By Oriiz U Onuwaje Oriiz writes that our sound is a tool for ‘community connection‘ that endured silence to become a global roar. When you hear @temsbaby’s soul or @ayrastarr’s confidence, you are hearing centuries of resilience repackaged for the future. Introduction: The Architecture of Memory Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938 – 1997) Sound is Africa’s […]
What does it mean to capture individual likeness, regardless of using sacred earth or lines of code? Oriiz explores how capturing likeness has always been political, from the ritual workshops of ancient Ifẹ to today’s AI systems that form our identities. Introduction Form is never neutral. A thousand years ago in Ifẹ, Nigeria, artists sculpted […]
Together, griots and hip-hop reveal the persistence of oral storytelling as archive, critique, and anthem. For centuries, Malian griots preserved dynasties, histories, and values through song. Their performances were more than entertainment: they were living archives, binding memory to rhythm, weaving identity into melody. The griot’s voice carried authority and continuity, transforming words into heritage […]
Originally featured on The Art Hub In The Harbinger (Crimson Fusion, Lagos; 2025), Oriiz U. Onuwaje challenges the long-standing notion that African artistic genius is accidental or fragmented. Instead, the book argues for African art as the product of a continuous and deliberate intellectual tradition stretching across millennia. Drawing on examples such as the Benin […]
The Harbinger is the first of four messengers, announcing an 8000-year revelation.
Through charged ideas, sharpened memory, and stunning images that anchor our heritage, it prepares the mind for the scale, the weight, and the intelligence of what is coming.
