Thursday, Aug. 17 was opening night for the latest exhibition at the Spelman Museum of Fine Art, “Master Narrative” by artist Harmonia Rosales. The collection presents a reimagination of traditional icon paintings, infusing them with the rich imagery of Yoruba/Ifa culture and religion. I am lucky to know that I can trace my ancestry back to Yorubaland and am a Ifa practitioner. Ifa is a faith system with roots in Yorubaland.
Having been introduced to the Yoruba Orisha religion and culture, through my grandfather John Eaton and my grandmother Reka Eaton, there is a comfort in praying through the same faith system as my ancestors.
The origins of this creative endeavor lie in Rosales’ desire to share her cultural heritage with her daughter. Recounting how she began painting the collection to introduce her five-year-old daughter to gods that resemble her, much like the familiar figures of Greek mythology. From this motive, her journey expanded, surprising even herself.
“I’ve surprisingly found myself. So as I taught her, I taught myself,” Rosales said.
Her upbringing in Lukumi, a colonized iteration of the Yoruba religion that originated in Cuba, forms a significant part of her narrative.
“I grew up with Lukumi. It’s more of the colonized version of the Yoruba religion. Even though I grew up with it, I took it for granted. I didn’t really dive deep into the stories I heard. There were no images to really reference,” Rosales explained.
Upon landing in Cuba, the original depictions of the Orisa (the Yoruba term for “Gods”) aligned more with the culture mix that the country was.
“There’s a lot of colorism in Cuba, and a lot of the gods are depicted as light skinned and mixed, and Oshun, the most beautiful God, is mixed with long, flowy hair. So I wanted to really depict Orisha (Gods) from where they originally originated from, which is Nigeria and that…
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