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Ways of the Rivers: Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta
African Arts, Autumn, 2003 by Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie
This history of conflict subsists in the environmental devastation caused by oil exploitation and Delta peoples" fight against faceless European and American oil corporations. The demand for equal access to oil wealth by local communities and the harsh repression and murder of many indigenous activists by the Nigerian government protecting the oil companies have made the region notorious. (6) This struggle for equitable treatment has not been going well for Niger Delta peoples in recent times, although it may account for the emergence of a warrior ethos. In fact, Martha Anderson suggests (arguing about a specific ethnic group) that the warrior ethos "provides a model for Ijo art and ritual, as well as an ideological basis for warfare and other forms of cultural aggression." This idea is typified by the ceremonial war canoes floated every year to celebrate the memory of valiant ancestors (pp. 91-119).
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The idea of celebration typified by the regatta spectacle recurred in the exhibition, which asserted that it is important to celebrate the life and cultures of the Niger Delta peoples despite the adversities they confront. To this end, "Ways of the Rivers" provided a large number of images to illustrate daily life. The various media (sculpture, photography, video) in which they were presented provided the visitor with a lot of information on different ceremonies. These images also captured the generic poverty of these communities despite their location in one of the most resource-rich areas on the planet.
This obvious destitution may be the reason why the exhibition catalogue emphasizes how the history of Niger Delta communities since the mid-twentieth century has been tied to oil exploitation and environmental degradation. Thus the celebratory tone of several texts in the catalogue is counterbalanced by analyses of the conflicts engendered by oil companies' activities, even though the authors chose not to focus on a narrative of victimhood. Nevertheless, these populations are clearly victims of local and foreign oppression. Thus the pristine photographs of isolated museum objects represented in the exhibition strike a discordant note with the barely concealed destitution of the populace attending various pageants as shown in the above-mentioned documentary videos.
The curators commendably tied questions of cultural practice to questions of environmental degradation in their choice of artworks and narratives. There was also an unspoken acknowledgment that the arts and cultural activities of the sort on display serve as coping mechanisms for local populations in their struggle with the environmental and health hazards engendered by the exploitation of petro-chemical resources.
I agree with the curators that one should celebrate the spirit of Niger Delta populations in the face of adversity. However, at a time when African issues have been deemed irrelevant in the international context and its continued exploitation validated as a normal state of affairs, it is necessary to review the politics of representing African cultures. One could assert that there is a crisis of representation in the discourse on African art relating to our objects of study. Despite analysis of social histories and contexts of practice, this discourse is slipping into a redundant formalism in which celebrations of the "art and cultural spirit" of African populations displace urgent concerns about postcolonial emancipation in the postindependence era.
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