International Festival of Vodun Arts and Cultures

Last updated April 09, 2019

The International Festival of Vodun Arts and Cultures, also known as the Ouidah Festival, was first held in Ouidah, Benin in February 1993, sponsored by UNESCO and the government of Benin. It celebrated the transatlantic Vodun religion, and was attended by priest and priestesses from Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil and the United States, as well as by government officials and tourists from Europe and the Americas.^[1] The festival was sponsored by the newly elected president of Benin, Nicéphore Soglo, who wanted to rebuild the connection with the Americas and celebrate the restoration of freedom of religion with the return to democracy.^[2] Artists from Benin, Haiti, Brazil and Cuba were given commissions to make sculptures and paintings related to Vodun and its variants in Africa and the African diaspora.^[1]

Ouidah or Whydah, formerly the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on the coast of the Republic of Benin. The commune covers an area of 364 km² (141 sq mi) and as of 2002 had a population of 76,555 people.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) based in Paris. Its declared purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter. It is the successor of the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.

Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti and formerly called Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola, east of Cuba in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) in size and has an estimated 10.8 million people, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the second-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole.

The festival was mainly commercial in nature, aiming to attract tourists and gain attention from the international art market. However, Vodun art can still be efficacious when produced for sale, and the Vodun spirits were propitiated at the start of the festival.^[3] The festival acknowledged the role of the Beninese in the slave trade, and was meant to serve a healing role and a welcoming home of the people of the African diaspora. It also tried counter the view of the Yoruba people and Yoruba religion as the main cultural origin of the diaspora, and affirm the central role of the Fon people and Vodun religion.^[4] Some of the art commissioned for the festival is displayed at sites in the city, including work by the Benin artists Cyprien Tokoudagba, Calixte Dakpogan, Theodore Dakpogan, Simonet Biokou, Dominique Kouas, and Yves Apollinaire Pede, and work of the African Diaspora artists Edouard Duval-Carrié (Haiti), José Claudio (Brazil) and Manuel Mendive (Cuba).^[3]

Vodun art is associated with the West African Vodun religion of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. The term is sometimes used more generally for art associated with related religions of West and Central Africa and of the African diaspora in Brazil, the Caribbean and the United States. Art forms include bocio, carved wooden statues that represent supernatural beings and may be activated through various ritual steps, and Asen, metal objects that attract spirits of the dead or other spirits and give them a temporary resting place. Vodun is assimilative, and has absorbed concepts and images from other parts of Africa, India, Europe and the Americas. Chromolithographs representing Indian deities have become identified with traditional Vodun deities and used as the basis for murals in Vodun temples. The Ouidah '92 festival, held in Benin in 1993, celebrated the removal of restrictions on Vodun in that country and began a revival of Vodun art.

Yoruba people ethnic group of West Africa

The Yorùbá people are an African ethnic group that inhabits western Africa. The Yoruba constitute about 44 million people in total. Majority of this population is from Nigeria, where the Yorùbá make up 21% of the country's population, according to the CIA World Factbook, making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. Most Yoruba people speak the Yoruba language, which is tonal, and is the language with the largest number of native speakers.

The Yoruba religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland. It is similar to the Vodun practiced by the neighboring Fon and Ewe people to the west and to the religion of the Edo people to the east. Yoruba religion is the basis for a number of religions in the New World, notably Santería, Umbanda, Trinidad Orisha and Candomblé. Yoruba religious beliefs are part of Itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories, and other cultural concepts which make up the Yoruba society.

Related Research Articles

West African Vodun term for the West African Vodun and the closely related religions of the African Diaspora

Vodun is practiced by the Fon people of Benin, and southern and central Togo; as well in Ghana, and Nigeria.

Ogun or Ogoun is an Orisha, Loa, and Vodun. He is a warrior and a powerful spirit of metal work, as well as of rum and rum-making. He is also known as the 'god of Iron'.

Ife is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. The city is located in present day Osun State. Ife is about 218 kilometers northeast of Lagos with a population of 509,813. According to the Yoruba religion Ife was founded by the order of the Supreme God Olodumare to Obatala and then fell into the hands of his brother Oduduwa, which created turmoil between the two. Oduduwa created his own dynasty through his sons and daughters that became different rulers of many kingdoms. The first Oòni of Ife is a descendant of Oduduwa, which was the 401st Orisha. The present ruler since 2015 is Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife who is also a Nigerian accountant. Named as the city of 401 deities Ife is home to many worshipers of these deities which also are celebrated through festivals. Along with the culture of Ife, their beliefs extend along the concept of the Ase, which help make art of the Kings and Gods. Ilé-Ifè is famous worldwide for its ancient and naturalistic bronze, stone and terracotta sculptures, dating back to between 1200 and 1400 A.D.

Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religious tradition, practiced mainly in Brazil by the povo de santo. Candomblé originated in Salvador, Bahia at the beginning of the 19th century, when the first temple was founded. Candomblé is practiced primarily in Brazil, and is also practiced in other Latin American countries, including Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela, having as many as two million followers.

Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger, alias Fatumbi or Fátúmbí was a photographer, self-taught ethnographer, and babalawo who devoted most of his life to the study of the African diaspora — the slave trade, the African-based religions of the new world, and the resulting cultural and economical flows from and to Africa.

Haitian Vodou is a syncretic religion practiced chiefly in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Practitioners are called "vodouists" or "servants of the spirits".

Edouard Duval-Carrié is a Haitian-born American painter and sculptor.

Calixte Dakpogan is a Beninese sculptor known for his installations as well as his masks made out of diverse and original found materials. A native of Pahou, he currently lives and works in Porto Novo. Much of his work is inspired by his Voudon heritage.

The Yoruba Academy is a multi-disciplinary institution that brings together scholars, politicians, businessemen and experts in Yoruba language, culture, economics, law, science and technology, and governance. It was founded in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria in October 2007 following a retreat of young Yoruba professionals, and it is currently operated by the Afenifere Renewal Group. Its main mission is to ensure the preservation of the Yoruba language, as well as the socio-cultural and economic development of the Yoruba peoples worldwide, that is both in its South-West homeland in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Benin, with 48.5% of the nation's total population being members of various Christian denominations. Consequently, it plays an important role in shaping the country's social and cultural life.

Francisco Félix de Souza was a Brazilian born to Portuguese colonists and a slave trader who was deeply influential in the regional politics of pre-colonial West Africa. He founded Afro-Brazilian communities in areas that are now part of those countries, and went on to become the "chachá" of Ouidah, a title that conferred no official powers but commanded local respect in the Kingdom of Dahomey, where, after being jailed by King Adandonzan of Dahomey, he helped Ghezo ascend the throne in a coup d'etat. He became chacha to the new king, a curious phrase that has been explained as originating from his saying "ja ja", a Portuguese phrase meaning something will be done right away.

Manuel Mendive is one of the leading Afro-Cuban artists to emerge from the revolutionary period, and is considered by many to be the most important Cuban artist living today.

Akan religion comprises the traditional beliefs and religious practices of the Akan people of Ghana and eastern Ivory Coast. Akan religion is referred to as Akom. Although most Akan people have identified as Christians since the early 20th century, Akan religion remains practiced by some, and is often syncretized with Christianity. The Akan have many subgroups, so the religion varies greatly by region and subgroup.

Cyprien Tokoudagba was a sculptor from Abomey, Benin.

Julien Sinzogan is a contemporary Benin painter and graphic artist whose work actively engages the impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on his native Benin, one of the largest slave-trading posts of West Africa. He currently lives and works in Paris, France. He has exhibited widely throughout Europe and Africa. Sinzogan's education began studying architecture at the Art School of Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 1978-79. He studied architecture in Paris at the École Spéciale des Travaux Public, Paris, France till 1982. A year later, Sinzogan studied at Laboratoire International de Calcul et d’Informatique Appliquée (L.I.C.I.A.), Paris, France, where he ran the department of computer images before turning to painting professionally. Now as a professional artist Sinzogan's techniques and references move from areas of monochrome pen and ink into glimpses of full-color scenes.

Dominique Kouas is a Béninois Vodou artist. His work is strongly influenced by traditional anonymous African artists from previous centuries. He is noted for his large metal-based works, which are on display in the International Festival of Vodun Arts and Cultures in Ouidah, but operates a studio in Porto Novo. Among his notable works is a sculpture of a "three-headed, three-footed, three-armed Mami Wata". Another is one which "depicts several faces bearing Fon and Yoruba scarification marks indicating their ethnic membership". The October Gallery in London is also in possession of his art.

Yves Apollinaire Pede is a Beninois Vodou artist. After being commissioned to reproduce reliefs for the Abomey Museum, he made sand paintings of well-known personalities such as Nelson Mandela. He gradually became oriented towards textile art, looking to Haitian and Cuban Vodou artists for inspiration. He is also noted for his large cement sculptures and bas-reliefs, and is stated to have a "special interest" in Kulito, a Fon word which literally means "the one from the path of death". He is based in Ouidah, the world centre for Vodun art, which has an annual festival.

References

Sources

Rahier, Jean Muteba; Hintzen, Percy C.; Smith, Felipe (2010). Global Circuits of Blackness: Interrogating the African Diaspora. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07753-1.
Rush, Dana (Winter 2001). "Contemporary Vodun Arts of Ouidah, Benin". African Arts. UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center. 34 (4). JSTOR 3337805.

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[FOOTNOTERush200132-1] 1 2 Rush 2001, p. 32.

[FOOTNOTERahierHintzenSmith2010183-2] Rahier, Hintzen & Smith 2010, p. 183.

[FOOTNOTERush200133-3] 1 2 Rush 2001, p. 33.

[FOOTNOTERahierHintzenSmith2010184-4] Rahier, Hintzen & Smith 2010, p. 184.