Folasayo Dele-Ogunrinde, award-winning Nigerian
writer, visual artist, performance poet, public speaker, filmmaker and actor is
dead. She passed away in her home in Houston, Texas on Saturday, May 18 around
1:30 a.m. after a courageous and protracted battle with stomach cancer. She was
45 years old. She received treatment for stomach cancer from oncologists who
are affiliated with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her
brother Mr. Ayodele Ogunrinde confirmed her death saying she was surrounded by
her 74-year-old father who flew in from Nigeria and other relatives when she
died.
Folasayo Dele-Ogunrinde was born March 2, 1968 in
Lagos, Nigeria. She was the first child and an only daughter; she is survived
by four brothers and both parents. Ms. Ogunrinde was a consummate artist who
has exhibited her work widely in the United States. She performed solo with a
live band or recorded music blending vintage Afro-folksy and Afro-jazz music,
contemporary jazz or instrumentals with her spoken word.
After graduating with a degree in Animal Science
from the University of Ibadan in the mid- 1980s, she gave up her career as a
Scientist to pursue her innate interests in acting, modeling, writing and the
visual arts. While studying at Ibadan, she was mesmerized by an undergraduate
Theatre Arts student's production play she saw and it influenced her to
switched career and write her first play as well. She is the author of a 1989
British Council/Association of Nigerian Authors award-winning play, The
Woman With a Past(Heinemann Books, Nigeria). She is also a recipient of the
Christopher Okigbo Poetry Prize.
But in the year 1995, Ms. Ogunrinde relocated to the
United States where she pursued a master's degree in Animal Nutrition from the
Iowa State University. She has a patented innovative artistic mixed media style
in the United States. She is the author ofConversations With The Soul At 3:00
A.M. a collection of love poems and art photography. A performance poet,
she had been captivating audiences with passionate rendition of this collection
prior to publication. Her performance work balances indigenous musical and
lyrical traditions from Africa with adapted influences from European, American
and Asian sources, to reveal a hybrid expressive impulse that elaborates on issues
of vulnerability and power.
Folasayo Dele-Ogunrinde, was an engaging and
provocative artist; she described herself as a divinely inspired artist. Her
work also explored issues of domestic abuse, rape, and dominance-submission
tensions in heterosexual relationships. She impacted so many people's lives
positively. She was a very spiritual and devout Christian. The family has
assured that her works will continue to be preserved and celebrated throughout
the world.
A memorial service will be held for her in Corpus
Christi Catholic church Houston, Texas on Saturday, May 25, 2013 before she
will be flown to Nigeria for the final funeral rites.
Source:
Huffington post
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