Tapping into the Known Christopher & Obiageli Okigbo (review)

T AP P I N G I N T O T H E K N O W N CHRISTOPHER & OBIAGELI OKIGBO The Brunei Gallery April 12 - June 23, 2007 As I was preparing t hi s art icle, I remembered t he ni ght in March 2007 when I experienced a prof ound f eel ing of being compel l ed t o writ e dow n my t hought s and my emot i ons on t hi s process t hat I had unconsci ousl y t aken on and a di st i nct sense of being gui d ed .The words t umbl ed f rom my mind and ont o t he page wit h what seemed like abandon, but once I read t hem, t hey were compl et el y clear. This experience was one of many t hat occurred on t he "voyage, " resul t i ng in what was a powerf ul j our ney for me and all who were i nvol ved in t hi s proj ect , but none more so t han for t he enigma who i s t he lat e Ni ger i an-bor n poet Christ opher Oki gbo, considered t o be one of Af rica's most i nf l uent i al writ ers , and his art ist daught er, Obiagel i Oki gbo. Tapping int o t he Known, an exhi bi t i on of poet ry, pai nt i ngs, and i nst al l at i ons by t he lat e poet and his art ist daught er Obi, emerged as a result of "conver sat i ons" bet ween Obi and her fat her. Christ opher Oki gbo, widely recogni zed as one of Af rica's preeminent and most eni gmat i c poet s, died in t he bat t lef ields of t he Nigerian ci vi l war in Sept ember 1967, l eavi ng hi s wif e Judi t h Sef i At t ah and t wo-year old daught er, Obiagel i. He left poet ic mast erpieces, i ncl udi ng Heavensgat e ( 1962) and Labyrint hs wit h Pat h of Thunder ( 1971) —e x ac t i ng, bur ni ng, and t r ut hf ul works f rom b egi nni ng t o end. Pr ophet i c and visionary, his words were f irst heard by his equals, Chinua Achebe, J. P. Clark, and Wole Soyi nka amongst ot her s. He once described what his poet ic vocat i on meant t o hi m: "There w asn't a st age when I deci ded t hat I def init ely wished t o be a poet ; t here was a st age when I f ound t hat I coul dn't be anyt hi ng else. And I t hi nk t hat t he t ur ni ng poi nt came in December 1958, when I knew t hat I coul dn't be anyt hi ng else t han a poet . It 's j ust like somebody who receives a Forcast . Collage; phot ograph, texts, oil on canvas, 55 cm x 73 cm.© Obi Okigbo and The Christ opher Okigbo Foundat ion. call in t he middle of t he ni ght t o reli- art circles, exhi bi t i ng in gi ous service, in order t o become a priest in a part icular cult , and I di dn't have any choice in t he mat t er. I j ust had t o ob ey. "1 An out st andi ng personalit y, Oki gbo encour aged one not t o be conf i ned by cult ural, pol it ical , art ist ic, creat ive, and humane l imit s. Ironical l y, despit e his st andi ng among his peers and Af rican int el l ect ual s and art ist s as a f oundi ng f igure in t he devel opment of modern lit erat ure in Af rica, t...