Èdè Àyàn: The Language of Àyàn in Yorùbá Art and Ritual of Egúngún by Oláwọlé Fámúlẹ̀

“…This has continued to make it become virtually impossible for a deeper understanding of Yorùbá art in particular and African art as a whole. Ironically, the same scholars prefer to invest their energy, searching outside of the art’s cultural origin to fulfil their primary goal of “appreciating” the African art, rather than searching within African culture, language and values, the very driving forces that gave rise to this art, and thus a catalyst to understanding it.2 It is on that note that I believe the question that scholars of African art should begin to ask themselves is: when will African art scholarship––unlike Western art studies that often demand intellectual rigor and professional thoroughness––rise above its present art “appreciating” status vis-à-vis African art? …”
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