Portrait

Abashiya Magaji Ahuwan was born in 1947 at Sakwak in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. After Primary education, Ahuwan got admitted into the Abuja Secondary School in 1962, where he became passionate about Art.

While at this school his teacher Obrien often took them to see the Abuja Pottery, a vibrant place, which was directly opposite his school.

It was during one of such visits, that Ahuwan was able to make vases for the first time, using the kick wheel. Ahuwan completed his Secondary School in 1966 and left for the Abingdon School at Berkshire in England, where he obtained the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in 1968.

After the HSC, Ahuwan enrolled at the West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham, also in England. He emerged as the best graduating student in Ceramics 1972, with a second-class upper degree.

Ahuwan returned to Nigeria in 1972 and was employed that same year as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts, ABU.

While lecturing in the Department of Fine Arts, he got admitted to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, in the United States of America and graduated with M.Sc. in Ceramics in 1976. He returned to the United States for a PhD in Educational Administration and Planning, which he obtained in 1981, from the University of North Texas, Denton. Ahuwan rose to the rank of professor in 2003.

Over the period of four decades of teaching in ABU, Ahuwan had held several positions. He was Head, Department of Industrial Design, from 1990 to 1993 and returned to head the department again, from 2002 to 2006. From 2004 to 2008, he became the Dean, Faculty of Environmental Design, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Ahuwan belongs to a sizeable number of professional associations and professional bodies. He is a founding member of the Ceramics Researchers Association of Nigeria (CeRAN) and served as its National President from 2002 – 2011. He is a member of Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA)., Craft Potters Association (CPA)., Nigerian Society for Education Through Art (NSEA)., National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts (NCECA)., The Arts Council of the African Studies Association, (A.C.A.S.A.) Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., U.S.A., Honorary Member, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, U.S.A.,

He held National & International solo and group exhibitions with works in private and public collections in Nigeria, U.S.A., and the United Kingdom. Exhibitions include; Hunkuyi Clay Experiment, sponsored by Alliance Francaise, Kaduna; Art Exhibition, sponsored by Carborundum Museum of Ceramics, Niagara Falls, Canada; Symbols a Two-man Exhibition sponsored by Soapstone Centre for the Arts, held at Decatur, Georgia, U.S.A.