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“I just want to be whatever I want to be,” was the constant cry of protest by Bolatito in the play, ‘Anatomy of a Woman’.

Written and
directed by Wole Oguntokun, it was staged on April 3 and will be
performed every Sunday this month as part of the initiative of Theatre
at Terra to revive Nigerian Theatre. As its title suggests, the play
provides insight into the seemingly complex nature of a woman, her
sensitivity and ever changing moods.

It opens on a note
of suspense. Just as everyone is set to watch the play on stage, a loud
shriek comes from among the audience. The owner of the voice is seen
when she jumps from her seat violently and accuses a man next to her of
taking advantage of her. Another young man comes between them as the
voices rise to a crescendo and asks if she knows him. She replies that
she does and in fact came with him. This scene sets the pace for events
that follow. While the young lady is never seen again during the course
of the play, her outburst keeps the audience in suspense.

Bolatito

The first scene
on stage is one with Bolatito and her supposed boyfriend who travels
“seven hours by road” to visit, or so he says. Bolatito, popularly
called Tito by other characters, is played by Eyimife Gold Ikponmwosa.

Although she
claims that she is not every woman, she represents a typical woman who
is constantly under pressure. Women from all walks of life, including
female bankers who have targets to meet; single ladies who are under
pressure to marry; and young females who try to make ends meet for
themselves and siblings, are under similar pressures. As a result, they
succumb to pressure from men to get material benefits. Bolatito lives
in a well furnished apartment rented by her male boss, drives a car he
bought for her and holds a job he offered her. Yet, she ignores his
obvious advances and prepares to take him on a wild goose chase. “I
will give him the impression that good things come to those who wait,”
she says.

She raises the
question, “What does a woman really want?” It is a recurring question
in the play and draws attention to its title. Bolatito provides a
simple answer, happiness. She argues that for most women, happiness
comes in the form of a good job, good families, and a good car but for
her, it is a “man’s brain, mouth and money.” However, as events unfold
in the play, she makes it clear that she is not only after money but
believes strongly in love.

Mohammed

Mohammed is the
boyfriend who returns after disappearing for two years. He expects that
Bolatito will be waiting for him, but is soon proved wrong. He finds
that she has other suitors. Her aunty who describes him as a man with
“no ambition, no future, no hope, and no shame” is correct, for he
turns out to be a lazy man who wouldn’t be bothered about getting a job
but does not mind leaching on a woman.

Aunty Jebe A much
older woman is introduced in the fifth scene and attempts to take
centre stage very quickly. Played by Ijeoma Grace Agu, Aunty Jebe is a
saucy woman whose quick and sharp tongue seems too much for her small
frame. Her exaggerated actions help create humour in the play. She is
all too concerned about choosing a marriage mate for her niece,
Bolatito. “What other priorities can a woman have?” she asks, when
Bolatito says that she isn’t thinking about marriage. The importance
placed on marriage is emphasised when she adds that if a woman remains
single till 28, she is looked at like a damaged good.

The old fashioned
woman is of the opinion that a woman’s place is in the kitchen as
portrayed by her words, “Women are not designed to have fame and
fortune.” She maintains that love is inconsequential in a marriage and
regards money to be the most important thing. She quickly changes her
mind about the men in Bolatito’s life as soon as she finds out that one
is richer than the other. Her disdain for Mohammed because of his poor
status is apparent by her attitude towards him.

The boss

Bolatito’s boss
whose name isn’t mentioned in the play, easily calls to mind a rich
sugar daddy with too much money to spend. He equates love with money
and assumes that Bolatito’s love can be bought. He sends the audience
reeling with laughter, with his dramatically heavy Igbo accent; and has
a special place in Aunty Jebe’s heart, for she describes him as “a man
that is ready-made” for marriage.

