Ámà – The Gathering Place

Info

• Title : Àmà: The Gathering Place

• Year : 2019

• Medium : Installation with 12-channel sound, sculptural tree structure, and hand-woven textiles.

• Duration : Variable.

Details

Àmà: The Gathering Place is an installation inspired by Igbo culture that integrates sound, sculpture, and textiles, extending Ogboh’s multisensory approach to interpreting place, a central concern of his practice. In the Igbo àmà(village square), music functions both as entertainment and as an essential component of sacred and communal ceremonies.

The work incorporates new recordings of a choir performing Igbo folk songs. These twelve compositions address universal human concerns, including relationships, triumph, hope, beauty, and adversity, and are transmitted through a twelve-channel sound system. Anchoring the installation is a large-scale sculptural tree, evoking the iroko tree traditionally found at the center of the Igbo àmà.

Complementing the music and sharing its roots in Igbo folk traditions, regionally specific akwétè cloth – named after the Igbo community of Akwétè – forms an integral part of the installation. One of West Africa’s oldest and most celebrated textile traditions, akwétè weaving is known for its bold colors and graphic patterns, traditionally worn during ceremonial and festive occasions.

Maintaining its functional role, the akwétè textiles in this project serve as bark on the sculptural tree and as coverings for seating, inviting visitors to recline and listen. The patterns on display, developed collaboratively by Nigerian graphic designers and the weavers themselves, combine inherited motifs with contemporary visual language.

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