Eyin'juOdu

(By Chief Muraina Oyelami) Seven stars or Seven-Seven, seven seems to be magical. Even in Yoruba believe, seven is a special number. The grand-finale or shall I say the most important day of most of our traditional festivals has always being the seventh day. My colleague, Oseni was firstly to be known as Seven-Stars. He was an entertainer right from his youthful days. I knew him as a dancer and acrobat helping an Osogbo local medicine vendors known as Ore-Meji (two friends that owned the business) in the late part of 1963. In 1964, a Briton scholar Mr Michael Crowder who was a close friend of Ulli Beier was leaving Nigeria for Fourabay College in Sierra Leone and a dinner party was arranged in his honour at Mbari-Mbayo Artists and Writers Club Osogbo. The time came when the guest was to take the floor and dance, suddenly, without knowing that Twins was among the on-lookers. Twins started to dance and every one was ‘captured’ by his show. A show that was so original in ...

‘They Came With Brushes In One Hand And A Bag Of Knowledge In The Other’ ‘They Came With Brushes In One Hand And A Bag Of Knowledge In The Other’ SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2011 00:00 GABI DUIGU SUNDAY MAGAZINE - ARTS Chief Taiwo Olaniyi (aka Twins 77), the world renowned artist and UNESCO Ambassador for the Arts, who passed on at age 67 on Thursday after weeks of illness at the UCH Ibadan was one of the pioneers of the famous Osogbo Art Movement, having participated in the 1960s workshop that led to the emergence of the movement. In this narration excerpted from the book, Thirty Years of Osogbo Art (Iwalewa Haus, 1991), edited by the man who (with his wife, Georgina) inspired and coordinated the workshop, the German scholar and culture worker, Uli Beier (also late), Olaniyi explains how he came into the world of the art. The interview was based on an interview with Gabi Duigu in Sydney, 1984. THE first time I saw Ulli was towards September 1963. Then I was still working with the ...

Rufus Abiodun Orishayomi (1947-2010) London Artistes Send A Good Man, Quintessential Artman Home (As published in The Guardian of June 6, 2010) By Lookman Sanusi Arcola Theatre in Dalston area of London on May 23 witnessed a marathon session of rehearsals and production in honour of the departed African Theatre pioneer in the UK, Rufus Orisayomi — ‘Papi Ru’ as he was fondly called by his friends and protégés. Old and young artistes, who had had dealings with Papi Ru one way or the other, honoured an invitation from Femi Elufowoju Jr. They went through the session of rehearsals and performance tributes that lasted from 10 am through 7pm, when the curtain opened; leaving well past 10pm, when the show ended. At the demise of Orisayomi, Femi Elufowoju jr. the outgoing Artistic Director of Tiata Fahodzi and Associate Artist, Almeida Theatre, London, who has carved a niche for himself in Black British theatre in the UK, promised to put a show together in the manner of the famous ‘We ar...