He is however
given a shock when Bolatito rejects him with the question, “So what if
you bought me a house? Does that give you mortgage over my life?” James
Another one of Bolatito’s suitors is James, played by Austine Onuoha.
Aunty Jebe regards him as perfect because he owns a house. Of course,
this is before she meets the boss whom she realises is richer than him.
Much like the boss, he assumes that Bolatito will accept him in return
for his largess. She does what he least expects by shouting, “You
assumed that because I went to the movies with you that I loved you.”
This leaves him puzzled and he asks in shock, “What is it you really
want?” to this, she answers, “I want to be what I want to be.” As the
play reaches its climax, it is obvious that Bolatito is still
misunderstood by the men in her life. The female sex is portrayed as an
enigma, but she maintains that it is what makes her a woman: “It is the
enigma of a tiger that makes it a tiger.”

Setting, Costume and Design

The stage was set
to suit a modern house with a small dining area and sitting room with
all necessary gadgets including a television set, furniture, and
painting hanging on the wall. Since all the scenes took place in the
sitting room, the setting did not change. The lighting however helped
improve the setting. The costume of each actor was appropriate until
Bolatito went out on a date with James on bare feet. The bare feet
seemed out of place with the dinner gown and some members of the
audience could be heard mumbling about this. But all in all, it was an
interesting play, well acted by actors who understood and interpreted
their roles correctly.

‘Anatomy of a Woman’ is at Terra Kulture, Lagos, twice every Sunday in April.

Donna Adja is someone to look out for in the music industry. Her Urhobo name, Ogheneyerowo, means ‘God answers prayers’. Born on June 26, 1984 in Eku, Delta State, Adja is a singer, songwriter and fashion designer aiming for the stars. Growing up, little Adja saw lots of actresses on TV and wanted to be like them. “When I was a child, I would stand in front of the mirror and wanted to be a star. I wanted to be on TV and to be known,” she discloses.

Filled with hopes of succeeding and expecting to reach her goals, Adja moved to Lagos. But things didn’t turn out quite the way she expected. “I came to Lagos because of acting but it was tough,” she recalls. “The film industry here is very complicated because people would say, ‘you are too skinny’. They only want to sleep with you and take advantage of you,” she continues, adding that, “I didn’t want to sell my personality under value.” Undeterred, she continued soldiering on with minor roles in some films. She played a nurse in ‘Together as One’; was a doctor in ‘Golden Mask’ and had minor roles in several other B-movies but the stress of acting increasingly gave her a hard time. “I felt stuck in acting, like [I was] in a box and wanted to break out and do something else.” Those unsavoury experiences made her rethink, and eventually, she realised another talent which led her up another career path – music, her real passion. “Music is different from acting and my voice was too good to waste away,” she notes.

New life in music

After bidding farewell to acting, Adja was a supporting vocalist for musicians in Lagos studios. Fortuitously, she heard that the manager of Sheraton Hotel was looking for singers. She turned in a song sample,”He auditioned me and liked my voice” she recalls. After a week’s probation, Adja started to sing at Sheraton in 2007. Two years later, she started her own band with equipment bought by the hotel’s manager. She thereafter began performing four times a week. What Adja plays is a mix of Afro and RnB ,she calls it ‘Afro-HipHop’. It features conga, native and talking drums, guitar, saxophone and keyboard with which she sets the house on fire during her shows.

She had however shown interest in music prior to becoming a professional. Adja first sang in public aged 17 as a member of the junior choir in her church. She later gave a solo performance of a self-composed song with the senior choir.

Further inspired by her idol, Michael Jackson; her favourite song ‘Smile’ by Nat King Cole and singer Celine Dion, Adja felt music was worth the effort. “I used to listen a lot to [Dion], I love her songs, I love the lyrics, I just love everything about her.” Luckily for Adja, she discovered that, “singing belongs to me, it’s inside of me, I live with it.”

Local and international tours

After a while, Adja began seeing the bigger picture and became dissatisfied with just hotel-lounge in terms of performance. She took matters into her own hands and thus embarked on a tour of Nigeria, with Abeokuta, Ogun State being her first stop. She played with her group, ‘Sugarband’ at a birthday party of Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo. “It was a special performance for him and a good experience for me. Something really special,” she recalls.

