CYNTHIA ADIMABUA IRUOBE

IKENGA Ikenga pronounced ..ee..ken..ga literally meaning a place of rest is an Igbo deity found among the people of South Eastern Nigeria namely Anambra and Enugu. It can also be found in the following areas as it is not exclusively for the Igbo people. It is found in Edo state and some parts of Kogi state.

Ikenga is said to be the most populous symbol of the Igbo people and is mostly owned by men of high integrity and repute, occasionally it can also be owned by women of same status.

After death a person, provided that he led an appropriate life and was properly buried, returns to the land of the spirit “ala mmuo”. when he decides to come back to the world of the living, he makes an agreement with a personal god called chi.

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In Igbo cosmology ikenga symbolises the strength of the right hand , it also symbolises success in whatever one does be it farming, trading, fishing, hunting, war and even title taking . It is believed that an individual is responsible for his actions and cannot blame anyone for his failures. The successes of a man is not valued only for his own sake but also for the prestige it will bring him.

The Ikenga comprises of the following;His personal god [Chi] ,his ancestors [Ndiche],ike ikenga [ power of the right hand] and spiritual activation through prayer and sacrifice.

TYPES OF IKENGA

Warrior Ikenga with characteristics of a seated human figure distinguished by a pair of horns displaying objects such as a knife or a tusk on one hand and a human skull on the other always wearing an aggressive look.

EDO IKENGOBO

Found in a sacred shrine in South Eastern Nigeria

The Igbo speaking people believe that ikenga possess a protective spirit and is said to be the harbinger of success and achievement.

FEATURES

HORNSThese embodies force are often said to contain magical powers.HANDSThe left hand holds a head held upside down as if to humiliate the victim.The right hand is the hand of power and action.

An ikenga can also be owned by a community. A Community ikenga have the characteristics of all other ikengas but is always very busy with various other carvings depicting the social life of the people and is carved most times out of a single piece of wood.

A title holder also have his ikenga . The ozo title is the highest ranking of the title system in Igbo land and so men of this status always have theirs.

They are carved also with a human figure seated on a stool, at times three legged symbolising the ozo titled stool which a title holder carries along with him when he attends village meetings.

It is important to state also that the people of kogi state and Edo state also practise the power of the right hand.It is revered with as much importance as the Igbo's and it serves the same purpose. It is referred to as “ikengobo” in Edo and “okenga” in Kogi. The example in the African Gallery is from kogi state.

The Igbo's regard it of such importance that when an individual dies his friends will come to his house recount his achievements in a funeral lament, breaks his ikenga into two and discards it. This is no longer the case now. It is taken and kept in the dead individual’s ancestral shrine.

“our forefathers are summoned across the four winds for a steaming fiesta over Chineke’s smile upon us so Aka Ikenga astride the surrealist oche ekwu may courtiers rain you comfort with peacock feathers”

Obu Udeozopainter, poetJos Nigeria.

THANK YOU.

AN EXHIBITION PROPOSAL FOR A NIGERIAN OBJECT ON DISPLAY IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.Slide Number 2Slide Number 3Slide Number 4Slide Number 5Slide Number 6TYPES OF IKENGAEDO IKENGOBOFound in a sacred shrine in South Eastern NigeriaFEATURESSlide Number 11Slide Number 12Slide Number 13