1986 a Gibbs' Gibberish', Research in African 
Literatures 17/1 (Texas), pp.48-52 
1986 b Gibbs Just Won't Give up!' Research in African 
Literature 17/2 (Texas), pp.322-23 
1989 Cries of Freedom', Times Higher Education 
Supplement 17 (London), P.13 (Without mentioning 
Soyinka by name, Chinweizu uses the 1986 Nobel 
Prize on argue that European values are being 
imposed on African literature. This article provoked 
letters by Gibbs and A. N. Other in the same 
publication, 24 February) 
Gibbs, James 
1986 a "Larsony' with a Difference: And Examination 
of a Paragraph from Toward the Decolonization of 
Africa Literature', Research in Africa Literature 17/1 
(Texas), pp.39-47 
1986 b Letter', Research in African Literatures 17/2 
(Texas), pp.318-22 
Ikideh, Ime 
1972 'Foreword' in Homecoming, Ngugi, 1972 
Lindfors, Bernth 
1975 A Bibliography of Literary Contributions to 
Nigeria Periodicals: 1946-1972 (Ibadan: Ibadan 
University Press, 1975) 
Ngugi wa Thiong'o 
1967 Interviewed by Fellow Students at Leeds', 
Cultural Events in Africa 31 (London), p.2 
1972 Homecoming: Essays on African and Caribbean 
Literature, Cultural and Politics (London: Heinemann, 
1972) 
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Salkey, Andrew 
1975 Letter1, Okike 9 (Amherst), p.132 
Stevenson, W.H. 
1976 The Horn: What it Was and What it Did', 
Critical Perspectives on Nigerian Literature, ed. Benth 
Lindfors (Washington D.C.: Three Continents, 196=76), 
pp.215-4! 
Soyinka, Wole 
1960 a Poisoners of the World', 'Proverb: Okonjo de 
Hunter', The Horn 3/3, pp.4-7,9 
1960 b 'Audience to Performer', Stage', The Horn 4/ 
l.p.l 
1960 c The Future of African Writing', The Horn 4/1, 
pp.10-16 
1961 a Season', The Horn 4/2, p.2 
1961 b Committee Man', The Horn 4/3, pp.10-11 
1962 a Epitaph for Say Tokyo Kid, The Horn 4/5, 
pp.10-11 
1962 b'Death in the Dawn, The Horn4/6, pp.2-3 
1988 Art, Dialogue & Outrage (Ibadan: New Horn 
Press, 1988) 
Toye, B. Olukemi 
1976 Drama in Africa: A Preliminary Bibliography 
(Ibadan: International Literature Conference, 1976) 
Wren, Robert M. 
1991 Those Magical Years: The Making of Nigerian 
Literature at Ibadan: 1948-1966 (Washington D.C.: Three 
Crowns, 1991) 
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• Project 
report by 
Mechi 
Nzewi & 
Doris 
Weller 
HE survey and pilot study for the Nka Emume 
project was undertaken from January to March, 
1992. In November and December, 1992, the 
documentation aspect of the main project of 
revitalising' the upa art commenced in the two 
primary project locations of Nsugbe and Omo, respectively. 
This entailed the audio-visual documentation 
of the processes and stylisation of wall (upa) 
art within its traditional as well as contemporary 
contexts. 
Documentation of the uli art was also undertaken in Omo 
where it is still in limited practice. While this was going on, 
the recruitment of the women artists for the reorientation project 
was going on: On January 15, 1993 eight women (four each 
from Omo and Nsugbe), and two apprentices participating in 
the project, moved into camp in Nsugbe for eight months. The 
first day of reorientation started with painting on cloth 
canvasses. Doris Weller, the project director for painting, 
introduced the women to the use of modern binder in place 
of the non durable traditional binder - starch from cassava. 
Women 
specialise in the 
fine arts of 
drawing, painting 
and other 
artistic body 
ornaments 
which use the 
human body as 
the canvass. 
They also 
specialise in the 
craft and art of 
pottery. The 
men folk are 
the sculptors 
on wood and 
metal. Both 
sexes specialise 
After that the women were left on their own, with the directive 
to approach their creativity on the cloth canvass the same way 
as they paint/draw on mud walls. By the end of the first day 
every woman participant was able to produce a finished 
canvass. The contents of the canvasses were creative transfer of 
their techniques and personal styles on mud walls. On white 
drawing paper, the women preferred to draw with blades from 
bamboo poles dipped in black pigment, while the materials 
and dichromatic essence of cloth canvasses were used on 
coloured paper, given the same background as walls and 
cloth canvasses. 
