South Africa Pen Art: Nigerian artist captures unique features in Johannesburg

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Taiwo Ohu is a Nigerian artist who's been living in South Africa since 2006. In his sketches, Ohu illustrates the structural environments of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria, as well as its inhabitants. Pen Drawing is a major part of his work. CGTN's Yolisa Njamela has more.

Taiwo Ohu's originally from Yoruba land in the western part of Nigeria. He's been living in South Africa for over a decade now.

Ohu is passionate about architectural and cultural heritage and his series of fresh and striking drawings reflect this pre-occupation.

His experiences, having lived in both countries, have influenced him to come up with this body of work.

YOLISA NJAMELA JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA "It's urban spaces and buildings like these that inspire Taiwo Ohu's work. His work is so detailed, even show-casing the imperfections of each building he captures.

Basically a landscape art and I also call it iconic architectural landmarks of South Africa. This work opens up a contemporary discussion. Why? Because of the permanent linear method of my images inspired me to relate my work to the buildings because of heritages and culture that it reflects."

These buildings house stories, memories and histories that resonate personally, collectively and within societies. That's what inspires Ohu.

TAIWO OHU ARTIST "One other thing that also inspires me is because these iconic landmarks also put South Africa on the map. Like I was discussing earlier, a lot of people knew nothing about this, Africa and South Africa as a whole but when I started this, I started getting contacts and applauds on my work."

Ohu believes that we learn of societal ideological shifts through iconic buildings. For instance, the Union buildings, the seat of government, is a structure that stands proudly as a symbol of democracy. While in the past - for many South Africans, it was a symbol of divisions. The Buildings are one of the centres of political life in South Africa.

TAIWO OHU ARTIST "The essence of me doing this in South Africa is because I live here. I'm a permanent resident here. I'm part of the society and this is a way of giving back to the society as well and propagate that good news about South Africa and its environment. This satisfies my soul more than the money even though the money is a vehicle to producing this artwork."

Ohu wants to open up contemporary conversations about the essence of buildings or dwellings. Yolisa Njamela, CGTN, Johannesburg, South Africa.