Pragmatism in Yoruba Art

Artists play significant roles in the cultural, political, and psychological well-being of their societies (Pagani 2016; Schein 2001). This article considers the sociocultural import of the woodcarving of Dada Areogun (ca. 1880-ca. 1954) within his Osi-Ilorin community in the Ekiti-Yoruba area of Nigeria. Osi-Ilorin, sometimes referred to as Osi-Ekiti, is located in the northeastern area of Yorubaland in southwestern Nigeria. Osi-Ilorin is part of the Igbomina speaking subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic group which covers Isin, Irepodun, and Ifelodun local government areas of eastern Kwara State and extends southward to Ora and Ila-Orangun in Osun State of Nigeria. The Igbomina are known for their Opin woodcarving tradition, of which Areogun is a renowned exponent.1 The Igbomina are also known for agriculture and trading, which has been aided by their commercially favorable Middle Belt location between northern and southern Nigeria.2This article explores the pedagogical agency of Areogun's artwork in the sociocultural education and psychological upliftment of members of his Osi community. Here, the contents of Areogun's artwork are examined in relation to his sociocultural and political observations within his immediate community. Therefore, this article reflects on the aesthetic, didactic, and visceral import of Areogun's woodcarving and examines his role in putting the impacts of British colonial rule in his community in proper perspective. His woodcarving is considered with attention to how he inspired hope for the revival, sustenance, and continuity of indigenous cultural practices within his community through his nonlinear narrative sculptures.3The British colonial rule in Nigeria from around 1904 to 1960 was marked by transitional and transformational administrative policies that destabilized indigenous socioeconomic, political, and cultural institutions in the country. This development threatened the continuity of indigenous Yoruba ways of life into the future (Ojo 2019; Falola and Dauda 2017; Adeyeri and Adejuwon 2012). Areogun produced sculptures that promoted cognitive awareness of the paradigmatic changes that were taking place in his community during the British colonial rule in the area. Thus, this article explores the sociocultural import of Areogun's woodcarving as stories about the everyday life activities and experiences of members of his community, including their struggles and aspirations for a better future.As stewards of their cultural heritage, indigenous Yoruba artists, including Areogun, have created evocative objects that members of their communities have found reassuring in their collective sociocultural practices and worldview. For example, universal association of indigenous Yoruba religious art with the transcendental spirits of Yoruba ancestors has fostered coherence in Yoruba people's positive disposition towards the continuity of their ways of life. In Yoruba cosmology, the human soul is immortal as it undergoes metaphysical transformation after death, going from physical manifestation on earth (aye) into a spiritual realm located in the otherworld (ode orun). Those living communicate with the transcended souls of their ancestors with reverence, while the spirits of their ancestors protect them from supernatural powers. The living usually relate with their ancestors through religious or orisa (deity) veneration. This mode of interaction often involves the use of orisa images that are fashioned by indigenous Yoruba artists, such as ose Sango (dance wand for Sango), edan Ogboni (statuette for Ogboni society), and opon Ifa (divination tray for Ifa). These religious sculptures are commissioned by patrons who range from Yoruba monarchs to orisa devotees and private citizens (Ademola and Olaniyi 2017; Abimbola 2000; Pemberton 1998, 1977; Adelowo 1990; Drewal 1986). Among the distinguished Yoruba sculptors who have produced exquisite woodcarvings for Yoruba royalty and wealthy patrons are Eshubiyi Akinyode (born ca. 1840) (Fig. 1), Bamgbose of Osi-Ilorin (died ca. 1920) (Fig. 2), Agunna of Oke Igbara (died 1930) (Fig. 3), Olowe of Ise (ca. 1873-1938) (Fig. 4), Oniyide Adigbologe (1875-1949) (Fig. 5), Agbonbiofe of Efon-AIaaye (ca. 1880-ca. 1945) (Fig. 6), Dada Areogun of Osi-Ilorin (ca. 1880-ca. 1954) (Figs. 7, 12, 13, 15), Duga of Meko (ca. 1880-ca. 1960) (Fig. 8), Osamuko of Osi Ilorin (ca. 1890-ca. 1940) (Fig. 9), Moshood Olusomo Bamgboye (Alaga) of Odo-Owa (1893-1978) (Fig, 10), Lamidi Olonade Fakeye (19242009) (Figs. 11, 14) and Abogunde of Ede (active Iate nineteenth century) (Okediji 2002; Walker 1998a; Drewal 1988).Indigenous Yoruba artists relate to their audiences