Hubert Ògúndé and the Yoruba travelling theatre, Dúró Ládipọ̀, Kọ́lá Ògúnmọ́lá and Baba Sala, the film line from Ọlá Balógun to Túndé Kèlání and Kúnlé Afọláyan, and the visual artists from Lámídì Fákẹ́yẹ and the Òṣogbo school to Yinka Shonibare.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Nollywood, wey be di biggest film industry for Africa based on how many film dem dey produce, get Yoruba history wey happen before am wey most story about am dey skip. Di Yoruba travelling theatre, wey run from di 1940s go reach di 1980s as commercial network of company dem wey dey perform across di west, na di institutional ancestor of di video film industry: na di same company dem, di same audience, di same business way of touring, and for many case na literally di same people wey move from stage go celluloid go video. To understand dat line na di difference between to see Nollywood like say na 1992 invention and to see am as di latest form of commercial popular theatre wey don reach fifty years.
Di visual arts dey run on different track, from family carving lineage dem pass through di Òṣogbo workshop dem of di 1960s reach contemporary artist dem wey dey work internationally, and dis file cover di two of dem.
Ògúndé na di father of modern Yoruba and Nigerian theatre and na im establish di first professional theatre company for di country.
Dem born am for Òsọ́sà near Ìjẹ̀bú Òde on 10 July 1916, e work as teacher and later as police officer, and e leave police work for 1945 go start African Music Research Party, wey dem change di name to Ògúndé Theatre Party for 1947 and Ògúndé Concert Party for 1950 . Na im be di first contemporary professional theatrical company for Nigeria .
Di form wey e build dey specific. E combine dramatic action, dance and music, take di folk opera structure of church cantata and concert party use am for secular and political purpose, and e move Yoruba performance from masked and processional form go proscenium stage with realist acting . Di company dey tour constantly, dey carry dia own generator and dia own transport, and na gate fee dem take dey live on across di west and beyond. E write pass fifty plays .
E dey political from di start. Strike and Hunger for 1946 dramatise di general strike of 1945 and draw colonial attention. Bread and Bullet address di shooting of coal miners for Enugu for 1949. Yorùbá Ronu, "Yoruba, think", for 1964 attack di Western Region political leadership over di crisis, and di Akíntọ́lá government ban im company make dem no perform for di region for two years, wey dem lift for 1966 after di coup . Dat one na rare case wey colonial government and postcolonial government ban di same theatre company.
E move enter film for late 1970s with Àìyé (1979), Jaiyesimi (1980) and Aropin N'Tenia, and for 1986 federal government commission am to set up national troupe, wey e lead until e die for London for 1990 .
Ládipọ̀ na di dramatist wey take Yoruba òrìṣà material turn am to theatre of di highest formal seriousness.
Dem born am on 18 December 1926 and e die on 11 March 1978 . Na son of Anglican catechist e be and e start by writing Yoruba church music, wey cause wahala when e use traditional drums for Christian service.
Im reputation rest on three plays: Ọbamórò (1962), and Ọba Kò So and Ọba Wàjà, di two for 1964 . Ọba Kò So, "the king did not hang", na di Ṣàngó story, wey treat how di fourth Aláàfin take transform into òrìṣà, and na Mbari Mbayo club for Òṣogbo dem first stage am for 1963 . Dem perform am for Berlin Festival for 1964 and e tour internationally through di 1960s and 1970s, and na probably di single most successful piece of Yoruba theatre wey dem don ever stage. Ọba Wàjà, "the king is dead", treat di same 1946 Ọ̀yọ́ horseman episode wey Ṣóyínká later use for Death and the King's Horseman, and e make sense to read di two together: Ládipọ̀'s version dey for Yoruba, sung and drummed, and e treat di failure as ritual and communal event; Ṣóyínká's dey for English and e treat am as tragedy in formal sense.
Ládipọ̀'s production dem use bàtá and dùndún drumming, oríkì and traditional chant form dem as di real substance of di drama instead of just decoration, and na im be di most important artist of di Mbari Mbayo circle for Òṣogbo.
Ògúnmọ́lá na di third of di great travelling theatre manager dem and di finest actor among di three. Di production wey people know pass na im adaptation of Amos Tutùọlá's The Palm-Wine Drinkard, wey dem stage as Ọmùtí or Lanke Ọmùtí, wey e develop during fellowship for School of Drama for University of Ìbàdàn . Na landmark work: Yoruba folk opera wey dem make from novel wey dem write for non-standard English wey itself come from Yoruba folktale, as di material pass back enter Yoruba performance after detour through print and English.
