COME TOGETHER

‘Come Together’ is a singular proverb from my collection ‘Wine & Oil’, based on the intuitively metaphorical use of the Igbo language and its proverbs. This editorial imbeds cultural archetypes, traditionalist nsibidi symbolism and language from the proverb into a series of images. The referenced symbolism of the Earth, our ancestors and spirituality is historically commonplace within our songs, dances and community.

This is a conscious effort to reposition and expand the Igbo identity that can reflect and inspire the diaspora to not conform only to our postcolonial constructed identities, but to look back and within to who we innately are. By doing so we can leave a true legacy to the future generations by highlighting some of the Igbo artistic rituals, suppressed by Imperialism and its subsequent demonisation.

ARCHETYPES

Odinani is the traditional practice of Igbo cosmology, translating to “as it is in the land”. The most frequently invoked and celebrated deity is the earth goddess Ani, aptly named after the soil that we walk upon in Igbo. Her being one of the most powerful within the pantheon and the primary arbiter of Igbo law: she dictates the harmony had with nature, the fertility of the soil and the nutrition we receive in turn, of those that have passed and the knowledge and creativity that is with those fallen ancestors that rest with her. This fundamental relationship with the land and making our return to it is supported by the spirit-workers that tended to her shrine. All of this information was then disseminated to her people throughout the villages by the town-crier and his ogene gong, sharing the wealth of knowledge within our communities.

SPIRITUAL SPACES

An influential Igbo phenomenon, specific to the Owerri people, is their practice of Mbari. Meaning “creation”, it is an amalgamation of multiple Igbo processes of artmaking, within a museum sort of shrine that housed sculptural adaptations of deities, precious stones and trinkets, all shrouded in the mystical and descriptive linework known as ‘uli’. There is much to be appreciated about what went into its construction, as well as the communal celebration after the fact.

It involved the spiritual death and rebirthing of people, whilst also being reflective of their contemporary struggles and triumphs. It occupied space, and this notion is so poignant, as they have now fallen out of practice. Instead, this idea began to be metaphorically introduced to Nigeria, such as the Mbari Club. This initiated intellectual thought and artistic accumulations contributed to by collectives of writers and artists.

MODERN PRACTICE

I have accepted the personal responsibility of dedicating my artistic practice towards the furthering of the Igbo and Nigerian Diasporic legacy wherever I can. As my practice is driven by my own personal experiences, I wanted to be able to provide the same reverence to my Igbo heritage that I have needed to actively unearth for myself, contextualised by my diasporic Euro-American internationalities. It is no longer work to me, a labour of love, as many diasporic individuals are forced into. We have continuously tried to occupy space where it has not been afforded to us, but this is a reclamation of what is our birthright, and therefore the focus is that of joy, community and collectivising. In this way, we may honour these previous knowledge systems of our ancestors: the keepers of knowledge through song, dance, art, performance, dreams, prayer, and gathering with one other.