Similar Posts
I remember
I remember when I was a curator at the Denver Art Museum from 1999-2008.
One of the highlights of my days in Denver was the opening of the African art gallery designed by Daniel Libeskind, (aka Best Architect in the World).
MY SUGGESTION
A friend, who is also a devout, church-going Christian just talked with me a few minutes ago. He called from Nigeria.
“What is wrong with these kids?” he asked me. “Why can’t they protest peacefully? What has their quarrel against police brutality got to do with burning down buildings, and looting stores? They are criminals. They are worse than the politicians they are criticizing. If you place them in positions of power, they would do worse.”
I didn’t respond. After all, I didn’t call him. He called. He must have something really important to say to have spent his money calling me.
VISUAL PROVERBS: ABO
VISUAL PROVERBS: ABO
Let’s play with words.
Let’s play with images.
Let’s construct figures of speech.
Let’s do òwé, and ride it down the lane of memory.
Let’s break things all down; then pack them all back together.
Let’s see what will fall out, what will fall in.
Let us now begin to speak in proverbs.
The greatest news.
The greatest news.
I met my granddaughter yesterday for the first time.
Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, we were unable to meet until yesterday.
She is now 13 months.
Oluorogbo–the first scholar.
Oluorogbo–the first scholar.
In Ile Ife is a fellow to whom the invention of writing is ascribed.
His name is Oluorogbo.
(But this fellow is different from Olurorogbo, the son of Moremi).
Over the centuries, Oluorogbo’s scripts have disappeared because his books were buried during a conflict–a failed attempt to preserve the scripts and prevent them from getting into the hands of the enemies.
PARABLE OF IJAPA and CHILD
PARABLE OF IJAPA and CHILD
There is an old Yoruba proverb that says “The child insisting that his mother must not sleep will also not get any sleep.” (Ọmọ tó ní ìyá òun ò ní í sùn kò ní fojú ba oorun).
Women who nurse babies know the challenge of getting enough sleep while a baby is still unable to understand the difference between night and day. The baby keeps waking up to feed, cry, poo and pee.
The mother must attend to all the needs of the baby during the night. Typically, for the mother, therefore, it is a long, wearying night.
The poor mother gets up in the morning having caught almost no sleep, exhausted and drained physically and emotionally.
Yet she must face another day of sleeplessness and ceaseless labor until the baby grows up.
Now think of the story of Ijapa.