Umuala Collective on the artist talk by visual artist Raji Bamidele for his exhibition Melodious…

Umuala Collective on the artist talk by visual artist Raji Bamidele for his exhibition Melodious Struggles of Souls and Consciousness

In this feature, Umuala Collective immerses the reader in an artist talk by visual artist Raji Bamidele for his exhibition Melodious Struggles of Souls and Consciousness, moderated by Lakunle Whesu. The artist succeeded in connecting with his audience, not only through his artistic endeavours, but in his dialogue with the audience. This is indicative of the artist’s work that engages the audience to consider the pieces aesthetically and cerebrally.

As things were being set up, the artist Raji gave the audience members an assignment: to ponder what consciousness and soul mean to them, that it’s not only about their own personal views but its conceptions in their respective cultures. The visual artist Raji understands and acknowledges that answering the question of what is consciousness and soul may not be an entirely simple exercise. Even individuals with similar theological or philosophical backgrounds can differ in their definitions and interpretations. The answer to the question gets more difficult and complicated when one seeks to find a distinction between the two ideas.

The next phase in proceedings were further questions posed by Raji: Is the soul a spiritual entity, or is it just an inhabitant in the human body? Should the soul be perceived as consciousness or the inner you? The answer, he contends, can be found in the one’s perception of control, as some would believe they have control of their inner selves but not their soul. Using his cultural background, Raji explains this perspective with Yoruba mythology — the inner you refers to one’s consciousness as well as one’s soul, as your soul is actually within you and not outward.

Raji then posed another set of questions: Can the soul be described in terms of the physical law of science? Is the soul just for human beings or does it exist around/in every creature in the universe? Is the soul simply consciousness serving itself? Where is the soul located? What is the true connection between the soul and consciousness?

Most audience members considered the soul to be inside of us, however an audience member, Joe raised a point that if one does not believe in the spiritual or metaphysical, there would be no belief that there is a soul, and it is the idea of having empathy for your fellow human being, citing the saying/phrase “don’t you have a soul”? Reacting to this, the moderator Lakunle expounded that the soul is the essence of the person, consciousness is its awareness giving an example of a baby, as they have a soul but are not fully conscious beings. As we grow we reach new levels of consciousness, but the soul has always been there, it is the smallest essence of who and what you are, like if you had to break down a human being to something when not looking at the physical. However, you need consciousness to be aware and observe it.

The artist raji added that it is the beautiful thing about the concept of soul across different cultures. In the Yoruba language, for instance, the word Okun, has different meanings. The audience members from the Yoruba culture were split between “heart” as one meaning, and “mind” as the other meaning. For Raji, he interprets it as the soul. Lakunle further noted that in Yoruba a lot of words mean more than one thing and they are intertwined which makes it very interesting; Okun means mind, heart, and soul then tells you there is a connection between all three.

The artist Raji was finding it so interesting that the soul is in some way the mind, bringing up the phrase which goes “as a man thinketh so he is”. Moderator Lakunle then asked the audience what they thought of the statement as he personally does not find it to be true, as it is actions that make a man because all have negatives which intrude into the mind. The audience for the most part disagreed. Audience member Alvin referenced Christian scripture saying it is the heart that God looks at not what you actually do. Another audience member buttressed Alvin’s point by saying there is the common sentiment that it is not the gift given but the thought that counts. Audience member brought up the idea of manifestation, which is linked to thought. If one constantly thinks of achieving something, you can say the person is taking conscious steps towards that thing. It then links to the saying “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”, and that could be said as speaking something into existence. The artist believes that is what makes it melodious as it was the process at which what you are thinking that makes you who you are.

The conversation that ensued allowed the audience see that the soul, the mind and the heart all overlap and interact with each other, with Raji wanting the audience to realise that there is a connection between all three. This realisation led to the introduction of a second concept in Yoruba mythology known as Orie, this the head or in another context the inner you; the inner head is a categorisation of the mind. Orie is in the individual, it is your destiny. Orie in this context is deeper than the mind, as it is the seat of consciousness. The heart, the soul, and the mind, the Okun all boil down to your Orie, the final destination is what you decide according to Yoruba mythology. There is a Yoruba statement which says “let my head take me to the place that is right, a place of good tidings, a place of good virtue”.

This is what informs the exhibition — “the melodious struggles of consciousness”, this is the head trying to move from one point to the other, your Okun, soul, heart and mind working together towards making certain decisions. The artist Raji, bringing an example, a piece from the exhibition titled Where Do We Go From Our Head, asked the audience about their thought processes when making a decision to act on something. One said the opportunity cost, forgoing one for the other based on the benefit and cost that would arise from the decision taken; another said one’s personal or another’s lived experience in relation to the task or situation at hand; another said the “process”, what it will take for them to reach their intended or preferred outcome; and another brought up the novelty in the situation, the decision would have been made on feeling, instinct and maybe impulse.

Another question from the artist: is it possible to truly know anything? Some answered yes to the question. However, the artist believes this not to be true as things are a matter of one’s perspective, for instance when one considers a cup half full or half empty. But then, is it that we can only be certain of ourselves? We thus question the legitimacy of our own consciousness, who’s to say we are not projections of something else.

The artist talk was a truly radical interaction that pulled out the varying meanings and dimensions of the exhibition concerned with the concepts of consciousness and soul. Umuala Collective looks forward to visual artist Raji Bamidele’s further explorations as he evolves in his practice.

Umuala Collective on the artist talk by visual artist Raji Bamidele for his exhibition Melodious… was originally published in Umuala Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.