After some more shows in Lagos, Adja travelled to Sydney, Australia, for three weeks to play at a birthday party for a certain Mike Smith, who paid for the trip and also facilitated a free video shot. Adja soon began working with him as he showed interest in becoming her manager in Australia. Thinking he was her messiah because he had promised to make her famous, the singer gave all her songs to Smith who started mixing them. They even agreed on a profit sharing formula, and he initially tried to set up interviews with radio and TV stations. But it was a smokescreen. Smith eventually betrayed Adja, refusing to hand back her materials. This hit the artist hard and she began to question herself and the music industry. But like the phoenix, she rose again.

All is not lost

On return to Lagos, Adja’s Friday night gigs at Sheraton caught the attention of a Briton who booked her for a wedding in London. London turned out to be a good place for the singer; and her wedding gig led to further bookings. Among these was her performance at the Soffice Festival in the UK.

Dreams don’t die

Currently working on her first album, Adja hopes to open a big fashion house called ‘DA-Fashion-House’. She has a flair for fashion, and self-designs her stage costumes. “Fashion and music, that’s what I want to do,” she declares.

On why she doesn’t want to live and work in Nigeria, Adja discloses that, “entertainment business here is progressing but to me, it is not impressive. Piracy is too much; [the] work is not worth the effort because you don’t earn the money you deserve. The market is not honest. Betrayal in Nigeria is worse than anywhere else.” Ultimately, she hopes her artistic future will reflect the benevolence of her Urhobo name: ‘God answers prayers’.

Artworks including paintings, sculpture, mixed media works, prints and photographs totalling 101 lots will go under the hammer at the sixth ArtHouse Contemporary auction, to be held in Lagos on May 9.

Speaking at a press conference held in Lagos on Tuesday, April 5, Kavita Chellaram, ArtHouse Contemporary’s managing director and founder, said her company’s auction is a medium for promoting new and established artists. Artists including Jacob Jari, Krydz Ikwemesi, Obi Ekwenchi, Adeola Balogun, Sade Thompson, Marcia Kure, Demola Ogunajo, Segun Aiyesan, Oladele Awosoga, Nyemike Onwuka and Tam Fiofori are included in the auction for the first time. Artists from Ghana including Owusu Ankomah, Victor Butler and Kofi Asemnyinah will also feature.

Mrs. Chellaram said that two bronze sculptures and one oil painting by Ben Enwonwu included in the auction, are the best works of the late artist that she has had the opportunity to value and sell.

She further disclosed that curators from the Tate Modern will attend the auction, adding that it is the first time a museum from UK will be acquiring works directly from Africa. Art auctions such as the ArtHouse Contemporary’s effort have “put Nigeria on the market,” she noted, adding that there is rising interest in works by African artists.

Of the last auction by Chellaram’s company, held last November at the Civic Centre in Lagos, she informed that, “We sold almost 80 percent of our works. 80 percent in this kind of market which hasn’t recovered from recession, is fantastic. More Nigerians see art as an investment rather than just entertainment.”

Selecting the lots

Fielding media questions on the choice of works for the auction, Chellaram said, “We look for new talents and see if what they are doing is different from what we have seen.” ArtHouse Contemporary manager, Nana Sonoiki, added that, “The works must speak for themselves and must have aesthetics. People are coming to ArtHouse because they know they will get authentic works.” It was noted during the session that although art is becoming a force to reckon with in Nigeria, the market isn’t as buoyant as in America or Europe. Chellaram argued that the poor economic situation and dangers like kidnapping, are factors militating against the boom of the auction market in Nigeria, as such negatives discourage tourists from coming into the country to see artworks. However, she remains optimistic about the art scene in Nigeria and reiterated her belief that the forthcoming auction will be successful. “We’ve had works selling consistently at a high rate,” she declared.

Other organisations have created competing auctions since Arthouse Contemporary began operations, but Chellaram was unfazed. “We love the competition. More people are aware and more people are getting into the market,” she said.

The art patron and collector further disclosed that the selection process remains the biggest challenge in the way of organising the auctions. “Fine tuning and selecting the works is our greatest challenge. We get so many works and we can’t put all of them out there,” she said. As with the November 2009 auction, there are plans to put up lots for charity during next month’s edition. The company is also looking to take the auctions outside Lagos, with one likely for Abuja sometime next year.

