Tribal Art Forum

Part 2: Yoruba Carvers - Past and Present

by David Zemanek

The Modern Artist (1940-1960)

When Uli Beier arrived in Nigeria there was more than just a dying of the Nigerian culture.  Artists were faced with fewer commissions from the shrines and from private people for religious objects.  So, many of them began to produce for the colonial tourism or they worked for the churches.  A famous example of a great carver with a lot of satirical humour was Thomas Ona Odulate of Ijebu Ode (11), who worked from the turn of the century into the the late fifties.

Thomas Ona (1938), making figure on the left (below).

He first worked at Ijebu Ode, later in Lagos, where he was well known for his gently satirical carvings of colonial administrators, lawyers, missionaries made as souvenirs for the English. 

    
Figures by Thomas Ona.  Caddy boy (left), European couple (right)

His figures are types, rather than individuals, and show a deep understanding of careful carving.  According to William Bascom, Thomas Ona Odulate of Ijebu Ode told him that his works simply show the world through his eyes (12).  He shows the daily life of the people.   His work often consists of many different parts, like a hat that can be separated from a figure.  This is atypical of Yoruba work, in which figures are normally one piece.

Boat (with movable parts) with English district officer, made by Thomas Ona.

In order to return to Areogun's son, Bandele, we must focus on the background of the Father Kevin Carrol project.  Artists like Areogun, his son Bandele (b. 1910), Oshamuko (d. 1945), and Lamidi Fakeye (b. 1925) were the core of the project.  

Door made by Areogun(detail)

Door made by Bandele (detail)

Door made by Oshamuk (detail)

Door made by Lamidi Fakeye (detail)

Although the carvers were not Christians, Father Kevin Carroll worked with them to establish a Christian Nigerian art that would integrate them into the church service.

Drum made by Lamidi Fakeye

The artists worked for the churches and also for the traditionalists, so Yoruba iconography found its way into the Christian art of Nigeria.   They also produced many figures that were exported to America and Europe.  Many of their works can be found in small missionary museums across Europe (13).

Footnotes:

11.  Christies 2002, Tribal-Art, p. 43
12.  Willett F.:  African Art, London, 1993, p.143
13.  According to a personal conversation with Dr, S. Eisenhofer, the collection of Schloß Schleißheim owns a lot of religious figures made by the artist Lamidi Fakeye.

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