INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES
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Item Syntheses of cultures and sensibilities: the expressions of Moyo Ogundipe(2011) Pogoson, O. I.; Akande, A. O.Item Indigeneity and eclecticism in Ogori Ovia-Osese festival(League of Ogori Professors (LOP), 2012) Pogoson, O. I.; Anabe, A. T.Item Some utilitarian objects from Edo North and the Northern Edo and Benin artistic relationship(2016) Pogoson, O. I.The history of Northern Edo land, Nigeria has been subsumed in the history of Benin kingdom and indeed, due to oversimplification, northern Edo history has been reduced to the history of Benin. Presently, the only available means to salvage the history of Northern Edo land remains the art objects collected by Northcote Thomas from Edo land, between 1908 and 1914. The collection is now domiciled at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) of the University of Cambridge, unutilized. The paper therefore undertook a comparative iconographic study of selected objects from the Thomas' collection with Benin art, in an attempt to make some more specific and perhaps categorical statements about a possible Benin-Northern Edo artistic relationship. Some of the works analysed from the collection include kola nut bowls from Otuo, Uzebba decorated kola nut bowls, igbede bowls, and Okpe decorated lad] e out of others: Evidently these artworks are prestigious objects, yet the Edo north community is devoid of such powerful central administrative system that could be in demand of such objects. This raises questions about the peopling of the region. From the available evidential materials, under consideration, it was then postulated that there could have been the possibility of north-south movement and a later south-north movement in that region, which has caused a thinning-out of the culture that produced the Thomas' collection. The paper concluded that the makers of the selected objects from the Thomas' collection might be different from the present day inhabitants of the region.Item Ritual, art and/or physics? seven rare wooden oro bullroarers in the collection of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria(2016) Pogoson, O. I.; Adeduntan, A.; Akande, A.This paper investigates the artistic characteristic features and iconology of Yoruba Oro bullroarer using selected examples of seven Oro bullroarers in the collection of the Museum of the Institute of African Studies (MIAS), University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The ethnographic research design was adopted for the study. It gathered data from in-depth interviews, historical, political, mythological, scholarly submissions and allusions on the socio-religious, cultural importance and associations of oro in Yoruba land, to elucidate traditional and contemporary perspectives about Oro and its iconography. In its conclusion, the paper highlighted the important images commonly depicted on the Oro bullroarer. Some of the images observed are zoomorphic, anthropomorphic, geometric or abstract forms. It further observes that the images on the bullroarer are purposely engineered to conform with the the overall process of scientific effect of matter, energy, force and motion to produce the buzzing sound associated with Oro.Item Some utilitarian objects from Edo North and the Northern Edo and Benin artistic relationship(2016) Pogoson, O. I.The history of Northern Edo land, Nigeria has been subsumed in the history of Benin kingdom and indeed, due to oversimplification, northern Edo history has been reduced to the history of Benin. Presently, the only available means to salvage the history of Northern Edo land remains the art objects collected by Northcote Thomas from Edo land, between 1908 and 1914. The collection is now domiciled at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) of the University of Cambridge, unutilized. The paper therefore undertook a comparative iconographic study of selected objects from the Thomas' collection with Benin art, in an attempt to make some more specific and perhaps categorical statements about a possible Benin-Northern Edo artistic relationship. Some of the works analysed from the collection include kola nut bowls from Otuo, Uzebba decorated kola nut bowls, igbede bowls, and Okpe decorated lad] e out of others: Evidently these artworks are prestigious objects, yet the Edo north community is devoid of such powerful central administrative system that could be in demand of such objects. This raises questions about the peopling of the region. From the available evidential materials, under consideration, it was then postulated that there could have been the possibility of north-south movement and a later south-north movement in that region, which has caused a thinning-out of the culture that produced the Thomas' collection. The paper concluded that the makers of the selected objects from the Thomas' collection might be different from the present day inhabitants of the region.Item Interrogating anthropomorphism in Benin and Northern Edo art: some tentative notes for historical clarifications(2015) Pogoson, O. I.This paper interrogates a rare anthropological collection from Edo North gathered together between 1908 and 1910 by Northcote W. Thomas, first colonial government anthropologist in Nigeria. After collection, the objects have been stored up, largely ignored, at the University of Cambridge, Museum for Archaeology and Anthropology. The paper questions the resultant long time de- contextualisation and isolation of these objects that have, over the time, made it remote to link these