In Onobrakpeya’s vision, Jesus and the people he encountered as he bore the cross along a tortured journey to Mount Calvary are dressed in traditional clothing like adire — a dyed fabric covered in distinct, abstract patterns, made by Yoruba people in Southwest Nigeria. The Roman guards and executioners are recast as British colonial officers. Jerusalem is replaced by a post-colonial Nigerian city — independence from British rule had come in 1960. Each depiction is replete with symbols and markers of Nigerian life.

The commission presented a compelling depiction of the central event in Christianity within the artist’s own context. And it was also political. In “The Mask and the Cross,” the “mask” refers to indigenous religious symbols and practices opposed by Christian missionaries who arrived in Nigeria, backed by brutal colonial regimes. In Onobrakpeya’s series, features of indigenous heritage come to life and are expressed as a focal part of the Christian story.

“I’m making us understand it in our own way rather than trying to use the idea or the imagination of other people to tell the same story,” Onobrakpeya says. “So that my own people, who have the same experience as myself, can understand it, enjoy it and use it as something to move forward.”

He’s making the point that the African traditional symbols and cultures that were opposed by missionaries are still, to African Christian converts, an important part of their Christian identity.

The Afro-centric works also came during a time, following independence from British rule, when many among the new political elite seemed to venerate British and Western cultural practices over Nigerian ones, he says. “Their references were to London, Paris, Munich, New York.”

Onobrakpeya’s series, on display within the St. Paul’s Church cathedral was the jewel among a wider collection from various artists that emerged from the project. “What I did was a kind of change and people don’t take change lightly” he says.

The works were displayed at St. Paul’s Church for almost 45 years, a source of personal pride, but were not beloved by the congregation. They were not seen as a reinterpretation but a distortion, according to Onobrakpeya, and were eventually taken down.

“I felt bad about it, but I let the artwork live their own life. The most important thing is that it gave us a sense of pride that we can go back to ourselves,” he says. Their influence also remained intact, inspiring similar works. An international appreciation for the collection has grown with time.

“That what I did has now been seen as something original, that brings out the true spirits of our people and that it’s going to be exhibited again in Washington D.C., gives me a lot of joy and excitement.”