The Diviner’s Toolkit
Objects, sprawled out on a white background – a visual cacophony bounded by a frame. Each objects firmly occupies its own space, establishing its own frame of reference. The objects and a man are placed together quite disjointedly and in no particular order. How coherent is this arrangement and narrative? We know that the objects belong to a shared practice of divination. They are clearly laid out for the viewer to draw out a narrative.
A middle-aged man dressed in Yoruba traditional attire crouches on the floor. A table is laid out in front of him, with objects placed on it. He seems suspended in a palatial space that recedes beyond our vision. The man’s image in black and white blends with the background. The objects and the table are colored and foregrounded, revealing the contents to the viewer.
This group, which I have titled “The Diviner’s Toolkit,” comprises four items from the Carlos Museum collection related to Ifá Divination:
- A Divination Tray Opón Ifá
- A Divination Bowl with Lid
- A Diviner’s Necklace, and
- A Diviner’s Bag Àpò Ifá.
This Youtube video has been added to provide more contextual information about the objects:
The Diviner’s Toolkit by ‘Bukunmi Bifarin is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and is a derivative of Divination Bowl with Lid (Link), Divination Tray, Opon Ifa (Link), Diviner’s Necklace (Link), and Diviner’s Bag, Apo Ifa (Link) in the Micheal C. Carlos Museum Collection, and an image of Prince Sola Aiyeku in Yoruba traditional royal regalia (Link), used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