The 101 lots that will go under the hammer at the sixth ArtHouse Contemporary auction will be on display at the Civic Centre, Lagos next month, between May 7 to 9.

Haitian-American
actor, Jimmy Jean-Louis is famous for his role in the US television
series, ‘Heroes’ and for his turn in the movie, ‘Phat Girlz’ with Oscar
winning comedienne, Mo’Nique. Appearing in three of the nominated films
for this year’s Africa Movie Academy Awards (‘Precipice’, ‘Soul
Sisters’ and ‘Sinking Sands’), Jean-Louis is fast becoming a
fascinating figure in his collaborations with African filmmakers. The
actor was in Bayelsa for the awards. He talked to NEXT ahead of the
ceremony.

How has your stay in Nigeria been?

It’s been good,
it’s not my first time in Nigeria, it’s actually my third time. First
time, I came with a movie called ‘Phat Girlz’ where I played a Nigerian
doctor opposite Mo’Nique. Second time I shot movie called ‘Relentless’
and this is now my third time, coming to the AMAA, because ‘Sinking
Sands’ has about 10 nominations, I’m also in another movie called ‘In
America: The Story of Soul Sisters’ and third movie called ‘Precipice’.
I’m actually in three movies during the AMAA, I’m glad to be here.

What’s your expectation?

They are not too
much as far as winning but I just hope that we have a good show and the
world will know that there is something of that level happening in
Africa. That’s why I always like to refer to the AMAA as African Oscars
just because we need to trademark that. We need the people to
understand what it means, it’s a celebration of our own talent, we
recognise people that have done great things in the past year and
hopefully that can encourage people to do them better in the next year
and in the following year.

You are
appearing in more and more films by African filmmakers, what does this
say about how you see yourself in the scheme of filmmaking on the
continent?

What I understand
from the growth of the business is that it is important to mix African
talent with Africans living outside of Africa to capitalise on the
visibility in the press first. That’s why it is important for me to
come back and do movies, whether in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa or
Kenya because if the movies are different then they will have a better
chance to cross over and to reach an international audience. I think
that’s what some of the African movies need; to be able to cross over
to the international audience and also enjoy them. And by putting faces
that they recognise also makes it easier.

You had no hesitation in playing a Ghanaian character in a wholly Ghanaian film?

No, not at all. For
me it’s always been a pride to push and promote my people. You know I
am from Haiti and Haiti is the most African country outside of Africa,
trust me. I have done Haitian movies, I have done movies in Ghana,
Nigeria, I’ll do movies in Africa that can actually help the African
continent to go forward.

Hollywood actor, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, was in Nigeria for the seventh Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held recently in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The film star trained at the Bristol Old Vic in Britain and started out on stage before crossing into film and television. He has appeared in a number of productions including ‘Hotel Rwanda’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ and ‘Darfur’. He has also appeared in TV series including ‘24′, ‘Lost’ and ‘Criminal Minds’. The actor spoke to NEXT about his acting career and current engagements.

What brings you home?

I’m here for the AMAA awards. We have five nominations for ‘Inale’, the film that I shot in Nigeria. I think it is Nigeria’s first musical. It was my first foray back into Nigeria to do films in the Nollywood industry. I am very excited, very pleased that it’s been nominated for so many awards. For me it validates the fact that we have been trying to push Nollywood to a more international level and I think we are beginning to achieve that.

How was the process of making ‘Inale’?

‘Inale’ was great fun. I had been back to Nigeria but I hadn’t been outside Lagos State, it was fun to discover Makurdi, Benue State. It was a lovely experience to be there and also to discover Bongos Ikwue; the music of Bongos Ikwue. I had never heard of him before but I told my mother that I was going to see Bongos Ikwue and some of the towns. Everybody knew who he was. Yes, that was a really wonderful experience. We had a great time with them and we also brought the cameraman from America. We had some of the key people from America and what they did was to use Nigerians; to try and impact their knowledge. It was a wonderful exchange of ideas and knowledge. Certainly, their skills level went up.

