Yoruba Art and Language : Seeking the African in African Art

The Yorùbá Was One Of The Most Important Civilizations Of Sub-saharan Africa. While The High Quality And Range Of Its Artistic And Material Production Have Long Been Recognized, The Art Of The Yorùbá Has Been Judged Primarily According To The Standards And Principles Of Western Aesthetics. In This Book, Which Merges The Methods Of Art History, Archaeology, And Anthropology, Rowland Abíọ́dún Offers New Insights Into Yorùbá Art And Material Culture By Examining Them Within The Context Of The Civilization's Cultural Norms And Values And, Above All, The Yorùbá Language. Abíọ́dún Draws On His Fluency And Prodigious Knowledge Of Yorùbá Culture And Language To Dramatically Enrich Our Understanding Of Yorùbá Civilization And Its Arts. The Book Includes A Companion Website With Audio Clips Of The Yoruba Language, Helping The Reader Better Grasp The Integral Connection Between Art And Language In Yoruba Culture. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Dedication Table of contents List of illustrations Acknowledgments Orthography and Phonological Notes Introduction: On the Centrality of Africa in African Art Studies Yoruba Art as Oríkì 1 Orí: No Òrìṣà Blesses a Person without the Consent of His/Her Orí Họ̀ọ̀-rọ̀ or Ọ̀rọ̀ Orí-Inú Notes on Text 2 Àṣẹ: The Empowered Word Must Come to Pass 3 Ọ̀ṣun: The Corpulent Woman Whose Waist Two Arms Cannot Encompass Notes on Text 4 Ọ̀rúnmìlà: Henceforth, Ifá Priests Will Ride Horses “He [The Client] Then Started to Praise Ifá Priests” The Horse, Its Rider, and Ọ̀rúnmìlà Agere-Ifá Sculpture as Visual Oríkì Notes on Text 5 We Greet Aṣọ before We Greet Its Wearer Beads Fabric of Immortality In Praise of Gods and Cloth Notes on Text 6 Àkó: Re/Minding Is the Antidote for Forgetfulness Àkó Ceremony and Effigy Àkó Aesthetics Dressing the Àkó Effigy Àkó’s Display and Celebration “Reminding Is the Antidote for Forgetfulness”: (Ìrántí loògùn àìgbàgbé) Acknowledgments 7 Ilé-Ifẹ̀: The Place Where the Day Dawns Three Idioms of Ifẹ̀-naturalism Àkó-graphic àṣà Àṣẹ-graphic àṣà Èpè-graphic àṣà 8 Yoruba Aesthetics: Ìwà, Ìwà Is What We Are Searching for, Ìwà A Preamble: Centrality of Ìwà as a Concept Rudiments of Yoruba Artistic Criticisms “Ìwà” of the Critic (Recognition of Ẹwà) Ojú-inú Ojú-ọnà Ìfarabalẹ̀ Ìlutí Ìmọjú-mọra Títọ́ Ìwà in Creativity (Production of Ẹwà) Notes on Text 9 Tomorrow, Today’s Elder Sibling Appendix A. Chapter 3, Ọ̀ṣun Appendix B Chapter 6, Àkó I. A verse from Ọ̀wọ́nrín Méjì in the Ifá literary corpus Appendix C Àkó Performances in Ọ̀wọ̀ District Appendix D Chapter 9, Tomorrow, Today’s Elder Sibling Glossary Notes Orthography and Phonological Notes Introduction: On the Centrality of Africa in African Art Studies 1. Orí: No Òrìṣà Blesses a Person without the Consent of His/Her Orí 2. Àṣẹ: The Empowered Word Must Come to Pass 3. Ọ̀ṣun: The Corpulent Woman Whose Waist Two Arms Cannot Encompass 4. Ọ̀rúnmìlà: Henceforth, Ifá Priests Will Ride Horses 5. We Greet Aṣọ before We Greet Its Wearer 6. Àkó: Re/Minding Is the Antidote for Forgetfulness 7. Ilé-Ifẹ̀: The Place Where the Day Dawns 8. Yoruba Aesthetics: Ìwà, Ìwà Is What We Are Searching for, Ìwà 9. Tomorrow, Today’s Elder Sibling Glossary Works Consulted Index The Yorùbá was one of the most important civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa. While the high quality and range of its artistic and material production have long been recognized, the art of the Yorùbá has been judged primarly according to the standards and principles of Western aesthetics. In this book, which merges the methods of art history, archaeology, and anthropology, Rowland Abiodun offers new insights into Yoruba art and material culture by examining them within the context of the civilization's cultural norms and values and, above all, the Yoruba language. He begins by establishing the importance of the concepts of oríkì, the verbal and visual performances that animate ritual and domestic objects, such as cloth, sculpture, and dance; and às̤e, the energy that structures existence and that transforms and controls the physical world. Both concepts served as the guiding principles of Yoruba artistic production. Through analyses of representative objects, Abiodun demonstrates how material culture expresses the key philosophical notions at the heart of the Yoruba worldview. Aboidun draws on his fluency and prodigious knowledge of Yoruba culture and language to dramatically enrich our understanding of Yoruba civilization and its arts. The book includes a companion website with audio clips of the Yoruba language, helping the reader better grasp the integral connection between art and language in Yoruba culture. -- from dust jacket The Yorb was one of the most important civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa. While the high quality and range of its artistic and material production have long been recognized, the art of the Yorb has been judged primarily according to the standards and principles of Western aesthetics. In this book, which merges the methods of art history, archaeology, and anthropology, Rowland Abdn offers new insights into Yorb art and material culture by examining them within the context of the civilization's cultural norms and values and, above all, the Yorb language. He begins by establishing the importance of the concepts of ork, the verbal and visual performances that animate ritual and domestic objects, such as cloth, sculpture, and dance; and , the energy that structures existence and that transforms and controls the physical world. Both concepts served as the guiding principles of Yorb artistic production. Through analyses of representative objects, Abdn demonstrates how material culture expresses the key philosophical notions at the heart of the Yorb worldview. Abdn draws on his fluency and prodigious knowledge of Yorb culture and language to dramatically enrich our understanding of Yorb civilization and its arts. The book includes a companion website with audio clips of the Yoruba language, helping the reader better grasp the integral connection between art and language in Yoruba culture. The Yorùbá Was One Of The Most Important Civilizations Of Sub-saharan Africa. While The High Quality And Range Of Its Artistic And Material Production Have Long Been Recognized, The Art Of The Yorùbá Has Been Judged Primarily According To The Standards And Principles Of Western Aesthetics. In This Book, Which Merges The Methods Of Art History, Archaeology, And Anthropology, Rowland Abíọ́dún Offers New Insights Into Yorùbá Art And Material Culture By Examining Them Within The Context Of The Civilization's Cultural Norms And Values And, Above All, The Yorùbá Language. Abíọ́dún Draws On His Fluency And Prodigious Knowledge Of Yorùbá Culture And Language To Dramatically Enrich Our Understanding Of Yorùbá Civilization And Its Arts. The Book Includes A Companion Website With Audio Clips Of The Yoruba Language, Helping The Reader Better Grasp The Integral Connection Between Art And Language In Yoruba Culture.