|
What is Uli and Uli Art?
Ogini bu uli - what is uli? In an Igbo village setting, the response to this question may be in three forms - uli bu ife umunwanyi ne te naru - uli is what women rub on their bodies, uli bu ife umunwanyi ne de naru - uli is what women draw on their bodies, or a third alternative uli bu ife umunwanyi ne se naru aja - uli is what women draw on the wall. From the first response, we can define uli as the substance women apply to their bodies, while the other two responses explain that uli represents the images that women draw either on their bodies or paint on the walls of shrines or compounds. Uli art therefore refers to the act of either body adornment or wall painting by Igbo women using a repertoire of motifs derived from animate and inanimate objects.
Virtually everything that can be seen and felt within the Igbo world, animate and inanimate, were abstracted and represented by the women in two-dimensional forms; as such it is difficult to know the number of uli motifs. From the smallest dot - ntupo - to the sacred python - Eke - which can grow up to 30-feet in length, the star, the moon, cassava leaf, cooking pot, the movement of a snake, and so forth, are represented as motifs abstracted from the natural world. It is known that some motifs exist for certain parables, as noted by Olu Oguibe in his study "Notes on Murals from Three Private Compounds in Nnobi" in which he cites the motif Ebu Uwa eje ahia "You cannot carry the entire world to the market".
For body adornment, the uli tree - osisi uli - produces fruits which are crushed, and the extracted juice is left to ferment for four to seven days. During the period of fermentation, the juice turns indigo in color, and at the discretion of the artist, this substance (uli) can be applied directly to the human body or diluted with water to the desired consistency before application.
The application of uli on the human body is done with nma uli which is a wooden or an iron knife capable of producing visible lines. The choice of motifs used in the painting remain the sole preserve of the artist. The artist applies the uli on the body spontaneously. A good artist never erases or cleans the body once painting has begun. To be distinguished in this art practice one must have the experience which comes with age, and, of course talent. Painters within the different communities are recognized and respected for their individual skills and abilities. In the past female bodies were painted during festivals, at the birth of a child, at funerals, or on other special occasions.
While body painting revolves around the individual artist, wall paintings were produced by communal efforts of a group of women. The pigments used in uli wall painting are derived and processed locally.
The colors are black, white, red, and yellow. Black is obtained from soot deposited by cooking fire. The white is derived from white clay - aja ocha or baked kaolin - nzu. Yellow as we know it is not avaiable in its pure form. Instead sandstone - nchala is used to produce yellow ochre. Red is obtained from a tree of the camwood family.
The introduction of the blue on the palette of women wall painters is a recent development emanating from the availability of washing blue. Occasionally, the colors green and brown are found on mural paintings. Green is produced by crushing leaves of the okwe tree which has thick, watery cuticles. Brown is produced as a result of the transparency that is achieved when uli dries on the wall.
Wall paintings are executed mainly during the dry season on festive occasions. The walls to be painted are divided arbitrarily into segments making it possible for individual artists to paint independently of the others while the head painter supervises. The other role of the head painter is to put on the finishing touches, and often they are specifically entrusted with decoration of shrine walls, which they at times work on single-handedly because of their smaller sizes when compared with compound walls. Uli motifs used for wall decorations are larger than those used for body adornment. They also bear more relevance to the animate world, which Uche Okeke believes is an attempt to "unite nature with the spiritual environment" particularly in the case of shrine decoration.
Unfortunately, uli body and wall painting practices are waning. Sadly, the last major wall painting exercise had to be commissioned and paid for by Obiora Udeychukwu, Herbert Cole, Ulli Beier, and Chike Aniakor in 1984. By the turn of this century, the practices may have died out completely.
|
There was a time when a man was judged and respected by his seat, now it is by his car"
Although in traditional African cultures, furniture is hardly present, it is the only continent that has produced such a variety of chairs, stools, head rests, with such amazing designs.
Far from being simple usual objects, these seats carry important symbolic values. Generally considered as strictly personnal, one does not lend them, and in some cases they become true objects of cult. Made exclusively for the owner and following specific criteria, they are signs of social position and political functions.
In this perspective, one can say that each of these objects is unique. Although one can easily establish families of style, each owner tries to personalize his seat.
Head-rests are mainly found in East Africa. The discovery of similar objects, due to their form as well as their style, in the Egyptian tombs leads to the assumption that the use of head-rests dates back to the era of Pharaons. It was then transmited to the east and center of African by populations of nilotic cultural origins.
This Oromo head-rest is a monoxyl type (sculpted in a single piece of wood). The perfect balance of its form marries with its superb antic sheen. The pyramidal base, as well as the two extremities of the head-rest, are decorated with geometric lines and motifs.
Computer Company
Any Street , Anytown, US 01234-5678
800) 555-1212
compuconsult@placeholder.com
|
