Why the Tortoise and the Dog Quarrel All the Time.
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: Why the Tortoise and the Dog Quarrel All the Time.
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Date: 2018
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Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: Why the Tortoise and the Dog Quarrel All the Time.
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Date: 2018
The idea of ILẸ̀ Ọ̀GẸ́RẸ́ AFỌKỌ́ YẸRÍ must be difficult for those who interpret reality from the binary western tradition of male/female, living/dead, organic/synthetic, plant/animal, tall/short, high/low, liquid/solid, left/right and right/wrong or past/present.
I
Request:
Now that Ibadan
is under fire,
is all lost?
What does Ifa say?
Response:
Ifá responds with Ọ̀sé Ọ̀yẹ̀ku.
In Ọ̀sẹ́ Ọ̀yẹ̀kú, Ifá traces the same passage
Don’t pick an orange
for its enormous size.
The fatness of the citrus
is not a sign of its sweetness.
I’ve seen large oranges
that are firm and juiceless
And I’ve eaten tiny ones
so sweet and sumptuous
Rivers of Life
Folks are flowing waters:
We fail to connect upstream,
Downstream we shall meet
Those you shun today,
Who owns your body?
Would you be shocked to learn
you don’t own your body?
Ten things, I hate to tell you,
claim ownership of your body
The first owner of your body
is your name.
Yoruba Numbers: Ení, Èjì Ẹ̀ta
Yoruba culture, using the Ifa dimension, is quite visual.
I therefore designed a Yoruba writing system that is essentially visual.