This body of work was designed to illustrate "Africa: On Her Schedule Is Written a Change," a book of poems by Barbara Haegar (Ibadan: African Universities Press, 1981). Many of these poems coupled with Onobrakpeya's visual renderings address the complex, tumultuous history of political fortunes and movements in post-independence Africa. They often highlight problems of corruption, despotism and the disabling legacies of colonial domination.
In this work, "The Hydras Head," the multiheaded monster is reminiscent of the Hydra of Grecian mythology, which stands as a metaphor for relentless battles and a myriad of negative forces. For the artist, the monster represents the countless economic, social, religious and political challenges that the newly independent nation of Nigeria had to face, and on a larger scale, draws attention to the multiplicity of human problems.
Description:
Etching with a large, snake with five heads in a rearing pose predominating. One of the heads has been cut off and fallen near the coils and opposite there are several standing figures holding cutlasses, one standing in the coils. There is a title and signature along the bottom edge of the composition: "5/75 The Hydras head - Deep Etching - Bruce Onobrakpeya, Lagos Sept, 1980."
Provenance:
Warren Robbins, Washington, D.C., 1980 to 1991
Exhibition History:
Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and the African Atlantic World, Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, April 6-August 10, 2008; Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, October 18, 2008-January 11, 2009; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 1-July 26, 2009
Recent Acquisitions / New Directions, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 15, 1992-January 3, 1993
Published References:
Drewal, Henry John. 2008. "Mami as Artists' Muse." Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas, ed. by Henry J. Drewal. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 187, no. 12.5.
Haeger, Barbara and Bruce Onobrakpeya. 1981. Africa: On Her Schedule is Written a Change. Ibadan: African Universities Press, p. 63.
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