The Origins of Procreation

The Origins Of Procreation
Legends Of Africa 

 

Long ago a man and a woman came down from heaven, while another man and woman came out of the ground. The Lord of Heaven also sent a python, the non-poisonous snake, which made its home in a river. In the beginning men and women had no children, they had no desire for one another and did not know the process of procreation and birth.

 It was the Python who taught them. He asked the men and women if they had any children, and on being told that they had none, the Python said he would make the women conceive. He told the couples to stand facing each other, then he went into the river and came out with his mouth full of water. This he sprayed on their bellies, saying "Kus, kus" (words that are still used in clan rituals). Then the Python told the couples to go home and lie together, and the women conceived and bore children. 

These children took the spirit of the river where the Python lived as their clan spirit. Members of that clan hold the python as taboo; they must never kill it, and if they find a python that has died or been killed by someone else, they put white clay on it and bury it human fashion.

The hunter and the lion

The Hunter And The Lion

 Folktales Legend (Nigeria)

There was a hunter who often went into the bush to hunt. Hunting was his work. No other work was so sweet to him as hunting. Every day he was trying to find where the most game could be seen. The bush was all known to him. He knew that in some places there was game and in other places there was none.

One day when the hunter was far in the bush looking for game, he heard a noise that sounded like something coming toward him, but he could not see anything. In a moment he saw a large lion almost on top of him, and it was coming toward him. The lion was so near that it was no use to think of running. The hunter trembled with fear, for he did not know what the lion was going to do with him. Any moment the lion might catch him and kill him. Even if he had wanted to run he had no strength in his legs, because they were shaking.

The ram and his friend

The ram and his friend

Folktales Legend (Nigeria)

There was a ram and his mother and his sister. Every day they would go for a walk. One day his mother and his sister went away and left him. He ran about trying to find them. 

He came to a friend, another ram, and said, "Friend, did you see our womenfolks go along here?" The ram said, "No, I did not see your women folks here. Only your mother and your sister. I saw them pass here, but I never have seen your women folks."

The ram said, "Never did I see any one so dumb as you are. You are the dumbest person left in the world. Who is my mother, not to mention my sister? If a man has a mother and a sister, they are like a wife to him. Or is a mother not a woman? 

You are dumb, my mother is my head woman. A wife will do for you the same things which a mother will do for you."

This thing is true. A mother and a wife are about alike. 
Some say that a wife is better than a mother, but it is not true.

What do you think?

The Arrival of Lagos Biennial

Lagos Biennial, 2017

The inaugural edition of Lagos Biennial starts from  October 14 to 22nd November, 2017, at the Railway Compound, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.

 Lagos Biennial, an art exhibition where artists from different parts of the world converge to display their various creative arts.

The exhibition holds in collaboration with Legacy Museum, Nigerian Railway Compound, Ebute Metta. 

 Artists from Rwanda, Ghana, Portugal, US, Kenya, South Africa and many others are expected to come with their unique works of art that can richly be appreciated when the artists take you through the ideologies and thoughts behind them.
 

“This is one of the biennial on the African continent that doesn’t just encourage an international audience. It also has  international participation.and  is a reflective of Lagos as a cosmopolitan city. 

Wisdom, Food and Wealth

Wisdom, Food and Wealth
Nigerian Legends

 

One day wisdom., food and wealth started on a journey. As they went along they came to a man sitting under a tree. The man said, "Where are you going?" They said, "We are hunting a place to live." The man said, "As for me, I want wealth to live with me." Wealth said, "You are a dumb man. If you had chosen wisdom, all three of us could have lived with you. But you have chosen me. This cannot be, because if I lived with you without wisdom, you could not have me long."

They started off again and they met another man. The man said, "Where are you going, young man?" They said, "We are hunting a place to live." The man said , "I believe that I would like to have food live with me." Food said, "You are not clever. If you had chosen a certain one of us, all of us would live with you. But look, you have chosen me. Do you think that you could keep me? No, you could not keep me. Let us go on."

Farther on they came to a man who was working. He said, "Where are you going today?" They said, "We want a place to live." The man said, "I would like for wisdom to live with me." Food said, "If you have chosen wisdom, then I will live with you, too. I know that you will be able to take good care of me." Wealth said, All three lived with him because he made a good choice.

 Can you identify a lesson from this story?

BISI FAKEYE - Adieu!

As reported by : Arts and Culture Place.

 The death of veteran artist, Bisi Fakeye, has thrown many into mourning. The news of his death came as what many described as shocking.

Fakeye died on Sunday, October 8, at the Ikorodu General Hospital in Lagos by yet-to-be disclosed ailment.

He was born in 1942 at Ila-Orangun, Ekiti. He was a renowned caver from the great Fakeye family of carvers - Lamidi Fakeye being the best known.

Bisi apprenticed under Lamidi Fake. Although he went through school up to teacher training college and abandoned teaching for carving. Moving to Lagos in 1968, Bisi interacted with formally trained artists, developed a more commercially based practice, and became part of the Lagos art scene. After FESTAC 1977, he settled into the studios on the grounds of the National Theatre, now Universal Studios of Arts.