REALITY SHAPED
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Two New African Proverbs:
1. The same people who place their knee on your neck will also be the first to ask “Why can’t you breathe?”
2. The same people who are causing your sadness will also be the first to ask “Why can’t you laugh?”
(Adapted from the Yoruba proverb, “Ẹ́ni tí ó bá sọ ni di olóríburúkú ni ó kọ́kọ́ má a ń fi bú ni:
The Last Dance.
Adetola Wewe is working in my studio gallery on his last painting as the first resident fellow of the University of African Art at Austin.
He is concluding a one-month stay, and has produced an incredible number of paintings during this short period.
He will leave for Houston during the week, from where he plans to fly back home.
Today, he will share his residency experience with the students of the University of Texas at Austin, in a course titled “Introduction to African Art,” taught by Moyo Okediji.
SAY IT NOW
When you speak to yourself at night
be not afraid to speak truth
to thunder using the language of proverbs
to deliver music to homeless soldiers
eating from street dumpsters
with long spoons dining with the devil
wearing rifles loaded with a silver lining
WEAPONIZING MEAT What is at stake in Nigeria is much more than the crisis of the…
Moyo Okediji
Title: The Butterfly Thinks Himself A Bird
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date 2021
Size: 24″ x 30″
The title is an important line in playwright Ola Rotimi’s masterpiece, THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME.
Rotimi took the line from a Yoruba proverb, “Labalábá fira rẹ̀ wẹ́ye, kò le ṣìṣe ẹyẹ.” ̛It means, “The butterfly compares itself to the bird, but is unable to perform like a bird.”
Life Begins At 65
I’m only just 64, but life begins at 65
I thank all my friends who sent me birthday wishes yesterday.
I can’t wait for the party to start when, finally, I get born one year from today.
But, it’s alright. Some people are only in their thirties, forties, fifties and early sixties. They have to wait a while to get born and start rocking.
At 65, you’ve done it all. Life has thrown all it has at you, and you have stood your ground. You can easily say, “Ẹran kí la ò jẹ rí? What edible flesh am I yet to chew?”