While in the project camp, from January to August, 
1993 the women observed regular working schedule. 
Monday to Friday every week from midday to six o'clock in the 
evening. This gave them some time to attend to their private 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
in music, dance 
and drama. 
Vol. 2/No. 3 GLENDORA,.v..»
farms and other household chores. Presently 
the women are formed into Upa Women 
Arts'Collective, which is being administered 
and managed by the AMA DIALOG FOUNDATION. 
The Nka Emume project was 
funded by the German Foreign Office in 
Bonn. 
Women's Art 
In the Igbo traditional artistic milieu 
there is some division of labour in creativity 
and practice between men and women. 
Women specialise in the fine arts of drawing, 
painting and other artistic body ornaments 
which use the human body as the 
canvass. They also specialise in the craft 
and art of pottery. The men folk are the 
sculptors on wood and metal. Both sexes 
specialise in music, dance and drama. 
The artistic practices which derive 
from earth materials are more commonly the 
specialisation of women. The women artists 
who work with red earth as their primary 
pigmentfor paint/drawing are known as ndi 
n'edeupa 'people who write/make paints 
(with) red earth'. The routine of smoothrubbing 
living houses, floor and walls, with 
earth colour was a home management chore 
of any married traditional Igbo woman, in 
which she would normally be assisted by her 
daughters who could be regarded as apprentice 
home managers. This is known as 
ite upa'to smooth-rub (with) red earth'. There 
is thus a distinction between the mandatory 
home care duty of (ite), keeping walls and floors of An art work 
homes neat and polished, and the creative activity of Z"v " " ™ f 
y aesthetic,fineartdecoration(ide)ofhouses. Whereas " 
the former was expected of every traditional woman 
as from childhood to adulthood, the latter was 
the Upa 
women 
artists 
optional °«theticbeautification,ichomma.the art 
During the Nba Emume we worked with 
eight traditional women artists. Two of them 
are only upa artists, three are acknowledged 
in their communities as specialists on both 
upa and uli arts, while three are acknowledged 
as upa artists but could also do uli 
art. 
African Quarterly 
OtENDOBA ,...i.. V
on the Arts 
' . 3 
of creating artistic decorations on the smooth-rubbed 
walls. Any woman of any age who has any level of 
creative mettle could do this. Women who then 
manifest distinguishing creative talent beyond the 
general ability of paint/drawing on mud walls, are 
further recognised as creative specialists. They are 
the artists who are commissioned to produce 
environmental canvasses on special buildings and 
homes of people who can afford their services for 
something special during festive occasions. 
Traditional Igbo women who are fine artists 
could specialise as environmental aesthetic artists, 
that is, upa paint/drawing. Upa artists use mud 
walls as their canvass. Others could have expertise 
for body cosmetic art, that is, uli or ogalu drawing. 
These use the human body as their canvass. During 
the Nka Emume we worked with eight traditional
women artists. Two of them are only upa artists, three 
are acknowledged in their communities as specialists 
on both upa and uli arts, while three are acknowledged 
as upa artists but could also do uli art. 
Upa and uli are differentiated tributaries of the 
same stylistic stream. A clearer distinction between 
the two sub-styles of the same artistic stream is 
necessary. 
Upa artists work on a hard surface, the solid 
mud wall, although paint/drawing around corners 
and doors and windows could give a feeling of 
working on a plastic surface; Uli artists work on a 
pliable, plastic surface, the human body, parts of 
which have different shapes, which recommend 
different motivic elements. 
Upa artists use spongy materials, such as the 
pulp from the banana stem, also the hand (fingers 
and the base of the palm) for their paint/drawing; 
Uli artists use hard objects such as bamboo blade 
or a knife blade as their drawing tools, although the 
hand could be used to rub the pigment on areas 
around the neck, waist and ankles. 
