The Ekene Culture of Agbarha in the Niger Delta in Relation to the Art and Life of Bruce Onobrakpeya: A Hidden Artistic and Spiritual Beauty

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

The Ekene Culture of Agbarha in the Niger Delta in Relation to the Art and Life of Bruce Onobrakpeya: A Hidden Artistic and Spiritual Beauty

              

A painting by Urhobo artist Afuevo Onakufe.

The mesh of colour and dynamic lines recalls for me the ecological dynamism of the Ekene sacred groves.

            Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju 

                       Compcros 

                        Abstract 

A description of the creativity of the veneration of the Ekene water spirit of Agbarha in the Niger Delta, in relation to the art and life of Agbarha indigene, Bruce Onobrakpeya, and the challenges of belonging to and studying Ekene spirituality as a non- Agbarha indigene.

Ekene Beyond the Local to the Universal 

How do you explain to someone that he or she has something glorious they should share with the world? 

The spirituality of the Ekene water spirit 

and its associated arts in the Agbarha community, among the Urhobo of Nigeria's  Niger Delta,  is a phenomenon of global significance on account of the striking power of its synergy of art, theology and community. 

Ekene Theology and its Naturalistic Framework 

Like the Christian Trinity, Ekene theology is trinitarian, yet in a manner richer  than the Christian Trinity, the Ekene Trinity incorporates the natural universe known to humanity in terms of human biology and community and the ecological balance and interdependence  between humanity and nature.

Ekene theology integrates the feminine, the Mother,  absent in the Christian Trinity, in terms of Ekene the Father, Ekene the Mother and Ekene the Child as the triune unity of the Ekene water spirit.

Ekene theology also explicitly grounds its trinitarian essence  in nature through sacred groves identified with each of these expressions of Ekene.

Ekene trinitarian structure is also organized in terms of a relationship between divinity, nature and humanity.

The communal structure of the deity's veneration is organized in terms of three major shrine houses, one for Ekene the Father, one for Ekene the Mother and another for Ekene the Child. 

Thus, a divinity/nature/humanity structure is created, unifying humanity, nature  and the divine. 

From the Local to the Cosmic

 Ekene is a deity described as located in waters outside Agbarha but as  travelling to Agbarha during the major Ekene festival held every fifteen years.

Yet, beyond this localized understanding of Ekene, the deity is understood as a point of contact between his worshippers and the supreme creator of the universe, Oghene.

Ekene Architectural, Sculptural and Performative Arts 

Ekene theology provides the context for  powerful artistic formations.

The most obvious of this artistic creativity is the artistic identities of each of the shrine houses, identities both unique and general.

The general is represented by the unifying character of the central point of the shrine in each of the three shrine houses, an amazing assemblage of animal forms difficult to describe on account of the visual force of its complex harmony.

The unique element, distinctive to each shrine house, is demonstrated by the particular artistic structuring of each of them, such as  the elegantly layered plaster of Paris ceiling of the Ekene the Father shrine, its triple depths evoking Ekene Trinitarian theology and the elaborate exterior sculpture and interior wall inscriptions and glorious windows of the Ekene  the Child shrine.

Other demonstrations of Ekene arts are such  magnificent ritual instruments as paddles used in simulating paddling a canoe within a river, bringing gifts to worshippers from Ekene, accompanied by magnificent singing in universally emotionally impactful Urhobo.

Along with the singing and chanting in lyrically glorious Urhobo, piercing and potent even if one does not understand a word of the language, are  the sublime drumming, dancing and the majestic clothing of Ekene ritual activity.

Ekene Between Agbarha and Non-Agbarha Indigenes 

I have been privileged to have been welcomed by the priest and priestess of Ekene the Father and the priest of Ekene the Mother and other members of both shrine houses  but was not by the priestess of Ekene the Child, beceause, according to her, Ekene is for Agbarha people alone. 

How do I convince this dedicated woman that we share the same vision, the preservation of ancestral wisdom under siege from other cultural and religious modernities? 

