CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF YORUBA ART AND THE ARTISTIC
CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF YORUBA ART AND THE ARTISTIC PROCESS
Beauty defined- EWA Manifestations of beauty: outer and inner Iwa—character, existence, essential nature Iwa l’ewa character is Beauty The useful, the functional, the complete, the appropriate Ori---The Head– Ori Ode-- outer head Ori Inu—Inner head (Houses the vital sense organs Site of personality center of spirituality Shrine, being, destiny)
Group of stylized abstract heads representing, inner spiritual head--site of personality Yoruba, (Ita Yemoo, Ife) Nigeria, terracotta, h. 13 cm(5 in); 19 cm(7. 1/2 in); 16. 5 cm (61/2 in) 16 cm (6 3/8 in)
Aesthetic parameters: Clarity Ephebism-youthfulness Completeness Shining smoothness Social and emotional proportion Polyrhythmic compositions Art as metaphor
Ibeji twin memorial figure, Yoruba, Nigeria Wood, 20 th cent. (Yiyo) relative clarity, completeness, and visibility
Lajuwa, royal usurper Terra-cotta, Ife, Yoruba, 12/15 th cent. (odo) Ephebism: relative youthfulness
Ooni, Leaded brass, Appr. 18. in. Ife, Yoruba, 14/15 th cent. (Pipe) completeness & emotional proportion
Head of a Queen, Ife, (Yoruba), Nigeria Terracotta, 12 th-13 th Century 800 -700 BP (Before the Present)
Sango Shrine Sculptures, Yoruba, Nigeria Wood, 20 th cent. -aesthetics of social proportion
Adire, dyed cotton, Yoruba, SW Nigeria, 20 th cent. polyrhythmic composition
The Yoruba Universe 2 realms-Tangible World of the living—ile aye Intangible realm of the departed—ode orun Eniyan—Human Ere—sculpture
Calabash representing the Yoruba cosmos, Oyo Yoruba, 19 th cent. Carved Gourd
Ancestral Veneration Egungun masquerade, sequined applique, cotton, Yoruba Southwestern Nigeria, 20 th century.
Sacred Rulership Oba William Ayeni, Orangun of Ila, with Ade Nla, the great crown
Duality and Gender Cooperation Edan Ogboni, Ijebu Yoruba, Brass, 19 th/ 20 th century
Artistic Enterprise Ise Ona—work of art, Onisona—artist Ona—art, design, embellishment Ere—sculpture Pottery Weaving Dyeing Body art Painting Calabash engraving/incising Artistic Process
Laying the Design Patterns of Adire Cloth –Artistic Process 1& 2
Dyeing and drying the Fabric—stages 3&4
Finished Product
The painting process, Ile Ife, Nigeria
Oluorogbo shrine painting Ile Ife, Nigeria
Epa, Yoruba, Nigeria Wood, pigments 20 th century
Painting the head of an infant In the ritual of “knowing the inner head”
Ilari-palace messengers, Oyo Nigeria 20 th century
Olowo in ritual performance with braided head, Owo Nigeria
Sango Priest with braided hair Yoruba, Nigeria 20 th century
- Slides: 28