Upa artists derive their basic, heavy, swingingarm 
technique of paint/drawing from the open and 
broad arm sweeps of ite aja (smooth-rubbing earth on 
walls/floors), which produces the peculiar background 
texture of mud wall art. Paint/drawing 
constitutes the foreground of this dual layered art, 
for upaism is basically a dichromatic art. Mud wall 
carving (when the mud is wet) is also found in some 
igbo areas. The deep-carved designs are then 
painted when the mud wall dries and is smooth 
rubbed. Uli artistry is compact, narrow and light 
movement oriented. The technique derives from the 
narrow movements of the hand to produce fine lines 
on the curvilinear and supple medium of the various 
parts/sections of the human body, each of which is 
treated as an independent compositional unit of the 
whole canvass. Uli in tradition is discussed and 
recognised as a peculiar women's art typology. 
The technique derives from the narrow 
movements of the hand to produce fine lines 
on the curvilinear and supple medium of the 
various parts/sections of the human body, 
each of which is treated as an independent 
compositional unit of the whole canvass
: • 
There are, however, creative motifs common to the 
two art sub-styles while other typical motifs are 
peculiar to each. 
Feeling for the nature of the object awakes 
feeling for the forms to be composed on it. In Upa art 
Ohiku 
Nzekwu, the 
leader of the 
Upa Women 
Artists during 
a press 
interview the contact is with a hard surface which is first rubbed 
and felt before paint/drawing commences. As such, 
the nature of composition and the art produced are 
influenced by this awareness or experience of the 
solid, flat surface, architectural shape and structures 
In Uli art, the body to be drawn is also first touched 
and rubbed with the hands. The feeling is different. 
It starts with the experience of the mother daily and 
always rubbing and massaging a baby, especially 
after bath. When the mother becomes an Uli artist 
this feeling for the human body informs creativity. It is 
of a round, supple, that is, yielding surface. This 
feeling fora different surface recommends a different 
nature of artistry on the human body. 
Upa artists use earth colours as well as the 
black of charcoal from special woods Vegetable 
pigments are available but rarely used. When the 
green of leaves is used it is mixed with black to 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. 2/No. 3
highlight it. The vegetable green alone does 
not appear as strong colour against upa, red, 
and nzu, white, backgrounds. Although the 
finished canvass is commonly dichromatic, 
monochromatic paint/drawing as in finger 
paint/drawing, as well as multi-coloured 
works are found. The uli liquid extracted from 
the pod of the uli plant is not used in any form 
in upa, wall art. Uli artists use the pigment 
from the pod of a plant, uli. The pigment is 
colourless when applied, but, through a 
chemical process, soon turns into blue-black 
on the body as it dries. Uli drawing is monochromatic 
art. 
A natural binder, usually a binding 
starch prepared from fresh cassava tuber is 
used by the upa artists in some parts of 
Igboland to bind the colours to the wall 
canvass. An upa canvass could last a year or 
many years depending on environmental 
factors. In uli, body art, binders are not used. 
The drawing washes off in a short while. 
Upa art is exhibited as fixed canvasses 
in the living environment or around worship 
places Uli art is exhibited as mobile 
canvasses which the uli art model carries 
about.
It is important, however, to note thatthe 
term uli has multiple meanings which make 
sense in the context of usage. It is common in 
Igbo language thatthe same word could give 
different meanings depending on the tones of 
the pronunciation. In the case of uli, however, 
the same pronunciation gives different 
meanings with regard to the sense of usage in 
a sentence 
(i) Uli is the name of the fruit of the plant, uli 
(indigo). 
(u) Uli is the colour term for the blue black 
pigment that is extracted from the ground uli pulp. 
Other plants such as the alu which is used in ukara 
ekpe textile art also give the colour, blue. 
(m) Uli is the term which conveys the quality of 
beautification which is visual. It is used as an 
aesthetic qualification to discuss any intricate, 
cosmetic or decorative art work on any surface 
and/or medium such as wood or textiles. Ifeedelu 
uli conveys the same aesthetic implication as jfe 
acholu mma, that is, 'something that has received 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. 2/No. 3 
Art work 
by one of 
the Upa 
women 
artists 
exceptional beautifying attention.' Uli is thus an 
aesthetic term that denotes creative merit in any 
finished artistic production from drawing, to 
paint/drawing, to spirit manifest constume, to 
sculpture etc. Any work that goes beyond utility 
to demonstrate creative elaboration in composition 
and detail is critically discussed as uli. The 
technical processes of fine arts production are 
discussed in the following terms: ise, to draw, ide 
to paint/draw, ite, to rub. 
