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Embodying the Sacred in Yoruban Art

Yoruba's beaded basket.

I recently viewed hundreds of interesting examples of Yoruba cultural iconography on display at VCU's Anderson Gallery. The beautifully presented masks, headdresses, statues and jewelry were produced by artisans from an ancient and still thriving West African civilization. The pieces were part of the exhibition "Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art" which closed the last week of March.

The exhibition was initially organized and displayed at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and The Newark Museum in New Jersey. The exhibition came to us courtesy of the VCU Department of Art and tied in with our national emphasis on Black History Month.

The items displayed were visually striking and included the use of bold colors. The cloth and pigments applied to the pieces were a combination of glass beads and cowrie shells.

Yoruban Art is often structurally complex. Since many of the masks, vestments and jewelry are designed to be part of the ceremonial activity of the Yoruba religion they are worn in ceremonies that include processions and dancing. The items are strongly built and set up to be attached to the human frame.

Any observer passing through casually without knowledge of the spiritual and cultural connection would have nevertheless found much in the exhibition to enjoy. Still, it wouldn't have taken long for the question "what does all this mean" to form in the viewer's mind. The works on display were every bit as symbolically rich as any by Heironymous Bosch or Salvador Dali. The iconography contains symbolism and cultural references that are quite different from those built into our western European worldview. Yes, there are some parallels; even so, we need a guide.

Thankfully, the exhibit catalogue was provided for this purpose. It contains not only the usual photos and descriptions of the display, but also an in-depth essay by VCU professor Dr. Babatunde Lawal connecting the work to its origins and meaning. There is also a five page bibliography by Dr.Lawal, a treasure of valuable resources for study of Yoruba art and culture.

I came to the exhibit with two questions.

Are these things sacred? Are they art?

I'll comment a little on the ‘art' question. It's the spiritual aspect of these items that is the more important of my questions.

Yes, these are undoubtedly sacred things. When I use the term sacred I mean anything that has been set aside by men for an exclusively spiritual or religious use.

A church, a yarmulke, an ossuary, or a Buddha-shaped incense burner are all designed primarily and intentionally for spiritual or religious purpose.  

When we speak of the symbols and icons that were passed out of Yorubaland, we are referring to the direct representations of the gods and spirits worshipped, supplicated, loved and feared by the Yoruba people. They are on display at VCU's Anderson Gallery.

You can find branches of this same imagery occasionally in the bodegas of the Bronx where Santeria is practiced, in New Orleans, and Haiti where Vodou is the prevailing form, in Brazil where it is called Macumba, or in Trinidad and Tobago where the Orisa/Baptist movement is found. Europeans brought the slaves to the New World, the slaves brought their gods... their spiritual cosmology.

The Diaspora of Yoruba spiritism through the enslavement and trafficking of the West African peoples is piercingly tragic. Its development and appearances in western cultural forms are from rock and roll to Ricky Ricardo.

But, again, are the statues, masks, headdresses and jewelry exclusively religious?

I spoke briefly with Dr. Lawal in his office and came away from the meeting with one quote that nailed it down for me. I wondered if there wasn't some portion of the work that was merely intended to be decorative. Maybe something that was just commercial... a Peter Max-like thing done in iroko wood and cowrie shells.  Laura Ashley, but Yoruban.

He told me, "in Yoruba the materials and process are intertwined." The catalog affirms this: all the skills used in making art are derived from one or several of the orisa, the primordial spirits or nature forces that exercise the authority of the supreme divinity in this world. There can be no question: the materials, the methods, the intent, and the use of these pieces at the gallery are intentionally and intrinsically spiritual.

Should this be a problem? Should the taxpayer funding of this or any display of religious iconography in our art galleries be proscribed?   Not if it's Art.

Well, then, is it Art?       

Next time for that.