Creating this comic is about more that highlighting traditional Yoruba narratives. It is an explorat

Creating this comic is about more that highlighting traditional Yoruba narratives. It is an exploration of African aesthetics, a blend of western and African artistic techniques. The textile and sculpture arts I use are not simple background, they are an ode to the artistic exuberance of of the Yoruba people and by extension all west african visual art forms. Too often these traditions are belittled as “craft” or “decorative” as opposed to “fine arts”. Their value only recognized when reinterpreted (often misinterpreted) through western contexts. Picasso and Matisse’s asinine obsession with a so called primitive spark ignores the the complex aesthetic and philosophical motivations behind African works of art, ignoring the need to look at it on its own terms. Coolness, spiritual agency, symbolism layered with metaphor within metaphor all are present in the hand and head of the weaver, aladire, carver and potter when they work. The same principles are present in a song, a poem, a proverb or a drumbeat. Whether uttered in Africa and the diaspora, they are imbued with aesthetic and philosophical principles that must be read on their own terms and seen through their own lens. I cannot truly explore the depths of black aesthetics without exploring the power of black arts. That is why it is so important that I make this comic the way that I am making it, To break the delusion of an aesthetic hierarchy that places european ideologies at the top. Support Itan comic today by visiting https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/itan-part-one-africa-art. -- source link

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