through the expressive contents of their works. What is expressed in Yoruba art are visual symbols and normative aesthetic values that encapsulate the fundamental beliefs of Yoruba people about their existence. Therefore, content and essence are congruent in Yoruba art. In this regard, Yoruba artists are stewards of Yoruba cultural heritage in their portrayal of Yoruba worldview and everyday life practices for purposes of social reflection, accountability, and action. These philosophical and practical dispositions are the focus of this article and they are exemplified in the expressive sculptures of Areogun as discussed here.Conceptually, the ethos of Yoruba art consists of culturally evocative forms that draw upon long-established characteristics, including human figures modeled with bulging eyes to indicate awareness and disproportionately large heads that denotes spiritual importance by scale. This means that the Yoruba perceive a person's head as an embodiment of their spiritual essence. Another consistent feature in indigenous Yoruba art is the elaborate embellishment of forms with patterns such as zigzags, rhombuses, triangles, circles, and dots. Plant, animal, and bird motifs are also used as decorative patterns (Filani 2005; Okediji 1997).Expressive contents in Yoruba art, such as forms, tones, and textures, convey specific emotional experiences and the aesthetic preferences of the Yoruba ethnic group. Thus, indigenous Yoruba artists often prioritize the specifications, processes, and quality of their work over personal fame or recognition. At the same time, minor variations in the contents of Yoruba artistic expression may be observed from one regional or dialect group to another (Adesanya 2012; Drewal, Pemberton, and Abiodun 1989). However, the techniques used in the production of most Yoruba art forms are universal, as seen in Yoruba woodcarving in which objects are modelled from one solid block of wood through the reductive process (Morton 2010).Woodcarving is an enduring Yoruba artistic practice and Areogun was one of the distinguished master carvers of Opin.4 As is typical of indigenous Yoruba artists, Areogun was a humble carver who prioritized qualitative art production over personal fame in his career (Fashoro 2013). The modest disposition of indigenous Yoruba artists often precludes them from endorsing their work, and this has resulted in the labelling of the artists as anonymous by some observers, as noted by Roslyn Walker (1998b). However, in spite of the attribution of anonymity to the artists, some of them have been acknowledged for their unique styles and vocational accomplishments, including Areogun, who began to mark his sculptures at the later part of his career (Fashoro 2013). Among other Ekiti-Yoruba artists who developed recognizable styles are Olowe of Ise, whose woodcarvings have a distinct high-relief and elongated human neck (Fig. 4); Bamgboye of Odo-Owa, who produced distinguishable Epa masks with layered structures, carefully arranged figures in domestic and military scenes, decorative geometric patterns, bright contrasting colors, and symmetrical balance (Fig. 10); and Lamidi Fakeye, whose neoclassical Yoruba artistic forms shows remarkable attention to detail. Fakeye's prominently defined figures are accentuated with profuse use of decorative patterns and his compositions are symmetrically balanced (Figs. 11, 14) (Bridger 2012).Furthermore, appreciation of indigenous Yoruba art has often been based on typological categorization and formal analysis of contents with little or no consideration of the sociocultural and lifeworld contexts in which the artists produce their work. In addressing some of the common omissions in the study of Yoruba art, this article takes a closer look at the distinct style and sociocultural context of Dada Areogun's artistic practice at Osi-Ilorin with attention to inherent philosophical and functional considerations in his artwork (Fashoro 2013; Adesanya 2012; Okediji 2002; Slogar 2002; Bascom 1975).Dada Areogun was born in Osi-Ilorin in the northeastern Ekiti area of Yorubaland (Picton 1994). The name “Dada” is given to a person born with locks of knotty hair, as Areogun was. Areogun's outstanding artistic prowess earned him his oriki or praise name, Arowoogunbuna, which has dialect group variations such as Areogun-yanna. “Arowoogunbuna” literally means a generous person whose riches come from Ogun (Fashoro 2013; Okediji 2003). Areogun credited Ogun for the iron tools he utilized in his woodcarving and for his vocational achievements (Fashoro 2013).Areogun began his career as a sculptor with sixteen years of apprenticeship in the woodcarving workshop of the renowned Bamgbose of Osi-Ilorin (whose sculpture is seen in Fig. 2). He also apprenticed at the workshop of Fasan of Isare, where he developed his recognizable style and earned enough money to start his own atelier (Carroll 1967). Along with refining his carving skills, Areogun developed a keen sense of responsibility towards the preservation and advancement of the Opin woodcarving tradition. This disposition would inspire and characterize the contents of his oeuvre as discussed in this article (Fashoro 2013).Conceptually, Areogun used simplified forms and recognizable Yoruba symbols to facilitate immediacy in the comprehension of his art contents. Stylistically, the figures in his compositions are stout and stacked across the picture plane. This is seen in his wood relief panels in and 12, in which he the picture with figures and patterns that in the is with stout figures in nonlinear that Areogun's sculptures from of other Opin the of Areogun's sculpture a sense of that the attention of of his Here, for of Areogun's a of his sculptures are and as of his with on their aesthetic and content of Areogun's sculptures was by with his observations of indigenous Osi-Ilorin artistic and cultural practices his These observations elaborate and other orisa such as and ose Sango (Fig. Areogun's sculptures also his of the physical of his community. Areogun's apprenticeship him to enduring Yoruba woodcarving and that his art production He also in his career that and Opin sculptures have functional purposes in These observations and artistic and cultural the of Areogun's sculptures 7, 12, 13, closer look at Areogun's panels in and shows picture that stacked to a However, members of Areogun's community who be considered Areogun's would patterns of everyday life activities in their community in the contents of the The in was produced in the and is in the of of to the of the it is a that shows a a in one and a in This of the contents of the is in of the of the of Osi in his community. Areogun's panels in are in the of the at between the and the panels the and of the of Osi-Ilorin as an and of a military The panels also domestic and scenes, including with the In to other and artistic be from the contents of panels as in is into that activities as observed by Areogun within his immediate community. The of the shows that into a on the between to the is a with a and to his the of the is a with a from his and his In his is a across his towards the the of the is a with an in his this is a a in shows of other of Areogun's observations of sociocultural activities in his community, including figures with their at the a a a a and a a in and a on in Areogun's visual in the and of the the one shows a a large in his an a towards an an a and a and a a in an In the Areogun some of the contents seen in the of the including a with a in and a on a a and figures The also shows recognizable images including a and in an with in a a in one and a in an with a around his neck and his at the a on a in of the and a in the of the in is with and At the of the is a that is to into a at the of the of or nonlinear that with cultural as discussed In the of the in as typical of Areogun's art, it be noted that the and contents of the are to of 12, 13, and Yoruba artists of their own work. Therefore, their are often to forms of by of Yoruba artistic and sociocultural practices as This to Yoruba art is consistent with In this of Okediji analysis a focus on the as for and this focus on the the analysis Here, use a of analysis in the contents of Areogun's art used in this this article reflects on Areogun's expressive sculptures in relation to their cultural and psychological impacts on his Osi visual created by the of figures the picture in is by the of the and the that forms the The the an in spite of stacked picture plane. the figures in of the them with from which the is through Areogun's visual on the The in the are typical of activities in Osi-Ilorin and other Yoruba the visual to the shows Areogun's of the in the the of the of the in are in a and visual and Drewal The in the are in the or is a in The and in the are in of the in the is a Yoruba used in praise The and by the with his and and his elaborate neck and that he is a the an and the a in at the of the are in a and mode that social and In this of the Areogun of activities within the of the of The shows that activities around the and of the and members of the in the of the are and the located is a British colonial as by his by and during the colonial in Nigeria. The figures on the and of the to be at the of the while the with a in and a on which is a used for personal such as and is also used for or a used for The of the in denotes and values the Yoruba Fig. at the of the is