Ọláiyá na di father of modern Nigerian comedy . Dem born am on 18 May 1936, e start as highlife musician wey dey front Federal Rhythm Dandies for 1964, wey Sunny Adé join for brief time, then e move enter comic theatre with di Alawada Group . Di Baba Sala character, one bumbling, vain, elaborately dressed man wey im own plans dey always spoil, na di template for Nigerian screen comedy and im influence on everything wey come after am, including Funke Akindele's Jenifa, dey direct.
Im career still get di industry cautionary tale. Im 1984 film Ọ̀run Mọ́orù suffer piracy on scale wey destroy di investment, and di losses end im film career. Nigerian video piracy no be recent problem and e break di person wey first prove say Yoruba film fit make money.
Balógun na di pioneer of Nigerian cinema for technical sense and di person wey establish say dem fit make commercially successful film for Nigerian language.
Dem bon am for 1 August 1945 and e train for film for France . Àjàní Ògún (1976), wey dem do for Yoruba language with Dúró Ládipọ̀ and wey travelling theatre actors act inside, make plenty money for box office and na di founding film of Yoruba commercial cinema . E continue to do Ìjà Ọmìnira, Cry Freedom, Money Power and plenty documentary work, and e influence di Nigerian industry throughout di 1970s and 1980s pass any oda single person, wey open way for di video boom wey start for early 1990s .
Di economic condition beat am and every oda person wey dey work on celluloid: as naira crash after 1986, film stock and to process film for laboratory abroad come cost pass wetin dem fit pay, na im make di industry move go video and come turn to Nollywood.
Kèlání na di most important Yoruba filmmaker wey still dey alive, and na im work dey carry Yoruba literary and cultural material pass.
Dem bon am for 26 February 1948, e grow up for Abẹ́òkúta, and na im grandpapa wey be chief introduce am to Yoruba literature, philosophy, and art . E train for London Film School, work as cinematographer and BBC correspondent, and e start Mainframe Film and Television Productions for 1991 to dey adapt books to film .
Ti Oluwa Ni Ile (1993) dey among di Yoruba film wey sell pass for dat time . Im major work na series of adaptations from Yoruba literature, wey Akínwùnmí Ìṣọ̀lá write most of dem: Ó Le Kú, Kòṣeégbé, Ṣawòrò Ìdẹ (1999) and Àgọ̀gọ̀ Èèwọ̀, plus Thunderbolt: Magun (2001), Àbẹ̀ni, Máàmi (2011), wey come from Femi Osofisan novella, and Dazzling Mirage (2014) wey dey about sickle cell disease and stigma .
Ṣawòrò Ìdẹ na di one wey get political weight pass among dem. Na parable about brass bell, covenant wey bind ruler with im people, and wetin dey happen wen ruler run commot from ritual control, and dem release am for 1999 wen Nigeria return to civilian rule. Di point wey di film dey make na say di traditional check on ruler power na real thing and say to remove am na im be di root of modern problem, wey be serious political point inside popular film wey dey in Yoruba.
Kèlání importance for dis body of work na say na im be di main visual archive for Yoruba material culture inside performance: dem record di dress, di ritual, di drumming, di proverbs, and di language well-well and with clear purpose.
Dem bon Afọláyan for 30 September 1975, e be son to actor and filmmaker Adéyẹmí Afọláyan, wey people know as Adé Love, wey be one of di travelling theatre performers wey enter film . Dis one make am second-generation figure directly from di Ògúndé tradition.
Im films include The Figurine: Araromire (2009), Phone Swap (2012), October 1 (2014) and Citation (2020) . Dem credit The Figurine say na im start di new Nollywood wey get higher production quality and dey show for cinema instead of to go straight to video; October 1, wey take place just before independence, na thriller wey dem arrange around ethnicity and colonial legacy. E sign multi-film deal with Netflix for 2021, part of how streaming enter Nigeria come change di industry financing again.
Akíndélé, wey dem bon for 24 August 1977, na di person wey make money pass for film for Nigeria right now . Wetin bring am to limelight na Jenifa (2008) and di character wey she create for di film, one semi-literate village girl for city wey her broken English and Yoruba turn to national comedy style, wey continue throughout di Jenifa's Diary series . As producer and director, her films Omo Ghetto: The Saga (2020), Battle on Buka Street (2022) and A Tribe Called Judah (2023) break Nigerian box office record one after di oda, and di last one come be di first Nollywood film wey make over one billion naira . She contest for deputy governor for Lagos State for 2019.