Whose decision was it to involve Bongos Ikwue?

Jeta Amata was the one who had a conversation, I think with Bongos Ikwue. He was discussing another film with Jeta and he said why don’t we do this one first before we go on to the other one? That was how this happened. I think Bongos Ikwue wanted to make a movie trailer from his music.

The story of Inale’ is simple. Why is this so?

It’s not everything that has to be complicated. The kids can come in and see it and understand. It’s a very simple musical, it’s not meant to be complicated. It’s not meant to be intense; it’s a little fairy tale. It shows that we don’t just have to do a love story with a witch putting a spell on a guy, we can do a lot of different things. This is one aspect of Nigerian filmmaking; this is the first musical that celebrates.

The story is meant to be simple and that’s the way it should be looked at. I really hope people in Nigeria go and see it and take along their children to see it so they can sing along to the songs and dance. It’s bright, it’s fun, it’s not meant to be intellectual and it also celebrates the music of a wonderful Nigerian artist.

Did you learn all the songs or it was voiced over?

I learnt all the songs.

Why did you choose to do a musical?

I think Bongos Ikwue wanted a little trailer of his music and it turned into a bigger thing. And I think it’s a really good idea because this is different, I haven’t seen it in Nigeria before. They might also appreciate it internationally.

What are you working on now?

The next one that is coming out is ‘Black Gold’. It is a drama, it is much more issue-based, much more complicated story but placed side by side, it shows that we have a range of stories to tell. I will be coming to do more Nigerian movies and they will have to be done from the same level, trying to raise the bar to international level.

There is one guy I am looking to working with, Kunle Afolayan, we are going to have discussions and hopefully I’ll come and do a movie with him. I love what he is trying to do, he has a vision and he is trying to push Nollywood to a better level. We Nigerians are capable of doing anything on international level, better than they are. We must begin to show them that.

What part of Nigeria are you from?

I am from Abeokuta, Ogun State. I was born in Lagos. Almost all my life I have spent abroad but I always come back for holidays. I stay in Victoria Island but I am getting to discover my country.

Can you speak Yoruba?

I can say one or two words. “Mo gbo Yoruba”. “Bawo ni”. “Se alafia ni”. “E kabo”. Things like that. I have a Yoruba tape. The last time I was here I bought a Yoruba CD but it’s really pretty hard to learn off a CD. I will love to learn my language. That’s one thing I regret my parent didn’t teach us, to speak our language.

That means you won’t be doing language films?

Not for now. Maybe one day I will come and spend some few months here to learn and comprehend the language.

Has ‘Inale’ been seen outside Nigeria?

Not yet, I will take it back to Los Angeles with me and to the global stage. It’s very different from that Nigerian type of thing so it will be interesting to see how they respond to it abroad.

What international projects are you working on?

I’ve just finished doing television, we got a lot of TV in the United States and my next project is going to be a film in South Africa.

How was it like on the set of ‘Hotel Rwanda’?

That was shot some years ago and I was living in South Africa then. It was also shot in South Africa. It was a great experience; it was my first experience of doing a film like that with international people coming over. Yes, it was such a wonderful idea to work out a wonderful story and I had a great time doing it.

You were also in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

That was my first big movie in Hollywood; I was in ‘Wolverine’. You have to do big movies to understand that there is a difference in production levels. The amount of money they put into these productions, the technical nuance that they put into this thing, it is great. They are things I can bring back to Nigeria and help everybody with. That’s my learning curve which I will impart back home. It’s been great.

You have done a lot of Hollywood movies, can Nollywood afford you?

No. But you know what? If I was only coming in for the money, then I wouldn’t come in to do any other film. They can’t but it’s not about money. I’m a Nigerian, I want to fly the flag. We want to be proud; I want to stand tall as a Nigerian and be proud of who I am. I think that’s what’s most important.