a and the in of him and the a him are The figures are and the with on the of the a with to for This of emotional to was by Areogun in his as noted by to Areogun's experiences in relation to regional the that the contents of Areogun's sculptures are by and in his community. is in the of Areogun's in The at the of this is by the and to The of the through and in and such the of the as in the that a is a and figures in at the of the of the are a in and the the with in the of the The located with a and in his is a the of the Nigeria in the British colonial as for and purposes 2019; The with a around his neck is a colonial for and the located the is a carving tools and (Fashoro 2013). created by most Yoruba Areogun's sculptures seen in and were in their wood However, he sometimes his sculptures with as seen in and as and produced were to Yoruba artists of Areogun's and 2013).Areogun sociocultural within his community through and visual In the of his wood panels (Figs. 7, and sculptures in the (Fig. 15), Areogun immediacy of contents through his of forms, profuse of patterns, of and by relief and stacked perspective. He created in his art through the elaborate of his figures and he used of and to towards contents that are to the of his Areogun used symbols and images to in his art contents. Those who are with the contents of his artwork are to their Osi ways of life through their narrative his to the of Opin artistic and cultural Areogun's of a Ekiti-Yoruba was by his religious to Yoruba orisa Ogun (Fashoro his artistic and cultural Areogun was a and role within his community. His social as an the agency of his artwork as a for social and advancement on Areogun's social The fundamental of Areogun's artwork is the portrayal of the collective experiences and aspirations of members of his Osi-Ilorin community. In the contents of Areogun's Okediji of Areogun's may be by it to Yoruba of or consists of a and an with a that is to be in considered as the essence of Areogun's sculptures extends their picture as seen in and 12, in which his to from the and contents of the Therefore, his visual are of as to about have In this Areogun his to the future as a of the with some Areogun everyday life in his community as and as to and the Yoruba that essence is in the In other Areogun's panels as seen in and to as in the of while the of the that from Areogun's visual as and the to on the art contents as In his visual are to the Yoruba to a literally a is enough for the Areogun's panels between cultural and the of by between and the contexts in which sociocultural experiences were in his community. Thus, by observations of everyday life activities within his community or Areogun psychological between and the colonial rule and ways of life in his This was consistent with Igbomina and it promoted and psychological within Igbomina known for their at that Yoruba people that human at in are Therefore, the is as a of the while the future is in the future be in the The of colonial and indigenous cultural activities in Areogun's artwork hope for the continuity of Osi cultural The and collective that have been by and in the Osi community would have been into that Osi citizens to their sociocultural changes in their community. this Areogun was a and of Osi-Ilorin ways of life. he have been of the Yoruba that life with metaphysical as in the of or Therefore, is in Areogun's artwork and members of his Osi community are to such in his visual The of is with the of As in Yoruba a person's or head is the of their is as and person's and are with their or and with or physical is spiritual and an in life 2000; Drewal to in the and the of the of southwestern Nigeria in their where they have and a sense of from the and and Osi-Ilorin is one of modest and communities as in Areogun's Areogun fostered psychological within the Osi community through his of in his sculptures 1977; Areogun's members of his community were about the of their British and them as a in the As a the people were of British colonial institutions and their community development in the areas of political, and At the same time, are and to and in their communities as to an group In a of the Yoruba with education and to ways of life usually perceive the that with cultural practices and social in Yorubaland as which is some have the of indigenous Yoruba institutions and sociocultural practices by with and development 2017; and 2017; portrayal of the of members of his Osi community by British as seen in of and was an of the political and cultural changes in his community. his of the of and some indigenous sociocultural practices have been to hope for the of ways of life in a Osi community. His art a of and of Osi cultural life and hope