Growing up, I was always very interested in Greek Mythology, centering around gods like Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares...and even gorgons(witches who had snakes for hair) most popular been Medusa, after been adopted by fashion house Versace as their official logo.
Because of movies(Oddysey, Troy, Immortals etc) and pictorial adaptions, it has over time become possible to put a face, or persona to these Greek gods whether real or not.
Interestingly, here in Africa, we have our own myths and believes centered around gods and deities which are still worshiped today. In Yoruba tradition particularly, there are many deities which I've learnt about growing up, but apart from a few like Sango(which in my head looks like Wale Adebayo for obvious reasons), I've never really been able to put or face or persona to(whether they are real or not) these gods. So when I discovered the artistic portrayal of popular Yoruba deities by artist James C Lewis, I found very interesting his interpretation following careful research.
Depicting the beauty and essence of the ‘Orishas’ i.e divinities of the Yoruba culture, in Western Nigeria, the Atlanta-based Photographer created the ‘Orisha’ art exhibition to portray the Yoruba gods through art and illustration. The Yoruba culture, which is one of the largest tribes in Nigeria, has at least 1,700 gods of which 20 are recognized or most famous. Some of these gods are worshiped in their own rights while others are paid tribute through holidays and festivals.
See what he said about his 'YORUBA ORISHA EXPERIENCE' exhibition below.
Depicting the beauty and essence of the ‘Orishas’ i.e divinities of the Yoruba culture, in Western Nigeria, the Atlanta-based Photographer created the ‘Orisha’ art exhibition to portray the Yoruba gods through art and illustration. The Yoruba culture, which is one of the largest tribes in Nigeria, has at least 1,700 gods of which 20 are recognized or most famous. Some of these gods are worshiped in their own rights while others are paid tribute through holidays and festivals.
See what he said about his 'YORUBA ORISHA EXPERIENCE' exhibition below.
Throughout my formal education from elementary up through college I never heard tale of African deities. A little over a month ago I began to research online to find information in regards to the gods & goddesses of Africa. To my surprise there were many, however the ones that stood out the most were the deities of Nigeria and Benin, West Africa which they referred to as ORISHAS.
This entire belief in the Orishas was directly linked to the Yoruba of the Ifa Tradition.
I wanted to portray the regal beauty of each Orisha while also representing their majestic sensuality. Each iconic depiction was rendered to lend strength to our resilience as a great race of people and to show our youth that they are beautiful, bold and brilliant just they way God created them to be. Although I am aware that the Ifa Tradition traveled in the Ori “Head” of those Blacks that were captured as slaves and sent to other parts of the diaspora, I chose to focus on the true origin of the faith. Therefore each Orisha’s name is written in the Yoruba dialect and captures imagery of powerful men, women & children of various complexions who are all of African descent.
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