The moment I received the details for the Women of the Elephant Tusk: Ndi Otu Odu, a solo art exhibition by REWA, I was immediately transported back to 2019 and the acrylic painting I saw at a friend’s house.
The painting depicts Marina bustop, where the popular Cathedral Church of Christ is. To this day, while I have never gotten the exact details of the painting – my friend thinks an Emily Nelson painted it but he isn’t too sure since it was a gift to the family – I have never quite forgotten about it. This is mostly because I know, after an extensive search of my memory, that I have never seen Marina like that – busy but not packed full of humans, buses and sellers littering every available space, relatively peaceful, and, above all, clean.
That vibrant, mid-sized painting immediately launched me into an era I had never been in and made me long for times I know nothing about. And this, I believe, may be the (unconscious) goal of every artist, and one that REWA, deliberately or otherwise, has achieved in her recent body of work currently exhibiting at the Africa Centre in London.
Women of the Elephant Tusk: Ndi Otu Odu is a collection of artwork that REWA says is a heartfelt tribute to the women of the Otu Odu Society in her hometown Onitsha and an homage to traditional African feminism, seen through the lens of a prestigious socio-political women’s group, dating back to the 16th century.
Nigeria, like any society in the world, is rich in culture and traditions. But, unlike others, it is unique in its multiculturalism, and the presence of over 300 distinct ethnic groups means that there is a complexity to its general cultural identity that may not be seen in other parts of the world.
Unfortunately, modernism, urbanism and mass migration to other parts of the world are contributing to a rapid decline and loss of these cultures, which in turn fuel cultural dysphoria and feelings of loneliness, alienation and even confusion.
Which is what makes works like REWA’s Women of the Elephant Tusk: Ndi Otu Odu important and timely. Yes, you can admire the artist’s creativity evident in each masterful stroke and clever depictions of her subject matter; of course, you can be drawn to the choice of colours used and the emotions each work of art portrays. But ultimately, you would ask questions. Who are the Ndi Otu Odu? What was/is their role in the society? What geographical location do they occupy? Why do they wear elephant tusks on their hands and legs? Who gets to be a member of this society?
Or not. You may instead be transported to another place and time, imagining your role and position in the Ndi Otu Odu society, feeling a kinship with these women and seeing how you can embody the values they stood for and do what they did in your own time.
And even if you’d neither be questioning nor imagining, but instead would be more occupied with the depth of skill each painting carries as well as other techniques employed in the Women of the Elephant Tusk: Ndi Otu Odu, the Africa Centre in London would be more than pleased to have you walk in through their doors to view this incredible body of work by REWA from September the 8th all through to the 28th of the same month.