for the and continuity of indigenous practices at Osi in a future the of and the changes that to his community through of Osi cultural practices and British colonial activities in his art, as seen in and Areogun the in which transitional and transformational changes were taking place in his community as distinct of the and future This is seen in in and of the to Areogun's from of a in in that association of would in However, it be noted that the of as in his of the by and by to and a of of the on This Areogun's of and future in which Osi cultural practices and worldview are in an and continuity within the same as expressed in and and Areogun as in which the Osi symbols and images as of a cultural the context of Areogun's art, enduring Ekiti-Yoruba symbols and such as ose and are prominently located for immediate comprehension and upon the Osi of his artwork in a Areogun as a in which the and future are In this mode of the the contents of Areogun's art while of changes in the For example, the of an the British colonial on a as seen in denotes a of distinct within Osi community. Therefore, Areogun's mode of as transitional within the Osi community that was from indigenous ways of life towards Areogun the as a with for the manifestation of and group In this the is as a congruent with for the manifestation of is in this of that Areogun the to in his artwork as of images or of is In an upon their on Areogun's artwork in a that to the visceral of Areogun's artwork by in This in Areogun's artwork is consistent with the Yoruba of the as an 2016; The of the in Areogun's artwork and the aspirations of of his artwork a manifestation of or life Yoruba of the and of are in the Ifa which is in and 1994). is in between the and future in the contents of Areogun's sculptures from an that in Areogun's and observed human activities within his community in his Therefore, his of the was with of the and about the the of Areogun's art by a where of Areogun's of the and The of Areogun's art process from to by his is of the of Ekiti-Yoruba cognitive Areogun and his in their of enduring Ekiti-Yoruba forms and symbols in the of This of in which the and the hope by his is also the realm of the collective Yoruba is in this that indigenous Yoruba images the between the living and the transcendental spirits of their ancestors for the manifestation of or life 1994). In the of in Ifa and transcendental orisa Yoruba people orisa to the their psychological the of and as by of Areogun's art contents a of the while an and of the community. the that from the of a community is by of the and for a better future by In this mode of Areogun's local orisa with the and and in everyday and of future in his narrative Areogun that is continuity in Therefore, the colonial of Osi-Ilorin ways of life and enduring Osi-Ilorin cultural In this the of Osi-Ilorin ways of life and an for Osi sociocultural In Yoruba cosmology, this mode of is in in that is as an for into better in which an human and the of this For the awareness of the of life and about the including Drewal, Pemberton, and the Yoruba that that and are is in Areogun's narrative panels and some of his sculptures in the as discussed in this and and as in a that is to that the that Areogun from consists of of that is this that is expressed in Areogun's sculptures and 1989). Thus, from Areogun's of Osi cultural life is an and as to and artistic practice is around the The of his outstanding woodcarving may be credited to the he developed with the In the to on a (Carroll 1967). In for the advancement of his work, that was a culturally with an carving and a of at that He on this cultural by a workshop at for the practice of indigenous Ekiti-Yoruba woodcarving and Areogun's as the head at the was through who was an that Areogun, who about sixteen at was by Areogun's carving style and he about Areogun's art in his Yoruba and in Nigeria and (Carroll 1967). commissioned Areogun to produce his own of the from the in woodcarvings (Bridger 2012). Areogun's woodcarving style was consistent and he to produce sculptures for patrons at in Nigeria and his in with the Yoruba of artistic through Areogun carvers at his including and his who later Areogun's (Fashoro 2013). Areogun's woodcarving also other Yoruba including Lamidi Fakeye and of as in Fakeye's narrative panels in and Areogun his art career with and to the of Osi artistic and cultural

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Pragmatism · Sociology · Stewardship (theology) · Visual arts · Yoruba · African history and culture studies · Art Education and Development · Law · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Philosophy

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