Bakare Gbadamosi (born 1930) is a Yoruba poet, anthropologist and short story writer from Nigeria. [1]
Born in Osogbo, Hammed Gbadamosi wrote his own Yoruba poetry and short stories in the early 1960s. However, he is best known for collecting and translating Yoruba folk tales and traditional poetry in collaboration with Ulli Beier. Much of Gbadamosi's work was published by Mbari, a club founded by Beier in Ibadan. [1] In the late 1960s Gbadamosi was working as an ethnographer for the Nigerian Museum in Lagos, having previously worked "as a letter writer, stage magician and actor". [2] He participated in Duro Ladipo's theatre group in Osogbo. [3] According to one source, Gbadamosi later became known as Demola Onibonokuta. [4]
Osogbo is a town in Nigeria. It became the capital city of Osun State in 1991. Osogbo city seats the Headquarters of both Osogbo Local Government Area and Olorunda Local Government Area. It is some 88 kilometers by road northeast of Ibadan. It is also 108 kilometres (67 mi) by road south of Ilorin and 108 kilometres (67 mi) northwest of Akure. Osogbo shares boundaries with Ikirun, Ilesa, Ede, Egbedore, Ogbomosho and Iragbiji and it is easily accessible from any part of the state because of its central nature. It is about 48 km from Ife, 32 km from Ilesa, 46 km from Iwo, 48 km from Ikire and 46 km from Ila-Orangun; The city had a population of about 500,000 people and an approximate land area of 2875 km2 the postal code of the area is 230.
Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the 20th century.
Nigerian literature may be roughly defined as the literary writing by citizens of the nation of Nigeria for Nigerian readers, addressing Nigerian issues. This encompasses writers in a number of languages, including not only English but Igbo, Urhobo, Yoruba, and in the northern part of the county Hausa and Nupe. More broadly, it includes British Nigerians, Nigerian Americans and other members of the African diaspora.
Osun State, occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun State and to the west by Oyo State. Named for the River Osun—a vital river which flows through the state—the state was formed from the southeast of Oyo State on 27 August 1991 and has its capital as the city of Osogbo.
Durodola Durosomo Duroorike Timothy Adisa Ladipo, more commonly known as Duro Ladipo, was one of the best known and critically acclaimed Yoruba dramatists who emerged from postcolonial Africa. Writing solely in the Yoruba language, he captivated the symbolic spirit of Yoruba mythologies in his plays, which were later adapted to other media such as photography, television and cinema. His most famous play, Ọba kò so, a dramatization of the traditional Yoruba story of how Ṣango became the Orisha of Thunder, received international acclaim at the first Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1965 and on a Europe an tour, where a Berlin critic, Ulli Beier, compared Ladipọ to Karajan. Ladipo usually acted in his own plays.
Ọlátúbọ̀sún Oládàpọ̀, also known as Túbọ́sún Ọládàpọ̀, or Odídẹrẹ́ Ayékòótọ́, is a Yoruba-language folk poet, playwright, music producer, radio personality/broadcaster, writer, and researcher from Nigeria whose audience speak Yorùbá and reside chiefly in South-West Nigeria.
Chief Horst Ulrich Beier, commonly known as Ulli Beier, was a German editor, writer and scholar who had a pioneering role in developing literature, drama and poetry in Nigeria, as well as literature, drama and poetry in Papua New Guinea.
Ọba kò so is a play by Duro Ladipo depicting the mystical and ambivalent personality known as Shango of Yoruba mythology.
Tanure Ojaide is a Nigerian poet and academic. As a writer, he is noted for his unique stylistic vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, and other issues. He is regarded as a socio-political and an ecocentric poet. He won the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa with his collection Songs of Myself: A Quartet (2017).
Twins Seven Seven, born Omoba Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyelale Osuntoki was a Nigerian painter, sculptor and musician. He was an itinerant singer and dancer before he began his career as an artist, first attending in 1964 an Mbari Mbayo workshop conducted by Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier in Osogbo. Twins Seven Seven went on to become one of the best known artists of the Osogbo School.
Chief Jimoh Buraimoh is a Nigerian painter and artist. Chief Buraimoh is one of the most influential artists to emerge from the 1960s workshops conducted by Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. Since then, he has become one of the best known artists from Osogbo.