The writer Adewale Maja-Pearce’ just published a sloppy biography of the literary icon John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo titled, ‘A Peculiar Tragedy: J.P. Clark-Bekederemo and the Beginning of Modern Nigerian Literature in English.’ Apparently Maja-Pearce dreamed up a proposal to write Clark’s biography and applied somewhere for a $63,000 grant to fund the project. When he did not get the grant, he approached Clark to foot the bill, Clark agrees to the proposal and pays Maja-Pearce one million naira, with more funding to come later. Maja-Pearce gets free access to Clark’s records, house and wine bar. Soon, things go wrong; Clark does not like the manuscript and balks at the use of a certain letter in which Maja-Pearce sought to represent that Clark “benefitted from an oil contract for services rendered to the nation following his support for the federal side during the civil war.” Actually, the letter gives no such impression. Clark was simply being a business man. I think it was irresponsible journalism on Maja-Pearce’s part to make such an insinuation. Anyhow, Maja-Pearce is unceremoniously ejected from Bekederemo’s world and he goes off in a huff, armed with a half-empty bottle of Clark’s wine to write a tell-all tale about the man.

We remember John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo’s epic and accessible poems like ‘Ibadan’, ‘Abiku’ and ‘Night Rain’. J.P Clark, as the world truly knows him, is a great postcolonial Nigerian playwright, poet and enigma who famously wrote the book, ‘America, Their America’, an analog blog about his experience in the America of the turbulent sixties. It is an angry book from cover to cover, written by a gifted young man railing against the alienation and sense of loss he felt upon turning the corner and seeing the nightmare that was their America. In the end he was unceremoniously ejected from America for being a prickly non-conformist. As a teenager, I was awed by the audacity of this warrior that went to America, hated the place and her patronising attitude, and spat at her faux generosity.

For one thing, Maja-Pearce’s analysis of the works of Soyinka, Okigbo and Clark is inchoate. He admits that he knows little about Okigbo’s poetry; however he only did some work on it because it “was just a job with a modest fee at the end of it.” There is a nobler precedent for this alleged biography. Decades ago, Paul Theroux befriended the writer VS Naipaul. The latter abruptly ended this friendship of three decades. Theroux did not take being dumped well; he wrote a caustic but important biography of Naipaul. Patrick French also wrote a biography of Naipaul. Neither biographer demanded a fee from Naipaul. Maja-Pearce’s attempt to recreate a Theroux-Naipaul drama falls short. There is no chemistry between the two men and Maja-Pearce is too eager to make a quick buck to establish a rapport with a clearly more complex thinker.

Grammatical issues plague the book and careless statements are paraded as facts. ‘A Peculiar Tragedy’ is a dizzy harvest of tipsy thoughts struggling to pass the sobriety test. Loopy drunken sentences drip with undeserved condescension. He quotes myriad sources but there is ample evidence that he did not read them thoroughly. Maja-Pearce’s analysis of Clark’s role during the Nigerian civil war is particularly offensive. The book lacks an appreciation for the complicated relationship minorities had among the major ethnic groups leading to, and even after, the Nigerian Civil war. There is scant evidence that he personally interviewed Soyinka, Achebe, Chukwuemeka Ike, etc. Missing were the insights of the female writers of the time, like Flora Nwapa, and Buchi Emecheta who arestill alive. The chapter on how to win the Nobel Prize is a long, tasteless riff about Soyinka and the laureateship. It is also a dated look at Nigerian literature; Maja-Pearce needs to spend some time reading the new works of writers to get a sense of the range of contemporary Nigerian literature in print and online.

The disrespect shown Okigbo, Soyinka, Achebe, Clark and even Odia Ofeimun is particularly troubling. There is no compassion for the bravery, intellect and erudition of these men who wrote and taught several generations of youth even as they were youths themselves. Despite their flaws, these men deserve our gratitude, not ridicule.

Despite my misgivings, I would still recommend this overpriced, disorganised book. Maja-Pearce spent a lot of time developing and accessing numerous sources. The cited sources alone are worth the steep cost of the book. It is a gossipy, fairly entertaining and engaging book written in an accessible style. He provides several useful insights about the lives of Clark, Achebe, Soyinka and Okigbo. Maja-Pearce is more at home with plays. In the book, he deploys intellectual muscle and rigour to the analysis of plays. The book provides some good history, showing Clark as a visionary when it comes to promoting our literature through literary journals (Mbari, Black Orpheus, etc). However, Maja-Pearce manages to diminish Clark’s contributions by ascribing significant credit to Ulli Beier. The author seems incapable of giving unqualified praise. I salute Professor John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo.

