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The foundation of the community is a return to tradition, a remembering and continuation of who we are as a people.
JAN 08, 2023 DISCOVER NIGERIA
A few years ago, I came across a curious article about a professor arrested by municipal authorities in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, because of a building that he had designed and built. What was his crime, you might ask, the officials were deeply troubled by the look and intentions of several buildings that had been designed and built by the professor in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
I grew up in Ile-ife and the town is at the center of Yoruba life, the cradle of our start as a people and like many Yoruba towns, there is constant tension between traditional indigenous belief systems and the tenets of Christianity and Islam that the majority of Yoruba now ascribed to. A town deeply seeped in Yoruba tradition, the notion that someone would be arrested because of the design and aesthetic of a physical structure was beyond curious and I wanted to see the place.
The creator of this building is the incredibly talented, Prof. Moyo Okediji, a brilliant, artist, curator, who has cultivated an artist community of women in Ile-Ife, who are committed to creating a self-sustaining community deeply rooted in Yoruba tradition, woven throughout the community in its physicality, its culture and its tenets, a foundational honoring of Yoruba culture, its deities, aesthetics, language, medicine and its technologies.
The minute we set foot in Akodi, we were greeted with such warmth by the group of women who have built this powerful community space, the architecture of the buildings were deeply steeped in traditional and natural materials – clay bricks, gourds and remnants of pottery, are the tools that are used to construct the buildings, the physical structure evokes the traditional construction and the buildings are a canvas for art and the artistic practice of the women who have built this community. Throughout the community there are various physical structures that are meant to embody Yoruba deities, heroines, folktales. We have the statue of Moremi, a Yoruba queen, who saved the people of Ile-Ife from subjugation from the neighboring Ugbo Kingdom. Woven throughout the community is the story of the Yoruba people, our deities, our mythologies, our dreams, and our future.
The foundation of the community is a return to tradition, a remembering and continuation of who we are as a people. From the aesthetic to health, these women have created a self-sufficient community that is a celebration of who we are. There is a commitment to creating traditional art – pottery, sand painting, sculpture. In medicine, we have elewe omo, women who have been custodians of tradition, and have a deep understanding of the medicinal qualities and effects of plants, roots, seeds. The women of Akodi are able to heal, treat various ailments through their creation of medicines to heal and cure. The women of Akodi have created a space that is a visual representation of who we are as a people and is a celebration of ancient technologies and practices.
The foundation of the community is a return to tradition, a remembering and continuation of who we are as a people.
JAN 08, 2023 DISCOVER NIGERIA
A few years ago, I came across a curious article about a professor arrested by municipal authorities in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, because of a building that he had designed and built. What was his crime, you might ask, the officials were deeply troubled by the look and intentions of several buildings that had been designed and built by the professor in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
I grew up in Ile-ife and the town is at the center of Yoruba life, the cradle of our start as a people and like many Yoruba towns, there is constant tension between traditional indigenous belief systems and the tenets of Christianity and Islam that the majority of Yoruba now ascribed to. A town deeply seeped in Yoruba tradition, the notion that someone would be arrested because of the design and aesthetic of a physical structure was beyond curious and I wanted to see the place.
The creator of this building is the incredibly talented, Prof. Moyo Okediji, a brilliant, artist, curator, who has cultivated an artist community of women in Ile-Ife, who are committed to creating a self-sustaining community deeply rooted in Yoruba tradition, woven throughout the community in its physicality, its culture and its tenets, a foundational honoring of Yoruba culture, its deities, aesthetics, language, medicine and its technologies.
The minute we set foot in Akodi, we were greeted with such warmth by the group of women who have built this powerful community space, the architecture of the buildings were deeply steeped in traditional and natural materials – clay bricks, gourds and remnants of pottery, are the tools that are used to construct the buildings, the physical structure evokes the traditional construction and the buildings are a canvas for art and the artistic practice of the women who have built this community. Throughout the community there are various physical structures that are meant to embody Yoruba deities, heroines, folktales. We have the statue of Moremi, a Yoruba queen, who saved the people of Ile-Ife from subjugation from the neighboring Ugbo Kingdom. Woven throughout the community is the story of the Yoruba people, our deities, our mythologies, our dreams, and our future.
The foundation of the community is a return to tradition, a remembering and continuation of who we are as a people. From the aesthetic to health, these women have created a self-sufficient community that is a celebration of who we are. There is a commitment to creating traditional art – pottery, sand painting, sculpture. In medicine, we have elewe omo, women who have been custodians of tradition, and have a deep understanding of the medicinal qualities and effects of plants, roots, seeds. The women of Akodi are able to heal, treat various ailments through their creation of medicines to heal and cure. The women of Akodi have created a space that is a visual representation of who we are as a people and is a celebration of ancient technologies and practices.
Join our email list to receive 10% off your first purchase
© 2023 Busayo All Rights Reserved
Join our email list to receive 10% off your first purchase
© 2023 Busayo All Rights Reserved
Join our email list to receive 10% off your first purchase