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.
–Akan proverb.
Rikki Wemega-Kwawu
Were the world ruled by the snail and the tortoise, there would be no war on earth.
–Akan proverb
Bröther Owusu-Ankomah
It was very cold last Saturday when we celebrated our annual Egungun Festival. But the òtútù did not deter us from celebrating our ancestral heritage.
Next year we will still be here to celebrate again.
Is it true that all men are born equal?
No.
We are born with different talents and handicaps.
But we may agree that “All men SHOULD be born equal, but the circumstances of each birth vary.”
Some people are born close to the finishing line, and many are born right at the beginning of the starting point in this race of life.
Others are placed even behind the official starting line, and they must also race with those placed only a few feet from the finishing line where all the goodies of life are stored.
“Hold it, hold it,” Obaseki said, “here come your people.” He gestured with his nose in the direction of a couple of flickering lights in the dense darkness.
“What is going on there,” I asked?
“That’s Joshua’s spot,” Obaseki said. “He just arrived. And he has company. Most probably Gina.”
I was drunk, anyway, so I asked for one more bottle of beer.
“We are out of ready-made snails,” our attendant explained. “We can make some for you by order. But I recommend you try our ram. There is no better ram in the world than ours.”
It was very cold last Saturday when we celebrated our annual Egungun Festival. But the òtútù did not deter us from celebrating our ancestral heritage.
Next year we will still be here to celebrate again.
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).
When young women went to the river to fetch water, they would disappear.
The king’s royal beads even went missing.
People were worried. One of the wise men said, “Let’s approach Ọlọ́run to give us a police boss.”
But who could they trust? One of them must be the thief.
They decided unanimously that the only trustworthy person in the entire community was Ijapa.
Ijapa gave them only one condition: “Nobody should visit my house without letting me know in advance that they were coming.”