Culture

ÌṢẸ̀ṢE And The Paradox Of Secrecy

Published

3 years ago

August 22, 2023

Few days ago, I had to reenact an Agẹmọ festival scene and of course had to take permission and lectures from the custodians of the beautiful masquerade in Ìjẹ̀bú land.

At first when I explained to them that it is a film where Agẹmọ would have to be directed, where we will tell the masquerade to stop for us to change lenses, camera angles and shots, they fumed that we would not be able to reenact an Agẹmọ display because Agẹmọ has a specific time it must come out and they can’t just bring it out at our own convinience and directions.

After a lot of convincing that we need to preserve and project these culture to the world through visual storytelling, they told us that we can do it, but Agẹmọ wouldn’t have time to be listening to instructions from me as I wouldn’t be able cut its display intermittently as I want, I agreed and made up my mind that I was going to shoot the scene on multi-cameras, so that I can cover all the angles once. But I requested that I would need to do a rehearsal with the heralder of the masquerade who is going to pass my instruction to it, to know about timing, spatial awareness and other things.

It is a taboo to be on a higher plane than the masquerade, so I already told the drone pilot that he has an off day, I told the DP that we are going to be taking low angle shots, no cranes or jibs. We chose a locale with no storey buildings around. We rehearsed the Agẹmọ drummers, actors and the Agẹmọ heralder and then filming started, it was on AD’s call of ACTION that I saw my lead actor in that scene (Agẹmọ) for the first time.

Unsurprisingly, Agẹmọ didn’t get my blockings right, it was performing on and off the camera frames, but we were still able to capture a lot of beautiful moments and then patch with reaction shots of actors. It was the most challenging scene I have ever handled as a visual storyteller.

Few years ago, I had wanted to do something similar with Ẹ̀lúkú Festival but was warned never to try it because Ẹ̀lúkú deity is too sacred to be reenacted. In the interest of myself and my family I gave up and changed the concept.

If adherents of the indigenous religion think secrecy has been helping to preserve Ìṣẹ̀ṣe, I would say it has been counterproductive. There was a time every disease had a leaf that could cure it, but the men who knew the leaves kept keeping the secrets around the process until no one knows again. The world is speedily globalizing, Ìṣẹ̀ṣe must transmit and document its essential elements to the generation yet unborn by opening up itself more and more.

Happy Isese Day to all Ìṣẹ̀ṣe practitioners worldwide.

Related Topics:Culture Featured isese paradox

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Culture

WAKE UP! Art Exhibition Returns for a Second Act

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Mariam Balogun

The contemporary art and photography exhibition “Wake Up!” is back again for a second edition.

Curated by Awele Onwordi, Wake Up! 2 exhibition pays homage to the Nigerian youth and burgeoning street culture which many of its contributing artists reference in their works.

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Titled “Young, Wild, Free”, the exhibition celebrates the creativity, resilience, freedom and cultural influence found in Nigerian youth.

Taking aim at societal issues and economic concerns, the exhibit reflects the youth and their refusal to compromise or bow despite all the challenges stacked against them while charting youth culture through art, music, fashion, skateboarding, photography and community.

The exhibition will be held, once again, at the Angel and Muse Gallery at 25 Sumbo Jibowu street off Ribadu Road off Awolowo Road in Ikoyi.

It will open on Saturday 5 September 2026 and will run until 11 September 2026
This second edition which focuses on celebrating, nurturing and exploring artistic practices rooted in youth and street culture will feature works from DENCITY and SUPERGLIDER HOUSE.

Exhibiting artists include Ajilore Kehinde – their work is deeply influenced by Nigerian street culture and works of other artists like Slawn, Peters Ejiro, etc, Chuka Onwordi – graphic designer who embodies themes of death, melancholy and beauty in his works, ZIDYEP – Abuja based creative whose works move between digital and physical spaces through art, graphic design and air brushing , Franklyn Okoye – graphic designer and artist whose works explore themes of identity and hyper-reality, Awele Onwordi – founder & curator of WAKE UP and multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans character art, creative logo design, album covers and more , Oluchi Kogolo – digital illustrator whose work explores street culture, personality and storytelling through a raw and playful visual style and Kozetuo Apeji – multidisciplinary artists who work explores experimental approaches to problem solving through both digital and traditional art forms.

Commenting on the exhibition in her curatorial statement, Awele noted that “despite economic instability, limited opportunities and socio-political challenges, Nigerian youth continue to shape culture through music, fashion, art, skateboarding, raves, photography and community.”

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Continuing and harping on the raison d’etre of the exhibition she said, “Young, Wild and Free exists to celebrate Nigerian youth while also creating a platform that supports and amplifies them.”