed to draw people into his work, making them take a closer look at it, as he describes it.
