An Artist and the Cross of the Matter

With her recently held solo exhibition in Lagos, which is a sequel to a previous one held three years earlier in Benin City, Princess Theresa Iyase-Odozi directs her audience’s attention to the much-glossed-over value of the Benin iconography. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

As a travelling exhibition, Uhunmwen Vbe Ehinmwen (which translates in English as Master of the Circled Cross in the Benin Kingdom) only lived up to its billing late last year when, from November 10 to 17, it was eventually held at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos. Blame it on the COVID-19 pandemic’s obtrusion if the three-year hiatus between its debut in Benin, the capital city of Edo State, and the Lagos sequel seemed too long.

Nonetheless, the precepts of the historical-themed exhibition, whose main themes revolved around the Benin Kingdom’s iconography, trail the viewer into the new year with their urgent message for these dire times. The artist, Princess Theresa Iyase-Odozi, who—thanks to her recent doctoral studies—has developed a predilection for research, dredged up timeless nuggets that have outlived the week-long exhibition. Hence, everything about the solo exhibition proclaims it as the fallout of her research into her rich Edo cultural heritage. 

Its inauguration event at the National Museum, which included a book presentation, was attended by dignitaries like Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC founder Atedo Peterside, renowned art collector Omooba Yemisi Shyllon, and chartered accountant and former Stanbic IBTC Holding board member Sam Unuigbe, as well as other art enthusiasts and members of the art community. 

Supported by a 15-man project team, the artist had planned to feature 45 mixed-media works of different sizes, an installation of a contemporary Benin royal altar, and Edo batik textile designs in different forms. But the museum’s exhibition space could not accommodate all 45 proposed mixed-media works. 

Even so, the exhibition’s success hinged more on its contemporary relevance than on the artist’s industry. Not to be glossed over was its appropriation of such antiquated iconographic symbols as textile designs, which gave the Lagos edition the moniker “Edo Batik.” This is, of course, ancillary to its focus on the equal-armed cross.

Speaking of the equal-armed cross, Iyase-Odozi had, in the course of her research, stumbled upon the fact that Ewua officials of the ancient Benin Kingdom, whose responsibilities included waking up Oba Esigie at dawn with rites honouring his dynasty’s spiritual legacies, used to wear pendants with crosses of four equal arms low on their chests. The Ewua officials, whose office was established by Oba Esigie, were believed to wake him up every morning with sounds resembling a cock’s crow. 

This discovery about the cross is even more astounding because this symbol (a cross with equal arms in a circle) predates the Portuguese and the British as well as the advent of Christianity. This is especially noteworthy given how similar it is to the Portuguese Order of Christ’s Cross. 

Of course, Oba Esigie, who was thought to cherish the Cross during his reign, may or may not have comprehended its importance. He was reported to have started a fundamental reformation of a long-standing Benin tradition by abolishing the practice of executing the king’s mother and naming his mother as the first Iyoba (king’s mother).

Crosses, a frequent design element, are often seen on many ivory and metal artworks from the ancient Benin Kingdom. As a symbol that was revealed to many ancient peoples as that of Divine Truth, the cross actually predates the beginning of Christianity itself or even Christ’s sojourn on earth. This Symbol, which is synonymous with what it represents, was widely associated with monarchs in numerous ancient civilisations as a means of handing them the right to rule over others. This was before mankind lost connection with the Light, the Source of all that exists. Hence, it is understandable that its significance has been subject to several interpretations, one of which was by Joseph Nevadomsky, an American anthropologist. Nevamdosky believed that the cross represented “a Bini cosmological symbol for the mystical juncture between the world of the living and the ancestral realm” and “a point of convergence for very powerful forces.” 

Nevadomsky also mentioned Olokun worship, where “the icon igha-ede (that which divides the day), made by painting or sifting of a chalk image of a cross on the ground, symbolises the place from which an individual crosses over and communicates with the spirit world,” and speculated that it could have been combined “with the Christian symbolism of the cross to form a truly profound and multi-layered icon.” 

Of course, the cross is one of the many motifs appropriated by the University of Lagos-trained artist for their aesthetic values. Still, there is no doubt that the artist places a special emphasis on this, as the exhibition’s title corroborates. Thus, she hopes not only to dredge up hitherto little-known facts about the history of Benin but also to induce the viewer to reflect on the purpose of his earthly existence.

Iyase-Odozi, who founded the GreenHouse Empowerment Centre in the Ogun State-based satellite community of Lambe, is a well-known figure in the art scene. She has so far participated in several group exhibitions besides holding a few solo exhibitions.