Bruce Onobrakpeya: Envisaging the Concept of Akpo in Urhobo Mythology in Visual Form

Abstract

In Urhobo mythology, the word ‘Akpo’ is a prefix denoting different aspects of the Urhobo people’s lives. In their long history of survival, the Urhobo have developed some thought forms, beliefs, religious concepts, rich folklores and images that reflect and reinforce various aspects of their culture. Bruce Onobrakpeya, a distinguished Nigerian artist, printmaker, painter and art historian, has successfully synthesised the vitality of Urhobo traditional thought forms with the convention and style of modernity in a medium that speaks of the past and present to the future of the sociocultural and religious life of the Urhobo. The Urhobo concept of ‘Akpo’ and Bruce Onobrakpeya’s artistry have both attracted scholarly attention, but not the encapsulation of the former in the art medium. Therefore, this study examines the Urhobo philosophy on Akpo, its conceptualisation and by extension in two-dimensional format (prints) by Bruce Onobrakpeya and the artist’s own original rendition of the vitality of Urhobo mythology on Akpo. Bruce, in trying to explain the term, has used different works to express this concept. This is with a view to interpreting and foregrounding the nature and religious significance of the Akpo myth. The study adopted Umberto Eco’s semiotic theory, which claims that pictures possess signs and statements signifying cultural and religious values. Bruce Onobrakpeya, in synthesising and extending the Urhobo traditional mythology on Akpo in his artworks, has created an interface between the Urhobo people and their belief system. Thus his works document and integrate the Urhobo concept of Akpo in contemporary visual arts.