Meeting Ulli in 1962, with his small orange-coloured Cetron car, was by accident. He had come to visit his friend Duro Ladipo who was operating a beer parlour called ‘Popular Bar’. Ulli would have a stop-over to have one or two glasses of his favourite lager beer, Star. As he later narrated his campus experience to me during my visit to him and Georgina in Australia in 1985, he was more than happy to leave the campus environment. He succeeded in convincing the authority of the institution to approve his newly designed extra mural classes that afforded him to travel to many towns and villages of the then western region, organising lectures. It also gave him the opportunity to meet many Yoruba oral historians, priests and priestesses, Obas, artists and artistes. He never liked living with the university expatriate staff. He was more interested in meeting people outside the campus. Earlier, he was a founding member of the Mbari Club which though short-lived, in Ibadan at the back of a Lebanese restaurant called ‘I.Mudah’ – and later at Adamasigba area. Other members included Ezekiel Mphalele, J. P. Clark, Bruce Onobrakpeya and others.

Theatre patron

The Popular Bar in Osogbo was transformed to Mbari Osogbo. But Mbari later was re-christened Mbari-Mbayo, meaning “When I see – I shall be Happy” in Yoruba. Duro Ladipo who had lived in the north and returned to his birthplace – Osogbo – as a pupil teacher, also ran the Bar and managed the Ajax cinema which was situated near Latona Street, all in Osogbo.

Ulli also met dramatists like Kola Ogunmola and Oyin Adejobi. I remember watching Kola Ogunmola during his performances at the newly established Artists and Writers Club where he performed as a lead singer and an acoustic guitarist. He had two groups: A Dance band and a Drama Group. Ogunmola’s most popular play was ‘The Palmwine Drinkard’ which was an adaptation from Amos Tutuola’s book.

Usually, there was a kind of envy and jealousy among the three dramatists as each tried to ‘woo’ Ulli but he was more interested in what Duro was doing. He would raise funds for productions of Ogunmola and Duro. I remember him staying at our rehearsals from evening till early morning while preparing our production of ‘ObaKoso’ in readiness for the ‘Berliner Festwochen’ in 1964.

He met Georgina in Nigeria and soon she became another strong supporter of the theatre. In collaboration with some of us, we usually designed our costumes and back-drops.

Ulli in Kijipa

I remember when Ulli came to take pictures at the annual Ori-Oke Festival in Iragbiji, my hometown, without knowing we were going to work together in future! He had come with his first wife, Susanne. Dressed in the local ‘Kijipa’ Buba garment, he would be taking pictures while the wife would stay with the priests and the priestesses. Some of these photographs appear in Nigeria Magazine 1968.

After our Summer Experimental art school in 1963, it was he, who found us funds to buy materials for the continuation of our works until such a time when we were able to buy our own art supplies.

After leaving the theatre in 1966, I was staying in one of the apartments in his house on Ibokun Road, Osogbo. There, I was given space to do my works and sometimes I travelled with him as a research assistant. I was particularly with him while doing a research on the links between Ijero, Aramoko and Okuku. It was he who introduced me to people like ‘Uncle (Ambassador)’ Segun Olusola, Akin Euba and Segun Sofowote during the days of THEATRE EXPRESS. We performed the play ‘Morning, Noon and Night’ at Traverse Theatre Club in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1967. Ulli was instrumental to the possibility of staging that production.

My mentor

When he donated his artifacts collection to the defunct Institute of African Studies, he insisted that the collection must remain in Osogbo. I curated the collection for nine years (1967 to 1976) before it was relocated to another place by the Institute where it was vandalised. It was the late Jacob Afolabi who was in charge of the collection at the time.

