Gods After Our Own Likeness

As I sat in the crowd of about 50 at the Cr8 Gallery in Hackney, London, I remembered the words of the legendary Chinua Achebe- “….there is that great proverb; that until the lionlearns to speak, the history of hunting will glorify the hunter. Once I realised that, I had to become a writer. I had to be that historian.” Undoubtedly, it is this same sense of realisation that inspired James C. Lewis’ exhibition- TheOrisha Experience. Through his camera lens, heoffered us a rare glimpse of the Orishas in all their pomp and majesty, and more importantlyfrom an African perspective.

 

For a long time, the supposed authorities onissues regarding Africa were anything but African, and their uneducated views on our cultural traditions and practices were generally contemptuous. In the end, what became the established truth about us and our customs was not what was defined by us, but what has beendefined for us by others with little or no understanding of our cultural protocols. We accepted as truth the condescending appraisals of our traditional forms of worship by the early European missionaries. The same missionariesthat set up schools where African children weretaught to loathe local deities, yet storieseulogising Greco-Roman gods and goddessesformed part of the school curriculum. These days, you do not need missionaries to perpetuate the indoctrination. African parents will happily allow their children to watch Walt Disney movies like Hercules but will swiftly rebuke a child if he as much as mentions the name of a local deity. Any reference to African gods or goddesses still stirs up a feeling of contempt.

 

Hence, it is not surprising that throughout his formal education, from elementary through to college, James C. Lewis, an African American from Atlanta, Georgia, never came across any tales about African deities. But all this was about to change. Fuelled by curiosity, equipped with a camera and drawing inspiration from the well of his imagination, James showed us a whole new way to tell the African story. This spectacular portrayal of the Yoruba Orishas, never seen before, deservedly drew immense admiration from across the world- from Brazil to Portugaland all the way down to Australia. Something that started as a personal journey resonated with multitudes of people of African descent in a way James never would have imagined. In a captivating mix of colourful art and grandeur, the Orishas have been given a visual dimension.

 

For me, this exhibition was not just about a spiritual quest or the appeal to our aesthetic faculties. It is the deeper impact on our psychology as a race that excites me. That we can see a reflection of ourselves in these demigods is empowering. For a race that has been subjected to deliberate misrepresentationthroughout most of history, it is refreshing to be reminded that we have within us collectively and individually, the power and ability to rewrite our story and even dare to present our gods and goddesses in our own likeness.