Born in the Kòró era,
my granddaughter knows only two faces:
her mother and her father.
These kids born in the United States
only know two faces.
Given the beautiful face of her mother
and the gentle face of her father,
If my granddaughter sees
my untrimmed Koro face
she is going to scream
and run like Usain Bolt.
It is five years already when I did this solo.
The soil is the medium–not a single drop of synthetic paint in my work: I produce every color with carefully collected soils.
Another of the paintings I just discovered in my garage.This painting, however, has the distinction of being one the oldest canvases I have in my possession—painted in 1992. It was the painting in which I had a breakthrough. It was in this painting that I unlearned everything my teachers taught me.I realize that in life, we do not see things like a camera.
Wisconsin, Madison, 1994. Naming ceremony.
I was a college student.
One of my Nigerian colleagues had just finished his Ph.D., and he returned to Nigeria.
He had no idea that his girlfriend in Madison was pregnant.
When he was contacted, he decided that he was not returning to the US.
The pregnant girlfriend decided she was not going to Nigeria to join him.
THE RAFTER’S BURDEN—the English translation of Oladejo Okediji’s AJA LO LERU is out
Three days before his transition, my father, the Yoruba writer Oladejo Okediji, had only one worry: “Akanbi,” he told me, “make sure you work with Sola Owonibi to get Aja Lo Leru translated and published.”
I was suspicious. “We are already working on it,” I said. “You are worried we won’t do a good job?” It was another hint he gave me about his impending departure during that last call. And I did not miss it.
“I’m just saying,” Baba said with a dismissive laugh. “I would love to read a good translation of the novel.”
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-Eight) “Moyo,” Steve said, “it’s Obaseki.” “Obaseki?” It took me…
I’m building an art gallery in Austin TX.
The gallery is now nearing completion—hopefully, it will be ready in January 2021.
It’s only a modest gallery, just to satisfy the need for an African art gallery in Texas, such a great state, yet without such a gallery devoted to the art of Africa.
The architect is Beau Frail, from Florida.
The Engineer is R.D. Hammond, from Texas.