This study probes into the iconology, history, and representation of the horseman figure in Yorùbáland and art. Although literature abounds on this topic, many such writings have approached the topic from the investigation of visual cultures and plastic representation of the horse. The present study employs multidimensional and uncon-ventional approaches arising from considerations of iconology, religion, orature, and socioreligious performative festivals among the Yorùbá. The aim is to expand the research frontiers of the his-tory of the horse and representation of the horseman figure in Yorùbáland and add new narratives to existing discourse on the topic. Following extensive and perplexing scholarship on the horse and equestrian figure in Yorùbáland, the present research is pre-mised on sources guided by the Yorùbá maxim ọrọ sùnùkùn, oju sùnnùkùn ni a fi nwòó, meaning, “a bewildering situation requires an infrequent approach.” This maxim is generally recalled when a situation seems to defy known...
A Reconsideration of the History and Iconology of Yorùbá Equestrian Figure through Two Ifá Verses and the Ojúde-Ọ ba Festival
Abiodun Akande is a lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nige-ria. His recent publication, “Commonalities and Disparities in the Iconography of Ọọn Ifá and Ìróké Ifá in Òyó, Sábe, and Ifè-Ana Yorùbá Communities” (African Arts, 53[2], 2020) investigates the transmission and iconographic transmutation of Yoruba cultural items from the Òyó-Yorùbá communities in Nigeria to other histor-ically connected Yorùbá communities in Benin Republic and Togo.[email protected]
Abiodun Akande is a lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nige-ria. His recent publication, “Commonalities and Disparities in the Iconography of Ọọn Ifá and Ìróké Ifá in Òyó, Sábe, and Ifè-Ana Yorùbá Communities” (African Arts, 53[2], 2020) investigates the transmission and iconographic transmutation of Yoruba cultural items from the Òyó-Yorùbá communities in Nigeria to other histor-ically connected Yorùbá communities in Benin Republic and Togo.[email protected]
Abiodun Akande; A Reconsideration of the History and Iconology of Yorùbá Equestrian Figure through Two Ifá Verses and the Ojúde-Ọ ba Festival. African Arts 2022; 55 (2): 36–49. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/afar_a_00655
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