On a Sunday afternoon I went to the Newark Museum to attend a talk by Romald Hazoumé on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition African Cosmos: Stellar Arts, which explores the interactions of African cultural astronomy and the arts, traditional and contemporary. Hazoume’s Rainbow Serpent /Dan Ayido-Huedo is a large snake biting his tail more than 12 feet high whose scales are made out of flattened out metal jerry cans. Like a gateway, it towers at the entrance of the exhibition. Albeit paradoxically massive it also stands in for the celestial vault.
I associate the celestial vault with my experience of Africa: I have slept so many times under the stars during my many walking safaris even sleeping in the middle of the riverbed with just a mosquito net. Late evening study of the skies and its stars was a daily occurrence to the point that the celestial vault has become an integral and spiritual part of my journeys to that continent.
However, Hazoumé’s associations are clearly of another nature, they are less abstract and aesthetically easy to behold. However, I soon found out his associations were no less spiritual. They reach deeply into his Yoruba heritage on one hand and the harshness of contemporary life in Benin on the other.
“It is about how we, people from Benin are fighting and how we survive” says Hazoumé while speaking to a small gathering. He describes how people from Benin rely on Nigeria for their petrol. They get their oil from petrol rich Nigeria but instead of buying it legally they smuggle it from Nigerians who have siphoned crude oil from the pipelines. They fill up jerry cans, which they carry on their bicycles into Benin where the petrol gets sold on the black market. While this allows them to make a living it is also terribly dangerous because any mistake can lead to certain death. The filled jerry cans are highly flammable. Hazoumé says that each jerry can represents a life lived dangerously.
While repeatedly emphasizing the activist aspect of his work, which he directs to a local audience, Hazoumé is foremost a deeply spiritual person. He will not proceed with any work unless he has had a sign from his orisha (local deities). Though the sculpture is predominantly dark green, spots of color brighten the scales of the serpent. Each color in fact represents a particular orisha (there are many) and was painted on the jerry can by the original owner.
Hazoumé’s profound attachment to his community was palpable and his fiercely independent personality came across in his forceful opinions about the West and contemporary African leaders. He has little faith in the dealings of contemporary African leaders and multinational oil companies drilling oil in Nigeria.
The subject is a sensitive one and is centered around the Nigerian Delta where Shell and a few other multinational oil companies have been drilling crude oil. I first came to be aware of the subject through George Osodi’s provocative photographs of the devastation effected on the eco system of the Delta and the grim life of the locals who are not benefiting from this drilling. The tragedy came to be internationally known in the 90’s through the efforts of Ken Saro-Wiwa and MSOP, a non violent group militating for greater autonomy, a fair share of the revenues and repair of the environmental destruction wrought by the oil companies notably Shell. Their efforts ended in disaster with the hanging of Saro-Wiwa and eight others by the military government.
More recently some have taken arms against the multinationals. I actually own Osodi’s disturbing portrait of a masked rebel who carries his bullet belt like a grand necklace. At the time I had been studying the masking tradition in Yoruba land. Seen within the context of that tradition, I found the image particularly interesting. It used to hang in my office and was usually greeted with puzzlement by my friends who did not quite think it matched the otherwise genteel environment.
Other locals in the Delta are siphoning gallons of petrol from the pipelines and smuggling it out of the country. The black market that Hazoumé references, is just the tip of the iceberg it seems. From recent articles I gleaned that this black market has grown into a shadow industry. Journalist Benoit Faucon describes what goes on: “Local thieves are drilling plugs in to the pipelines and pumping oil onto barges. Some of oil is then processed at rudimentary refineries and sold to fuel distributors that own tankers trucks and filling stations.” It has reached such levels that the UN estimates that 7.5% of the country oil production is stolen. The problem seems intractable as every one seems to bear some responsibility not the least being rampant Nigerian corruption, foreign callousness, and very few employment alternatives for the local population. For more images on the Delta situation see Samuel James photographs.
Within that context Hazoumé’s Serpent becomes the devouring snake and can be seen as symbol of self-destruction. Alternatively the circular shape of the sculpture and its cyclical associations also highlights the self-sufficient aspect of the black market.
Born in 1962 in Porto Novo, Benin, Hazoumé came to be known in 1992 with his “Out of Africa “show at the Saatchi gallery. He now lives and works in Cotonou though travels extensively. “Much too much” he says. Most of his work belongs to collections outside of Benin. There is sadly very little institutional support in Benin. He prefers being at home off fishing on his boat where he finds his inspiration.
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