Ile ọkàn

Regardless of who we are
A refuge for our spiritual needs —whatever these are
An homage to the land
An embrace

The tiles lay the path to our own silence
Earth that tiles the land
The red soil invites us to rest and deeply connect with our own selves.

Red is the colour of fire
The fire we all carry inside
Don’t fear it. Listen carefully and it will carry you, guide you.
Your essence will shine
Your light.

Bamboo and banana leaves that give us solace from the sun, while also remind us of our fleeting time on this land. Use it wisely.
Whoever you are, this house is for you —so do you.
With us,
with yourself,
with the nature that embraces and sustains us.

Ekaabo!
(welcome!)

About Ile ọkàn

I grew up in the Catholic Church. It’s been about two decades now that I don’t engage with it.
In the last three years or so I have been increasingly interested in, or drawn to, the spiritual world mainly in relation to my artistic practice and ancestry. A way to feel rooted, conscious of who I am, where I come from and my place in this world. Open to listen and receive to create.
No religion or specific practice. A mix-match of influences. Something I am creating for myself.

Reading about Nigerian art, I came across the Mbari Houses. Igbo anthill clay constructions made to appease Mother Earth, their goddess Ala, who also had the role of fountain of creativity in the world in the Igbo pantheon.

A collective effort. Filled with sculptures. A temporary construction meant to naturally decay once the goddess was satisfied.
It was the collective , crafty and artistic nature of the Mbari Houses that spoke to my heart. Made of our clay and an offering to Mother Earth. Something I instantly related to.

Then, on my second week at G.A.S., after having spent quite a lot of time reading about altars and ceramics at the library in Lagos, we visited Osun-Osogbo. Yoruba traditions that share space with other religions like Islam and Christianity — seemingly peacefully.

So this Ile is:

An homage to Mother Earth; to clay.
A material that has sustained human life for millennia.
Through the soil to grow our food
Though the vessels to store it
And the houses that offer us shelter
We wouldn’t be here today with her.

A very special material for me, as someone who takes care of the clay — a mo ke alamo in Yoruba.

An ile, a home, for our souls.
A space for meditation, prayer, rest or connection.
For any and all believes. And the lack thereof.

The house has been made with 27 leftover bricks from when the residents’ house at the Farm was built.
85 tiles made out of the clay from the land here at the Farm, combined with clay from Iganran, the pottery community I have been visiting in the last three weeks. The inspiration behind them comes from Nupe flooring-tiles.
Bamboo and banana leaves from the Farm, collected thanks to Alhaja, Mr Austin and Gbotemi.
And a set of sculptures made by both myself and the collective I gathered at the Farm to celebrate its ‘opening’.

Photos of the Gathering by G.A.S. Foundation

READING LIST

≍ Art in Development — A Nigerian Perspective / Okeke, Uche

≍ Nigerian pottery: a catalogue / Leith-Ross, Sylvia, Jos Museum

≍ Face of the gods: art and altars of Africa and the African Americas / Thompson, Robert Farris

≍ For hearth and altar: African ceramics from the Keith Achepohl collection / Berzock, Kathleen Bickford, Art Institute of Chicago

≍ Nok terracottas / Fagg, Bernard

≍ Ife in the history of West African sculpture / Willett, Frank

≍ Kingdom of Ife : sculptures from West Africa / Drewal, Henry John

≍ Genesis: ideas of origin in African sculpture / LaGamma, Alisa

≍ Igbo arts: community and cosmos / Cole, Herbert M., Aniakor, Chike Cyril, Achebe, Chinua,  Attah, Alexander

≍ Things Fall Apart / Achebe, Chinua