Inisa is a city in Osun State in the south-western Nigeria. It is in the Yoruba cultural and ethnic region of the country, and is a trading center for cocoa and other agricultural products grown in the surrounding area. Its population as of 2007 was 180,553. Inisa had been from time immemorial, a warrior community. She was deeply involved in the struggle for the survival of Yoruba race during the period of internecine wars and particularly, during the onslaught and incursions of the Fulani into Yorubaland in the 19th Century. Inisa people participated actively in the series of the wars. They fought in the Osogbo war of 1840, the Jalumi War of 1878, the Ofa war (1886-1890) and the Daparu war. The Ofa war resulted from the desire of Ilorin-fulani to avenge their defeat at the Jalumi on Ofa and the neighboring towns. The war was fought during the reign of Oba Oloyede Ojo, Otepola 1. They laid siege on Ofa for several years before Ofa was eventually sacked around 1890. The Daparu war resulted from the sack and fall of Ofa. The Fulani now desired to sack all the towns and villages between Ofa and Osogbo and bring them under the rule of the Fulani of Ilorin. They continued to attack, raid, and wage wars against the people. Only Inisa was courageous enough to face the Fulani forces, as the other towns and villages were deserted, seeking refuge at the Ibadan war camp in Ikirun.
Elijah Kolawole Ogunmola was a Nigerian dramatist, actor, mime, director, and playwright. Ogunmola is also regarded as one of the most brilliant actors in Africa in the 1950s and ’60s.
Susanne Wenger MFR, also known as Adunni Olorisha, was an Austrian-Nigerian artist and Yoruba priestess who expatriated to Nigeria. Her main focus was the Yoruba culture and she was successful in building an artist cooperative in Osogbo. She partnered with local artists in Osogbo to redevelop and redecorate the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove with sculptures and carvings depicting the various activities of the Orishas.
Lere Paimo, is a Nigerian film actor, film maker, producer and director.
Black Orpheus was a Nigeria-based literary journal founded in 1957 by German expatriate editor and scholar Ulli Beier that has been described as "a powerful catalyst for artistic awakening throughout West Africa". Its name derived from a 1948 essay by Jean-Paul Sartre, "Orphée Noir", published as a preface to Anthologie de la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache, edited by Léopold Sédar Senghor. Beier wrote in an editorial statement in the inaugural volume that "it is still possible for a Nigerian child to leave a secondary school with a thorough knowledge of English literature, but without even having heard of Léopold Sédar Senghor or Aimé Césaire", so Black Orpheus became a platform for Francophone as well as Anglophone writers.
The Mbari Club was a centre for cultural activity by African writers, artists and musicians that was founded in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1961 by Ulli Beier, with the involvement of a group of young writers including Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. Mbari, an Igbo concept related to "creation", was suggested as the name by Achebe. Among other Mbari members were Christopher Okigbo, J. P. Clark and South African writer Ezekiel Mphahlele, Frances Ademola, Demas Nwoko, Mabel Segun, Uche Okeke, Arthur Nortje and Bruce Onobrakpeya.
Western Nigeria Television also known as WNTV was the first television service station launched in Nigeria. The station played a significant role in beaming taped Yoruba traveling theatre productions to households.
Abiodun Duro-Ladipo is a Nigerian actress and singer of noble Yoruba birth. In 1963, she joined the theatre company of Duro Ladipo, whom she married the following year. Acting in her husband's epic plays, she was particularly successful in the role of Oya in Oba Koso and in the title role of Moremi. In the 1960s and early 1970s, she appeared across Europe at several international festivals. Since her husband's death in 1978, Abiodun has appeared in Nigerian television series and in films promoting African culture, once again playing Moremi in the 2009 film of the same name.
Chief Muraina Oyelami is a Nigerian painter and drummer of Yoruba descent. He was among the first generation of artists to come out of the Osogbo School of Art in the 1960s. He was a drummer and actor with the theatre company of Duro Ladipo. He taught traditional music and dance at Obafemi Awolowo University from 1976 to 1987. As a musician, he trained in the dùndún and the Batá drum. He was the chief of his hometown Iragbiji.