Ramsey Nouah, wey dem bon for 1970, wey be one of di main Nigerian screen actors for di last thirty years and director of di Living in Bondage sequel, come from mixed background: im papa na Israeli and im mama na Yoruba from Ọ̀wọ̀ for Ondo State . Dem include am with im parentage as e dey stated.
Bímbọ́ Adémọ̀yè, wey dem bon for 4 February 1991 for Lagos, na Yoruba and e dey among di leading actors for dis current generation, wey dey work across both di Yoruba and English side of di industry .
Fákẹ́yẹ na di most celebrated Yoruba wood carver for twentieth century and di person wey carry di family carving tradition enter modern art world without to leave am behind.
Dem bon am for 1925 into di Fákẹ́yẹ carving family for Inurin compound inside Isedo quarter for Ìlá-Ọ̀ràngún, na fifth-generation carver, and e die for 25 December 2009 . E train inside di family workshop and later with Father Kevin Carroll of di Catholic mission for Ọ̀yẹ́-Èkìtì, workshop wey give Yoruba carvers work to produce Christian images inside Yoruba form, wey be unusual and productive time for di history of mission and indigenous art.
Im work dey inside doors, panels, house posts, and òrìṣà and Christian figures, wey e do in di Yoruba style of frontality, hierarchical scale, and controlled surface. One exhibition for Ìbàdàn for 1971 show three generations of Fákẹ́yẹ carvers . Dem appoint am enter faculty of arts for University of Ifẹ̀ for 1978 and e teach and exhibit internationally . Na im be di bridge between di master carvers wey dem no know dia name for earlier art records and di individual artist with name for modern art system.
The Òṣogbo school be the movement wey get the biggest impact for modern Nigerian art. E come out from the Mbari Mbayo club, wey Dúró Ládipọ̀ and Ulli Beier start for Òṣogbo for 1962, and from the workshops wey Georgina Beier run for there from 1964. The way dem take do things deliberately dey against formal school style: dem take people wey no get formal training, many of dem from travelling theatre groups, give dem materials and technique, and dem no teach European art history. The Austrian artist Susanne Wenger, wey settle for Òṣogbo, become initiated priestess of Ọ̀ṣun and lead the rebuilding of the Ọ̀ṣun grove shrines with monumental concrete, work wey dey central to how UNESCO take list the grove as World Heritage Site.
Twins Seven-Seven (1944 to 2011), wey dem born as Ọmọba Táíwò Ọláníyì Oyèwálé-Toyeje Oyèlálé Òṣuntókí for 3 May 1944, na the artist wey people know pass for the school . E attend im first Mbari Mbayo workshop under the Beiers for 1964 . E be dancer and musician before e become painter, and im work with pen, ink and paint on board tight well-well, full with lines, and carry spirits, ghost dem and hybrid creatures from Yoruba folktale, wey closely relate to Tutùọlá's material. Dem name am UNESCO Artist for Peace for 2005.
Nike Davies-Okundaye, wey dem born for 1951, na textile artist and adire designer and the person wey build institutions pass among Nigerian artists . She grow up for Òṣogbo, learn indigo dyeing and adire production outside formal school, and marry Twins Seven-Seven for one period . She don run free training centres for women for textile art for Òṣogbo, Ògìdì and other places, training thousands of people, and the Nike Art Gallery for Lagos na the biggest privately owned gallery for West Africa. Im importance dey for wetin she build for other people just as e dey for im own work.
Yinka Shonibare dem born am for 9 August 1962 for London to Nigerian parents, dem raise am for Lagos from when e dey three years old, and e come from Yoruba descent . E study for Goldsmiths and come out with the Young British Artists generation, appearing for Sensation for 1997 . Im main material na Dutch wax printed cotton, the fabric wey everyone dey see as African fabric but wey dem actually design for Netherlands to copy Indonesian batik and sell am enter West Africa, and wey e dey use specifically because the so-called original nature of the fabric na manufactured thing . Dem shortlist am for Turner Prize for 2004, e make Nelson's Ship in a Bottle for the Fourth Plinth for Trafalgar Square for 2010, and dem elect am as Royal Academician for 2013 . Dem appoint am MBE for 2004 and CBE for 2019 . E get transverse myelitis when e dey eighteen, wey cause partial paralysis, and e dey work conceptually with fabricators . E dey run the Guest Artists Space Foundation, wey get residencies for London and for Nigeria .
Toyin Ojih Odutola, wey dem born for 1985 for Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and raise for United States from childhood, dey work with ballpoint pen, pencil, charcoal and pastel on paper for large scale . Im subject na the surface of Black skin wey she show as landscape of marks, and im major projects don construct imaginary Nigerian aristocratic families as way to imagine Blackness wey oppression no define . She don do solo exhibitions for Whitney and Barbican.
