My SOURCES

Victor  Ekpuk  Painter/Illustrator

' y love  for  the  exotic
ethnic art forms has
been the reason  for
my  seeking  to  ex
press 
myself
through  the  tradi-
tional art forms of the African  peoples, espe-
cially those of my immediate environment in
Nigeria:  the  Ibibio,  Yoruba  and  Igbo  tradi-
tions.

form  of  sacred  communication  among  the
male cult societies of the Efiks,  Ibibios  and
Arochukwu  peoples  in south eastern part of
Nigeria.  This  pictographic  writing  was  de-
vised to overcome the problem of communi-
cation among the different dialectical groups.
Nsibidi  was  not  only  written,  sometimes  it
was  acted  out  and  thus  became  a  form  of
unspoken  language  with  body movements.

Among the numerous male cult societies that
practised  Nsibidi,  the  Ekpe  society  had  an
extensive use of Nsibidi symbols in the form
of  body  painting,  drawing  on  the  sand,  ar-
rangements of objects and textile design, e.g.
ukara cloth,  a  special  batik  print  dyed  with
indigo with  numerous  signs and  symbols.

Ekpe society is not the highest and the most
powerful  of the societies in Ibibioland, but its

seek to arrive at a universal language that still retains the

essence of the ritual communication of the ancient symbols and

signs while I use them to interpret my present  reality.

The art of pictographic writing known among
the  Ibibio  people  as  Nsibidi  holds  much
fascination  and  inspiration  for  me.

Nsibidi was practised  long before  the white
man  came to  the  shores  of  Africa  with  his
kind  of  writing.  It  was  generally  used  as  a

The  Ibibio  people  did  not  limit  Nsibidi  to
secret  cults  alone,  sometimes  it  was
secularised  to  meet  social  and  economic
needs. It served as a form of label  identifica-
tion,  public  notices,  declaration  of-taboos,
amorous messages, record keeping and deco-
rations.

influence  is  felt  more  because  of  its  elitist
and judicial functions  in the clans. Its author-
ity was used to knot the Ibibio clans together,
Ekpe is personified as a wise old deity whose
power and influence are all embracing hence
the symbol of circle ( Q) features most promi-
nently  as  Nsibidi  symbol  in  this  society.
Manila 1{J]  is also used as symbol of wealth

17

in  the  Ekpe  cult,  it  is  the
'rarity'  and closeness of the
manila  as  an  instrument  of
commerce that is beingtrans-
posed  on  Ekpe.  The
zoomorphic  symbols  like
leopard
that 

of 

a 

thority  with  the  society.
Among  the  people  of  the
forest areas east of the Niger,
the  leopard  is  regarded  as
the fiercest  of  the land  ani-
mals hence it is much feared.

The meaning of the symbols
on the body of the Ekpe ini-
tiates as well as on the ukara
cloth  worn  by  the  initiates
are  secretly  guarded  and
taught  only  to  the  initiates,
they  are  also  used  as  code
signs known only to the ini-
tiates. The  information  that
I am  giving  in  this  essay  is
just  a tip of  the  iceberg  be-
cause ultimately most of the
core  meanings  are  con-
cealed. Other male societies
like  the  Ekpo,  Ekong  and
Idiong also engage in the art
of Nsibidi  as  instrument  of
sacred  communication.  Among  the  female  societies  the  graphic
symbols  are  not  necessarily  Nsibidi.  Theirs  are  used  as  cosmetic
decoration on their bodies as well on murals. Some of the symbols are

dots [-£$],circles  [S^],linearpatterns[  * ^ ^ ^ ^ S * " ~ 2 ^ ^ ^^ 

]

and triangular  pattern

My interest with drawing using the ethnic art
form  started  way  back  at  the  University  of
Ife  (now  Obafemi  Awolowo  University),
Ile-Ife, Nigeria. There I was made to appre-
ciate  first  of  all  the  rich  artistic  heritage  I
have  as  an  African.  I  was  made  to  see  art
through  the eyes  of  the  traditional  African
where  all the world  was  seen  as  living  and
inspired  by  divinity.  The  rivers,  trees  and
stones were believed to possess spirits. Hence
the  reverence  and  sacredness  that  was  be-
stowed on nature and the art that could help
communicate  with  it.  With  this  attitude  to
life, it is no wonder the art of writing was not
done  for  its  own  sake  but  for  the  specific
purpose  for  which  it  was  meant;  to  serve
mostly divinity. This also probably explains
why  Nsibidi  could  not  be  secularised  to  a
greater extent.

At Ife, part of the curriculum of the Fine Art department was for the
student to extract  the most he could  from  the traditional  and  blend
them  with  whatever  form  of  contemporary  experience  he  has.  So

having gone through the ex-
perimental  classes  of  Moyo
Okediji and Prof. Babatunde
Lawal, the pottery classes of
Dr. Ibigbami,  as well as  the
drawing  classes  of  Agbo
Eolarin  and  having  read
about  and  seen  drawings  of
Uche Okeke and Prof. Obiora
Udechukwu,  I  was  much
more equipped to start mak-
ing  compositions  based  on
traditional  symbols,  motifs
and colours. The results be-
came an amalgam of various
influences.  To  a
ethnic 
greater  extent  my  art  is  a
synthesis of these graphic el-
ements  of  the traditional  art
of body  painting, textile de-
sign  and  sculptural  forms
which  I  call  visual  poetry.
This  art  form  is  neither  a
copy  of  Ife-Osogbo  shrine
paintings, a copy  of  Nsibidi
symbols  nor that of Ulli  not
even a copy  of the Egyptian
heirogliphs.  I seek  to  arrive
at  a universal  language  that
still retains the essence of the
ritual communication  of  the
ancient  symbols  and  signs

while I use them  to interpret  my present  reality.

Through my experiments I have been able to arrive at some personal

symbols  like: fish bones  [ -£ffifc]  to mean decay, sun  [ 'jjfc :<£-] to

mean  life  and hope, house  [^n^]  to  mean

state of consciousness,  the moon  [^5)j] to

mean  night, moon with sun [ "jjjj ] to mean
eclipse.

The paintings and drawings at Windsongs.
my  recent  solo  exhibition,  show  a  lot  of
these elements. I hope to keep forging ahead
with  this  idiom  to  become  more  aware  of
the possible potentials of this art form. I see
this as my own  way of keeping the idea of
the ancient sacred  art alive. My forms  and
colours are simplified,  sometimes not nec-
essarily  to appeal to a wider audience, but
rather because that is how I wish to express
myself.  We  are  all  at  different  levels  of
consciousness  and  this affects  our attitude
to our environment, this goes to show why
I cannot please everybody with my art, and
why  I  do  not  even  try.  I  prefer  to  stay
focused  and express myself the way I wish
to at any particular point in time. The idea of bending to mass appeal
could  be dangerous to those artists who  wish expand  their  creative
horizon.  Ultimately,  I  believe  artists  like  other  people  have  their
drive in life:  Money  or truth.

18

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Above: Scape guat, mixed media, 1995
Below: Now we see eye to eye, mixed media, 1995