evidential materials and their producer culture and neighboring cultures. In an attempt to re-contextualize the objects, a comparison is made, of highly anthropomorphic Benin court art, which has for a long time, politically, dominated Northern Edo land but its character is not represented in Northern Edo art and selected anthropomorphic objects from the Thomas collection. The idea underlying Benin artistic production is basically anthropomorphic, revolving around the Benin king and hierarchy and hence a court art, whereas there is paucity of human representations in Northern Edo land which intriguingly also doesn't have the political structure to support it. Using the older language age evidence of forms of Edo language spoken in Northern Edo land, the paper queries the possibility of a south-north movement to create the works under reference. Perhaps there had been an earlier north-south movement and then a later south-north returnee movement whereby the works in the Thomas collection would represent those of the earlier northern Edo autochthons and ancestors of present day occupants. The Thomas collection may be remnants of an earlier tradition before Benin suzerainty gained full grounds in the 19th Century.Item Interrogating Olu Amoda’s third eye: artist, poet and critic?(Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2015) Pogoson, O. I.This essay explores the question of naming as a springboard for delving into some of the deeper issues of the process of artistic production as exemplified in the works of Olu Amoda, one of the most prominent producers of art in the Nigerian scene. It is a perennial issue in art history whether a work of art can stand meaningfully alone, or whether it requires a name for its meaning to become discernible, and for its identity to be established. This essay, from the standpoint of an insider engagement with the social and historical conditions that inform the naming strategies of the artist under study, puts forth the argument that artists have the ultimate responsibility to decide how to situate their works through naming, and that whether or not they situate their works through naming or titling, the works remain situated somewhat. For an artist like Olu Amoda, naming is a necessary part of the process of producing art. And in the classification of his works provided in this essay, it is demonstrated that similar strategies and concerns inform the decisions he makes in terms of selecting materials for producing his sculptures and in terms of naming the works he produces. In his use of naming strategies to locate his works, it is the same vision, the same third eye, that is in control.Item Photography as art: characterizing Dotun Okubanjo as a photographer(Department of Archaeology and Antrhopology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2014-12) Pogoson, O. I.Item Photography: a tool for historical records in Nigeria(University of Cape Coast Press, Cape Coast, Ghana, 2012) Pogoson, O. I.; Akande, A. O.History is either oral or written. Whichever of these forms it assumes, one thing is clear; it brings to memory records of past or present events, places or situations. The question of two or more people experiencing the same or somewhat similar graphic imagery of oral or written history becomes pertinent. This situation is improbable. However, with the aid of photographs, the graphic representation of an event is frozen in time and space, thereby making it possible for a number of people to view the record of a past event that they may not have witnessed. With video, we can even hear voices and experience life in such events. Using pictures from old newspapers, published books and from private collections, this essay attempts a pictorial social, cultural and political history of the country. It also appraised the development of photography in Nigeria. This essay avers that photography is a veritable tool for documenting historical records for posterity and an endeavour that should be encouraged and communalised.Item A reconsideration of the Ora Benin relationship(Department of Archaeology and Antrhopology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2014-06) Pogoson, O. I.The relationship between the Edo people of Ora and the Edo people of Benin dates back to ancient times. It is taken for granted in the accounts of the origin of this relationship that the Ora are the descendants of Uguan, son of Oba Ozolua of the Benin Kingdom. However, a painstaking dissection of certain aspects of the traditions oforigin provides grounds for exploring some of the issues that may have been forgotten or become unremembered in the historical accounts. Whereas the Edo people of Benin place the beginning of their relationship with the Ora in the aftermath of the rule of Ewuare the Great in the 15th century, Ora remembrance of its Benin affiliation goes back as far as the reign of Eweka I in the 13th century. While it is not to be doubted that waves of migration from Benin led to the peopling of the Ora area, it also stands to reason that the Benin migration met an autochthonous element from which has been handed down some of the distinctive and longstanding features of Ora culture still in evidence today. These features include, but are not limited to, the Ora gerontocratic system of traditional governance and the absence of royal art in the Ora area, which mark major departures from the Benin way. In addition, there are extant contributions to Ora culture from the nearby culture of lle-Ife, and these contributions appear to predate the Benin migration, even though the latter dominates accounts of the origin of the Ora.