The Odo Ogbe market
I went to the Odo Ogbe market, Ile Ife.
The market women went, “Oyinbo, come give us a hug.”
This world is beautiful.
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I went to the Odo Ogbe market, Ile Ife.
The market women went, “Oyinbo, come give us a hug.”
This world is beautiful.
Here I was, instructing my students at the University of Texas, Austin, on the principles of Ifa computational coding. How I wished I also enjoyed the opportunity to teach young people in universities in Africa this same skill. But I have no such opportunity. And it’s not for a lack of trying, even offering my services for free.
On Friday, March 2, from 6:30-8pm, I will present a lecture titled, “Semioptics of Yoruba Language: Word as Image.”
The lecture takes place at the Center for African Studies, Department of African American and African Studies, of the Ohio State University.
Henry Drewall, the philosopher of sensiotics, wrote a couple of days ago that, “Moyo mi owon — you have turned pain into paint…for us to see and feel….”
He should know. Sensiotics is the archeology of feelings within the human sensibility.
This painting shared here is about the pain and joy of departures and arrivals, as one of my Transatlantic Series: in 1992, I started it in Nigeria just as I was relocating to the to the United States, where I completed it.
What is Igbohoism?
1. You need drinking water. You pay taxes to the government. The government refuses to provide you with drinking water, because the politicians would rather steal your money for their own personal purposes.
You dig water wells to provide you with water to drink and use for your household needs.
That is Igbohoism.
It is not an okada o.
It’s a long tori.
It started with a green snake.
It entered the house and crawled into bed with my friend.
I was in the other house, painting, when my friend came running in. “A snake! A snake. Quick!” She said, breathless. “Come, quickly. Please! Come and kill it!”
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: The Trial of the Snail and the Tortoise
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date: 2018
THE CHILD BREAKS THE SHELL OF A SNAIL, NOT THAT OF A TORTOISE.