My SOURCES 
' y love for the exotic 
ethnic art forms has 
been the reason for 
my seeking to ex 
press myself 
through the traditional 
art forms of the African peoples, especially 
those of my immediate environment in 
Nigeria: the Ibibio, Yoruba and Igbo traditions. 
seek to arrive at a universal language that still retains the 
essence of the ritual communication of the ancient symbols and 
signs while I use them to interpret my present reality. 
The art of pictographic writing known among 
the Ibibio people as Nsibidi holds much 
fascination and inspiration for me. 
Nsibidi was practised long before the white 
man came to the shores of Africa with his 
kind of writing. It was generally used as a 
The Ibibio people did not limit Nsibidi to 
secret cults alone, sometimes it was 
secularised to meet social and economic 
needs. It served as a form of label identification, 
public notices, declaration of-taboos, 
amorous messages, record keeping and decorations. 
influence is felt more because of its elitist 
and judicial functions in the clans. Its authority 
was used to knot the Ibibio clans together, 
Ekpe is personified as a wise old deity whose 
power and influence are all embracing hence 
the symbol of circle ( Q ) features most prominently 
as Nsibidi symbol in this society. 
Manila 1{J] is also used as symbol of wealth 
Victor Ekpuk Painter/Illustrator 
form of sacred communication among the 
male cult societies of the Efiks, Ibibios and 
Arochukwu peoples in south eastern part of 
Nigeria. This pictographic writing was devised 
to overcome the problem of communication 
among the different dialectical groups. 
Nsibidi was not only written, sometimes it 
was acted out and thus became a form of 
unspoken language with body movements. 
Among the numerous male cult societies that 
practised Nsibidi, the Ekpe society had an 
extensive use of Nsibidi symbols in the form 
of body painting, drawing on the sand, arrangements 
of objects and textile design, e.g. 
ukara cloth, a special batik print dyed with 
indigo with numerous signs and symbols. 
Ekpe society is not the highest and the most 
powerful of the societies in Ibibioland, but its 
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in the Ekpe cult, it is the 
'rarity' and closeness of the 
manila as an instrument of 
commerce that is beingtransposed 
on Ekpe. The 
zoomorphic symbols like 
that of a leopard 
thority with the society. 
Among the people of the 
forest areas east of the Niger, 
the leopard is regarded as 
the fiercest of the land animals 
hence it is much feared. 
The meaning of the symbols 
on the body of the Ekpe initiates 
as well as on the ukara 
cloth worn by the initiates 
are secretly guarded and 
taught only to the initiates, 
they are also used as code 
signs known only to the initiates. 
The information that 
I am giving in this essay is 
just a tip of the iceberg because 
ultimately most of the 
core meanings are concealed. 
Other male societies 
like the Ekpo, Ekong and 
Idiong also engage in the art 
of Nsibidi as instrument of 
sacred communication. Among the female societies the graphic 
symbols are not necessarily Nsibidi. Theirs are used as cosmetic 
decoration on their bodies as well on murals. Some of the symbols are 
dots [-£$],circles [S^],linearpatterns[ * ^ ^ ^ ^ S * " ~ 2 ^ ^ ^ ^ ] 
and triangular pattern 
My interest with drawing using the ethnic art 
form started way back at the University of 
Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), 
Ile-Ife, Nigeria. There I was made to appreciate 
first of all the rich artistic heritage I 
have as an African. I was made to see art 
through the eyes of the traditional African 
where all the world was seen as living and 
inspired by divinity. The rivers, trees and 
stones were believed to possess spirits. Hence 
the reverence and sacredness that was bestowed 
on nature and the art that could help 
communicate with it. With this attitude to 
life, it is no wonder the art of writing was not 
done for its own sake but for the specific 
purpose for which it was meant; to serve 
mostly divinity. This also probably explains 
why Nsibidi could not be secularised to a 
greater extent. 
At Ife, part of the curriculum of the Fine Art department was for the 
student to extract the most he could from the traditional and blend 
them with whatever form of contemporary experience he has. So 
fWfp vrrrm rnrw 
Above: Scape guat, mixed media, 1995 
Below: Now we see eye to eye, mixed media, 1995 
having gone through the experimental 
classes of Moyo 
Okediji and Prof. Babatunde 
Lawal, the pottery classes of 
Dr. Ibigbami, as well as the 
drawing classes of Agbo 
Eolarin and having read 
about and seen drawings of 
Uche Okeke and Prof. Obiora 
Udechukwu, I was much 
more equipped to start making 
compositions based on 
traditional symbols, motifs 
and colours. The results became 
an amalgam of various 
ethnic influences. To a 
greater extent my art is a 
synthesis of these graphic elements 
of the traditional art 
of body painting, textile design 
and sculptural forms 
which I call visual poetry. 
This art form is neither a 
copy of Ife-Osogbo shrine 
paintings, a copy of Nsibidi 
symbols nor that of Ulli not 
even a copy of the Egyptian 
heirogliphs. I seek to arrive 
at a universal language that 
still retains the essence of the 
ritual communication of the 
ancient symbols and signs 
while I use them to interpret my present reality. 
Through my experiments I have been able to arrive at some personal 
symbols like: fish bones [ -£ffifc] to mean decay, sun [ 'jjfc :<£-] to 
mean life and hope, house [^n^] to mean 
state of consciousness, the moon [^5)j] to 
mean night, moon with sun [ "jjjj ] to mean 
eclipse. 
The paintings and drawings at Windsongs. 
my recent solo exhibition, show a lot of 
these elements. I hope to keep forging ahead 
with this idiom to become more aware of 
the possible potentials of this art form. I see 
this as my own way of keeping the idea of 
the ancient sacred art alive. My forms and 
colours are simplified, sometimes not necessarily 
to appeal to a wider audience, but 
rather because that is how I wish to express 
myself. We are all at different levels of 
consciousness and this affects our attitude 
to our environment, this goes to show why 
I cannot please everybody with my art, and 
why I do not even try. I prefer to stay 
focused and express myself the way I wish 
to at any particular point in time. The idea of bending to mass appeal 
could be dangerous to those artists who wish expand their creative 
horizon. Ultimately, I believe artists like other people have their 
drive in life: Money or truth. 
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