(iv) Uli is the term for the finished cosmetic fine art 
canvass on the human body. Some distinction are 
further made in some Igbo areas with respect to 
uli aru (an artistic beautification on a human body) 
as different from uli aja (an artistic beautification
on a wall) when the reference is to the quality of the 
artistic content, and not necessarily the art form or 
sub-style. 
Context 
Traditional Igbo architecture makes use of 
kneaded mud for the walls and floors. Some Igbo 
areas use bamboo lattice framework on which the 
mud balls are thrown. In other areas no such frameworks 
are necessary; mud balls are piled and pressed 
to shape the walls. The smoothness of a wall depends 
sometimes on the texture of the mud used for construction. 
Qualities of mud vary from one Igbo area to 
another. Some mud house constructions have a rough 
finish while others are plastered smooth. Fine textured 
mud enables smooth plastering of the walls. Upa art is 
possible on smooth surfaces. Hence upa art is more 
popularly practised in those Igbo areas where the 
texture of the mud available for building houses can 
be given smooth-rubbed finish. Upa art was, in 
tradition, only practised in the context of mud houses. 
Mud wall art became more intensive during celebrations 
in a community. Upa art is strongly practised as 
festival aesthetic art, because during festivals 
members of a community take extra pains to update 
the aesthetic and hygienic quality of their living 
environment. 
Upa art is non durable art. The paints easily 
wears off, especially when no binder is used. This is 
as a result of the combined forces of rain, dust and 
other environmental hazards which eat off or rub off 
the paint. Upa art is thus regenerative in nature. The 
women are constrained to aib off the old art works, replaster 
the walls, apply fresh background and 
produce new upa paint/drawing which constitute 
completely new works on the same fixed canvass. 
At the present, cement houses are preferred to 
mud houses in former mud wall art environments. 
Cement houses have emerged as prestige symbols, 
and require very little maintenance compared to mud 
houses. As such mud houses have disappeared 
completely in some Igbo communities. No mud 
houses, no upa art. Apart from faded old relics on 
surviving, often collapsed mud houses there are fewer 
and fewer villages in the Igbo human environment 
where upa art can be seen. 
The state of Igbo creative arts heritage now is 
that the traditional art types of upa and uli have more 
or else lost their traditional essence and audience. This 
is due to the nature of the media of expression - the 
mud wall and the human body, respectively • which 
have become unpopular. Two courses hence are only 
possible: the devising of new directions or orientations 
for these artistically and aesthetically unique art 
forms. So far two initiatives are being explored in the 
latter. 
The first initiative is academic, and has relegated 
as well as excluded not only the original 
practitioners, but, equally, the original form or style. 
It is the movement known as the Nsukka School. The 
Nsukka School of Art is a core of modern Europeanart-
trained fine artists who have, through research, 
identified and isolated some motifs and stylistic 
components of the uli and upa art styles. These 
components and motifs are used in stylistic abstraction 
to devise new creative directions in painting and 
drawing. The resulting art work are essentially 
modern-European in stylistic as well as in technical 
orientation. But the artists have successfully integrated 
the creative motifs borrowed from the 
traditional art forms as superficial, decorative features. 
It is a new, hybrid as well as radical artistic 
development which is valid in terms of its experimental 
content and creative objectives.The evidence of the 
current stage of the radical modern direction is that 
there is clear stylistic difference between the works of 
the Nsukka School of artists and the works of the 
original, traditional upa/uli artists. 
The second movement is committed to providing 
new relevance, continuum and creative development 
for the two art types of upa and uli in a manner that 
ensures self-propelled stylistic growth as well as the 
involvement and modern relevance of the traditional 
practitioners. The forte of this direction, such as 
initiated and pursued by the Ama Dialog, is the 
recognition that formative stylistic orientation as well 
as fundamental formal training in modern upa/uli 
painting should exclude extraneous modern art style. 
Also, that these art forms, being stylistically accomplished 
in creative principles and compositional 
content, can only be meaningfully appreciated in the 
modern art scene, solely in terms of their stylistic and 
compositional uniqueness. Any developmental directions 
must be rooted in the style, that is, have creative 
base in the style in order not to eliminate the culturalartistic 
authenticity. The commitment of the Ama 
Dialog initiative ensures the retention and systematic 
continuum of the traditional creative materials, techniques 
and most importantly, style.GR 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. 2/No. 3