How do I get her to accept that I am in love with Ekene spirituality, an aspect of water spirit identification to which I have been introduced by my unforgettably uplifting encounter with the spirit of the Ogba river in Benin City? 

Ekene Taboos and Hiddenness and Challenges of Participation in and Study of Ekene

Ekene spirituality generally forbids photography. 

No pictures may be taken of anything to do with Ekene, from sacred groves to shrines, on pain of a severe beating and even death at the hands of Ekene devotees. 

Ekene has been so enclosed that the only substantial  writing available anywhere on this spirituality has been my work since stumbling upon it last year, 2024, in Agbarha-Otor, the central community of the Agbarha community comprising about twenty six communities. 

I am not aware of a published discussion of any depth on Ekene nor of any oral but unpublished discourse of range, except one,  until that encounter I had with the Ekene community, leading to my essays on them on Facebook and other social media platforms and my book on them, freely accessible on my academia.edu account, a book I'll soon move to Amazon and which I intend to have translated into spoken Urhobo to better share with the Ekene devotees themselves. 

The book's title and online location are- Ekene Philosophy and Mysticism: Developing the Universal Significance of the Theology and Shrine Culture of Devotion to the Ekene Water Spirit of Agbarha in the Niger Delta

https://www.academia.edu/123474302/Ekene_Philosophy_and_Mysticism_Developing_the_Universal_Significance_of_the_Theology_and_Shrine_Culture_of_Devotion_to_the_Ekene_Water_Spirit_of_Agbarha_in_the_Niger_Delta)

Fears Around Ekene

My challenge- the taboos and wariness around Ekene.

Attendance at the annual artists retreat,  the Harmattan Workshop, organized by the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, led to my discovery of Ekene in my explorations outside the workshop premises during the duration of the workshop in February 2024.

Returning to Agbarha-Otor, where the workshop was held, to attend the mini Ekene festival in March 2024, on the invitation of friends in the Ekene the Father shrine, I faced a challenge and threats of violence from an Agbarha indigene hostile to my presence.

My management of my presence at the festival and sustained relationship with Ekene, generally approached cautiously by non-Ekene devotees of Agbarha may have also inspired concerns over my sensitivity to the volatile possibilities of Ekene taboos.

Clarifications need to be made   that I have become a member of the Ekene community through sharing their worship and being guided by them on how to continue it through the ritual chalk the priest gave me; through a pact I have made with the deity under the guidance of the priest of the Ekene the Father shrine; through a formal meeting I had with members of that shrine on how to protect their sacred grove from further encroachment and consequent reduction in size; through my inspiring a particular Agbarha indigene to initiate this effort of protecting that sacred grove and through friendships with Ekene members sustained even after I have returned to Lagos, growth further cultivating my awareness of the delicate character of Ekene strictures as well of the sublime possibilities of Ekene community as a deeply humanistic way of being,  dedicated to the divine while sustaining human community both in unity with devotees of the deity and those who identify with the community from other jurisdictions.

There is so much tension among Agbarha Christians and other watchers of Agbarha over what is described as the violent possibilities of Ekene culture, but my experience demonstrates both the existence of that devastating potential, as in the threats used in sustaining the anti- photography taboo, but also an overarching spirit of humane acceptance of even a person such as myself who understands practically no Urhobo, the language of Ekene devotion, and is not even Urhobo talk less being from Agbarha.

I need to demonstrate that research into the life and art of the great artist Bruce Onobrakpeya which took me to his home community of Agbarha necessarily involves research into the spiritual culture and associated arts of that community, the matrix of Onobrakpeya's artistic journey as one of the greatest projectors of African spiritual cultures in terms of their correlative visual and ideational synergies.

I need to prove that such explorations must be undertaken while navigating the challenges involved. 

Will I need to use my own resources alone in accessing the cultural wealth of Agbarha rather than taking advantage of the subsidized resources of the workshop?

The latter option  implies either spending money on hotel accomodation or renting living space in Agbarha-Otor.

These options remain compelling on account of the huge resources present in Agbarha in terms of art by Agbarha-Otor priest artists, the art of Bruce Onobrakpeya in his two galleries there and the wonders of the Ekene community.