I make Ulli my mentor for many reasons. Like a spiritualist, he had no lust for material things, he loved cultures of the world, he saw himself more as a universal being and more closely as a Yoruba man that he really was. I remember him for his love for traditional Agbegijo Theatre of Masks, for his literary works and for always willing to help promote works of known artists and writers, most especially of the so-called Third World. He has influenced me in the area of documentation of our oral literature. It was from him that I derived inspiration to build up my own collection, now known as ILE-ONA.

Muraina Oyelami, Eesa of Iragbiji and master Osogbo artist, was one of those that attended Ulli Beier’s art workshops in Osogbo in the 60s.

Culture figures and organisations have continued to pay tribute to the late German linguist, Ulli Beier, who died on Sunday, April 3 in Sydney, Australia.

The remains of the scholar whose pioneering work in South Western Nigeria served as a launch-pad for arts and culture in the country in the 50s and 60s, were cremated on Friday, April 8 after a church service for family members in Australia.

Babawale on Beier

A statement from Tunde Babawale, Director General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) said that the late linguist will be sorely missed.

“Ulli Beier would be remembered as a lover of Africa and a man whose passion for Yoruba cultural heritage remains a global reference point. He will be sorely missed by all Afrocentric scholars and lovers of African literature.” Babawale also acknowledged the contributions of Beier to the development and popularisation of Yoruba arts and culture. He said, “Ulli Beier provided an enduring platform for interaction between Yoruba indigenous ideas, beliefs and practices and the European cultural space, the legacy of which is the Iwalewa House at the University of Bayreuth which continues to host scholars in different areas of African Studies.” The CBAAC DG further lauded Beier’s contribution to the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), a UNESCO category two institute in Osogbo, Osun State. The centre houses archival materials Beier and his wife, Georgina, started to collect in the 1950s. The materials in the centre’s gallery include books, articles, photographs, videos, audio-cassettes, records and CDs. The collection, Babawale noted, provide, “a photographic history of Yoruba traditional institution, architecture, artistes and other areas of Yoruba culture.” Babawale also praised Beier’s efforts at translating the works of Nigerian authors, which made them accessible. “He discovered, encouraged and collaborated with notable artists and writers such as Wole Soyinka and the late Duro Ladipo, Kola Ogunmola among others. He also contributed to the popular African Writer Series under the pseudonym, Obotunde Ijimere.”

Osun Government

Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, said of Beier’s activities in Nigeria,: “He encouraged the production of ‘Oba Koso’, a world class drama that confirmed the sophistication of African people before the advent of colonialists. At the formation of the Centre for Black Culture and Civilisation and the recognition of Osun Osogbo by UNESCO, Beier played the role of a giant and an honourable man. These and other roles mark him out. Like all mortals, Ulli Beier, a cultural titan, has gone to the land of the spirits but his giant footprints remain indelible and matchless in the character of great minds that shaped the course of mankind.” Aregbesola added, “May his tribe continue to come into our land for the good of man and the benefit of mankind. We shall surely miss him.”

Federal Government

Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Abubakar Sadiq, in a statement said: “His legacy on Nigeria’s cultural heritage-literary, visual and performing arts especially in the fifties and sixties- was great and that his name evokes strong, almost cult-like feelings among his devotees as well as on the ordinary artisans in Ilobu, Ife, Osogbo, Ede and its environs.”

London Gallery

John Martin, owner of the London Gallery of the same name who had not known of Beier’s passing until he was contacted by NEXT, said: “He is one of the great unsung heroes of art and I think his significance will only be really understood in years to come. Partly it is the fact that he took a back seat and was, rightly, prepared to duck out of the limelight in favour of the artists he nurtured, encouraged and promoted.” The John Martin Gallery staged a month-long exhibition of the works of late Osogbo artist, Asiru Olatunde in 2005. Many of the pieces in the exhibition, titled ‘Asiru Olatunde: Chasing Dreams’ were loaned to Martin by Ulli Beier’s Iwalewa Haus. Beier also wrote the foreword to the exhibition brochure.

A commemorative event will hold today, Sunday, April 10, in Beier’s home in Annandale, Sydney, to be attended by friends and former colleagues, for the celebration of his life and work.