Eulogies to Beier
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.
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