For residents, it was an unusual spectacle.
Throughout the procession, sacred symbolism coexisted with ordinary community
life. Children watched curiously from doorways. Residents paused their daily
routines. Boats floated quietly nearby as ritual unfolded amid the realities of
one of Lagos’ vulnerable waterfront settlements.
Titled: My Orí Is Kótùbà Kótùṣẹ, a nomadic performance created
for Borderless Collaboration, Thinking, and Living, an artistic initiative
connecting Lagos, Nigeria, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. Rather than taking
place in a single venue, the project unfolded simultaneously in both cities,
with each performance projected live onto screens in the other location,
creating a shared virtual performance space across continents.
Originally, Atiku and three of his collaborators, Faniyi Omoyeni
Awoniran, Ifadare Olajide Ige-Adubi, and Ifamuyiwa Akinwunmi Awoniran, were
expected to travel to the United States to perform in person on April 4, 2026. Each
collaborator is deeply rooted in Yoruba Indigenous religious practice, bringing
decades of knowledge of Ifá philosophy and ritual traditions.
The title, My Orí Is Kótùbà Kótùṣẹ,
draws from Yoruba philosophical thought. In Yoruba belief, orí represents far
more than the physical head; it is one’s spiritual consciousness, destiny and
inner guide. Throughout the performance, Atiku explored the relationship
between individual destiny and collective responsibility, asking how societies
respond when human movement, cultural knowledge and artistic expression are
restricted.
This intersection between spirituality and lived experience has long
characterised Atiku's practice. His performances rarely exist as isolated
aesthetic events. Instead, they occupy public spaces where questions of power,
ecology and human rights become inseparable from everyday life.
The Ilaje performance, therefore, became more than a response to visa restrictions. It evolved into a meditation on environmental injustice, displacement and the persistence of cultural identity despite political barriers.
According to Atiku, the project speaks to broader concerns about human advancement through cultural exchange. While immigration policies may regulate physical movement, they cannot entirely contain artistic imagination. The live connection between Lagos and Fayetteville demonstrated that collaboration remains possible even when borders intervene.
The participation of Yoruba Indigenous religious practitioners further
grounded the performance in living cultural traditions rather than historical
reconstruction. Their presence affirmed that Yoruba philosophy continues to
offer contemporary ways of thinking about community, responsibility and
coexistence in a rapidly changing world.
In an era marked by increasing restrictions on movement and growing
environmental crises, My Orí Is Kótùbà Kótùṣẹ reminds audiences that
performance art can function simultaneously as ritual, protest and public
dialogue.
What emerges is not simply documentation of a performance but evidence
of art's enduring ability to bridge distances that politics seeks to widen.
Even when borders close, culture continues to travel through art, technology,
shared experience and the determination of artists who refuse to let geography
define the limits of human connection.
By Udemma Chukwuma
Photo credit: Courtesy of Jelili Atiku.
Editor's note: My Orí Is Kótùbà Kótùṣẹ was
presented on April 4, 2026, as part of Borderless Collaboration, Thinking, and
Living, a transnational artistic programme linking Fayetteville, Arkansas
(USA), and Lagos, Nigeria, through simultaneous live performance.