Pẹ̀jú Alátiṣe, wey dem born for 1975, na artist, architect, poet and novelist and fellow of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art . Flying Girls, eight life-size girls with wings, show for Nigeria first national pavilion for Venice Biennale for 2017, and e take the inner life of one ten-year-old girl wey dey work as househelp for Lagos as im subject . She win the FNB Art Prize for 2017 . Im work dey draw directly from Yoruba cosmology, especially on top àbíkú and the way the spirit world take connect with childhood.
Plenty of the most prominent figures for Nigerian film and art no be Yoruba, and dem name dem here only make people no go mistake who dem be.
Genevieve Nnaji, the leading Nigerian screen actress of im generation and the director of Lionheart, na Igbo, from Imo State.
Ben Enwonwu (1917 to 1994), the pioneer Nigerian modernist sculptor and painter and the artist of Tutu, na Igbo, from Onitsha.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, the painter and MacArthur Fellow, na Igbo, from Enugu State, and na the daughter of Dora Akunyili.
Bruce Onobrakpeya, the printmaker, na Urhobo, from Delta State.
Victor Ehikhamenor, the artist and writer, na Edo, from Edo State.
All five of dem na major Nigerian artists. None of dem be Yoruba, and the way Nigerian and international writing dey always collapse "Nigerian" enter "Yoruba" na the reason this list dey here.
The earliest documented Yoruba theatrical form come out for the sixteenth century from the court of the Aláàfin of Ọ̀yọ́, developing out of Egúngún masquerade enter the itinerant professional troupe tradition wey dem know as Alárìnjó . Under imperial Ọ̀yọ́ for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Alárìnjó troupes operate as guild-based travelling companies under royal patronage, performing acrobatic, satirical, and mythological sketches across the empire . The nineteenth-century Yoruba civil wars disrupt court patronage networks, scattering performers across emerging military and trading centres where dem adapt to communal festivities and commercial street performance .
Christian missionary contact for late nineteenth and early twentieth century introduce church cantata and biblical morality play dem, wey come create hybrid sacred performance culture wey compete with indigenous spectacle . Under colonial rule, Hubert Ògúndé secularise dis church cantata format for 1945, establish di first modern professional theatre troupe and start di travelling theatre movement as business wey dey sell ticket and carry clear political message . Afta Nigeria get independence for 1960, artist dem like Dúró Ládipọ̀ draw direct from classical historical memory and òrìṣà liturgies for Mbari Mbayo club for Òṣogbo, and travel tour major international festival dem for Europe for 1964 and di 1970s . For di same period, hereditary woodcarving lineage dem adapt to modern gallery and academic framework through initiative dem like di Ọ̀yẹ́-Èkìtì Catholic workshop and university appointment dem .
By di late 1970s, travelling theatre company dem move enter celluloid film through work dem like Ọlá Balógun 1976 Àjàní Ògún . Di collapse of di naira and structural adjustment policy dem afta 1986 make celluloid production hard to maintain, wey force company dem to use low-cost VHS technology and start di video-film boom wey dem know as Nollywood . Today, Yoruba artistic expression dey happen across global cinematic streaming platform dem, transnational theatre revival dem, and international contemporary art circuit dem, as e dey connect practitioner dem across Nigeria and di Atlantic diaspora .
D. O. Fágúnwà and the Yoruba-language novel, Amos Tutùọlá, Níyì Òsúndáre, Fẹ́mi Òṣófisan, Akínwùnmí Ìṣọ̀lá, Adébáyọ̀ Fálétí, and the generation from Teju Cole to Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀.
The genres of Yoruba wood carving, from Ifá trays to palace doors to epa masks, the master carvers and family workshops who made them, and the reason so much of this work sits in museums without an artist's name attached.
Túndé King and the invention of jùjú, Ayìndé Bákàrè, I. K. Dàiró, Harúnà Iṣọ̀lá and àpàlà, Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Adé, and the fújì line from Ṣikirú Ayìndé Barrister to K1.
The career, dramaturgy, political censorship, and archival record of Chief Hubert Adedeji Ogunde, the founder of modern Nigerian commercial traveling theatre.
A comprehensive scholarly account of the life, dramaturgy, archival record, and historiographical debates surrounding the Nigerian playwright and folk opera pioneer Duro Ládipọ̀.
An analysis of the life, sculptural interventions, spiritual initiations, and scholarly controversies surrounding Susanne Wenger (Àdùnní Olórìṣà) in Osogbo.