Visual Art: Chief. Z.O. Oloruntoba, Healing Tapestries exhibition @ A Small World

Living legend: Chief. Z.O. Oloruntoba, Healing Tapestries exhibition at A Small World Shop and Gallery in Vancouver, his only scheduled Canadian visit for 2008.
Vancouver, BC Canada,
Zacheus O. Oloruntoba, born in 1919, is a Yoruba Chieftain and heir to the throne of Ogidi, Nigeria. He is a recognized clairvoyant and an artist whose work has been exhibited by the Museum of Modern Art and collected by Queen Elizabeth II, David Rockefeller and Mohammed Ali.

The Chief seated in front of his work titled The Cities of Israel - Part I
Photo credit: Carrie Rosema / The Press-Enterprise

The works of Chief Oloruntoba are showing February 6^th through February 18^th 2008, at A Small World Shop & Gallery, 2120 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC.

Chief Otunba Zacheus Olowonubi Oloruntoba creates vibrant tapestries both for the aesthetics as well as the inherent healing powers within. It is said; the owner of these artworks, are likely to benefit from more than their pictorial qualities. 89 years young, a Yoruba chieftain and heir to the throne of Ogidi, Nigeria, is a shaman, clairvoyant and gifted artist. Working with age old techniques and traditional materials, Chief Oloruntoba illustrates his clairvoyant visions into what he calls “Paintings of power and life, for the protection from sickness and jealousy.” He warns buyers not to place his art works under glass as it will impede their healing power.
The Chief paints his larger pieces using all vegetable dyes and Kaduna cloth, for the smaller tapestries he weaves colored silken cord and attaches it using a natural wheat paste. He carefully chooses plant dyes for their attractive color and curative characteristics. The subject matter for his powerful pieces includes his village, Yoruba tribe people, lions, birds and elephants. True to form, the Chief believes that his works have healing abilities; each animal depicted contains a healing spirit that has arrived from beyond to wrestle a particular problem or area of concern. These spirits range from gods of the Yoruba pantheon to other worldly helpers and ghost of ancestors who have a lively interest in human affairs.
He is first and foremost a spiritual leader of the Nigerian city of Ogidi, a city of the Kogi State, made up of 300,000 people primarily of the Yoruba tribe. The Chief is next in line to succeed his uncle, who is 117 years old; as King of Ogidi in Kogi State, Nigeria. As King, according to tradition, the Chief will no longer be able to make this art.
“This is something I create for so many years, since 1948,” he says. He continues with “I know about the plant medicine. I tie dye the thread; local thread we plant. Some of the color comes from a tree, and we use some of that water (sap) then boil it with salt.”
The Chief had his first exhibition of his works in 1966 at the British Consulate, Dugbe Ibadan, Nigeria. The Chief then had his first American show the following year in New York. The Chief’s works were also exhibited from 1983 until 1996 in the famed Eko Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.
The works of Chief Oloruntoba - lecture, healing tapestries exhibition and sale with international artist Zacheus O. Oloruntoba. His only scheduled Canadian visit for 2008, showing February 6^th through February 18^th 2008, at A Small World Shop & Gallery, 2120 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC.
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