a picture showing moyo okediji poised for the camera

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982 (Part Thirty-five)

ByMoyo Okediji

How could I have missed Obaseki’s car as he followed us from the campus? I prided myself in being careful on the road, paying attention to the vehicles around me, and particularly in making sure that I was aware of my environment.

But as a Yoruba proverb says, one cannot be as clever as the sneak who is observing one’s activities.

The situation was critical. Obaseki was in attack mode and was no longer in full control.

Any careless statement from Gina or me could escalate the delicate matter into a full-blown crisis.

“Obaseki,” I said, “there is a misunderstanding. You are not reading things correctly.”

a post showing Moyo OKediji art piece

BIRDS IN FLIGHT

ByMoyo Okediji

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.

a picture showing moyo okediji poised for the camera

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY 1982: (Part Thirty-four)

ByMoyo Okediji

I could not believe my ears.

“You got pregnant from the rape?”

“Yes.”

“How did that happen?” I was making no sense with the question, but the situation was hardly making any sense either.

My throat felt dry. The bottles of palm wine on the table were still unopened.

I had to drink something immediately, I was thinking, or I would suffocate. This Gina was going to kill me.

a picture showing moyo okediji poised for the camera

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY: (Part Thirty-Three).

ByMoyo Okediji

Madam Ngu looked at my most recent painting and from the expression on her face, I could see that she did not like it.

She sat on the big chair in the center of my studio in the Ekenwan campus. I had arranged my paintings around the wall as she requested, ready for her critique.

“Muyo,” she said, “you need more life drawing classes.”

“Yes, madam,” I responded.

Art of Social Distancing

Art of Social Distancing

ByMoyo Okediji

Yesterday, my friend, Femi, called from Maryland and we had a long and beautiful conversation on the art of social distancing.

He wanted to buy a painting.

I told him I was happy to sell a painting and sent him a picture of the work.

I said the painting would look good as a Zoom backgrounder—like when FOX News calls and wants your opinion.

Are you going to panic because the artless interior of your home would suddenly become exposed to hundreds of millions of people on television and social media?

FRIENDSHIP iN 2021

FRIENDSHIP iN 2021

ByMoyo Okediji

How many people can be really, really true friends?

Or is friendship restricted to just two people?

Is friendship possible among three or more?

First, Yoruba people are cynical about friendship: the culture outright dismisses the notion of friendship as naïve.

“Ọ̀rẹ́ òtítọ́ ò sí,” is an adage that means “There are no true friends.”

“Ojú larí, ọ̀rẹ́ ò dénú,” means “We see the eye service, but the friendship is not deep.”

My edited book on the work of Dotun Popoola is now out.

My edited book on the work of Dotun Popoola is now out.

ByMoyo Okediji

My edited book on the work of Dotun Popoola is now out.

It looks so magnificent, like a grande Egungun performance.

The publisher says it goes for 50,000 naira per copy.

This hyper-colorful hardcover book that is larger than a royal Agbada arrived at my doorsteps for the New Year.

It is the most beautiful book I have ever seen.

Congrats to the wonderful art historians, Kunle Filani, Tolulope Sobowale, Olusegun Fajuyigbe, and Kehinde Adepegba, who contributed powerful essays to the book.

a post showing Moyo OKediji art piece

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982 (Part Thirty-Two)

ByMoyo Okediji

Steve quickly realized that it was a bad idea to take off his shirt to enjoy the breeze. He hurriedly wore it back. He had complained about the heat, which was one of the reasons we left the house.

Steve, finally, decided to take us to a place not too far from the house to show off the body of water he said he discovered. He had been raving about it, but we were unable to go and see it, distracted by the various things happening in such rapid succession.

Prominent on the list of my to-do-things was a visit to River Steve.