Laolu Senbanjo: "The Sacred Art of the Ori"
Laolu Senbanjo: "A Arte Sagrada da Ori"
Laolu Senbanjo's motto is: “Everything is my canvas.” Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
nascido livre,
tudo o que a Europa jamais teve,
surpass all that Europe ever had,]
to me when I was a child in Nigeria.
para mim, quando era criança, na Nigéria.
of the Yoruba people,
do povo oruba,
of treasures that the West does not have.
dos tesouros que o Ocidente não tem.
I call my grandmother --
à minha avó —
about Yoruba mythology.
sobre a mitologia ioruba.
from the southwestern part of Nigeria,
do sudoeste da Nigéria,
com essas histórias.
by these stories.
my art since I was a child.
desde que eu era criança.
you buy at Harlem markets in New York.
nos mercados de Harlem, em Nova Iorque.
on her arms and her legs.
nos braços e nas pernas.
que ela tinha nascido com elas,
she was born with them,
and detailed symbols.
e símbolos pormenorizados.
from the Yoruba mythology.
da mitologia ioruba.
to influence the artist that I am today.
ia influenciar o artista que sou hoje.
I saw art everywhere.
via arte por toda a parte.
in Ilorin, in Stadium Road.
em Ilorin, na Stadium Road.
at the marble floors,
of patterns and designs in it,
de padrões e desenhos
também os via.
and I would be like,
e dizia-lhe:
e vê este desenho no mármore".
see this pattern, see this mask."
"Laolu, I don't see anything."
e traçava o que via no chão.
what I saw on the floor.
she got really upset.
ficava mesmo zangada.
Mudei da tinta para o giz,
com os professores e os meus pais.
with my teachers and my parents.
"Laolu, we are Christians.
"Laolu, nós somos cristãos.
como as outras pessoas?
or maybe you draw chairs or furniture,
ou cadeiras ou móveis.
the whole house if I had a chance,
a casa toda, se me deixassem,
I knew being an artist was not an option,
que ser artista não era opção,
que os meus pais queriam que eu fosse,
my parents wanted me to be,
He was so proud that day.
Estava muito orgulhoso, naquele dia.
looked like in law school.
na escola de Direito.
why I wasn't going to class.
para ter faltado às aulas.
na Comissão dos Direitos Humanos,
at the Human Rights Commission
between getting an education
entre obter uma educação,
seeing all the injustice around me,
ao ver toda a injustiça à minha volta
era a arte.
is controlled by where we are born.
estar controlado pelo local onde nascemos.
a man and a man holding hands,
dois homens de mãos dadas,
same-sex relationship is criminalized.
pessoas do mesmo sexo é crime.
gosto de contar histórias.
I like to start a conversation.
gosto de iniciar uma conversa.
vemos o choro,
plugged into Africa
being drained out.
estão a ser delapidados.
"Para onde vai isto tudo?
the patterns, the masks, the stories,
os padrões, as máscaras, as histórias,
to practice art full time.
para Nova Iorque,
He'll come back."
Ele há de voltar".
in New York was not easy,
em Nova Iorque não era fácil
no representation,
nas galerias, sem representação,
mostraria os meus trabalhos.
"Preciso de sobreviver".
to make a living.
para ganhar dinheiro.
para as pessoas.
to wear their stories.
orgulhosas de usar as suas histórias.
my hand on I painted,
on my Instagram feed,
o meu Instagram,
standing in front my art,
diante duma obra minha.
go into her and come out of her literally,
e sair dela, literalmente,
on human bodies.
os corpos humanos.
eu via arte nos chãos de mármore,
and people's bodies.
e nos corpos das pessoas.
most of my creative instincts
dos meus instintos criativos
on my childhood memories
da minha infância
and I think to myself, like,
que pintei e pensei:
if we all walked around
da mitologia ioruba?"
from Yoruba mythology?
The Sacred Art of the Ori was born.
A Sagrada Arte da Ori.
significa os nossos instintos.
it means your instincts.
when you tap into your Ori,
de descobrirmos a nossa Ori,
about painting on human bodies.
na pintura de corpos humanos.
my regular work in Brooklyn,
o meu trabalho habitual em Brooklyn
do teu trabalho.
para o meu vídeo de música?
for my music video?
um 'email'? O quê?"
how did she even know me?
Of course I thought it was a scam.
Devia tratar-se duma partida.
dizia: "Ná!"
it was real, it was true,
era real, era verdade,
to pay homage to New Orleans,
a Nova Orleães,
of her creole origins.
as suas origens crioulas.
from zero to 100 real fast.
do zero para cem, muito depressa.
and, like, take everything in.
we work so hard all our lives
trabalham tanto, toda a vida,
in me is still there,
to fight for what I believe in.
para lutar por aquilo em que acredito.
está sempre presente.
some of my art in motion.
alguma da minha arte em movimento.
I ever painted in my life,
que pintei,
my hopes and my fears.
as minhas esperanças e os meus medos,
one huge, nameless continent
um enorme continente sem nome,
que as pessoas saibam
over 350 ethnic groups and languages,
de 350 grupos étnicos com as suas línguas
de uma delas.
that I hope I will be able to change
que espero ser capaz de mudar
on the continent and here,
da arte africana no continente e aqui,
que a arte africana
at Harlem markets in New York
nos mercados de Harlem em Nova Iorque
you see has a story,
tem uma história
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laolu Senbanjo - Artist, musician, lawyer, activistLaolu Senbanjo's motto is: “Everything is my canvas.”
Why you should listen
A visual artist, musician, human rights lawyer and activist, Laolu Senbanjo puts his mark on everything from canvas, to shoes, to walls and buildings, to clothing and even the body with his Sacred Art of the Ori. Born and raised in Ilorin, Nigeria, his Yoruba heritage is ever-present in his work, which marries modern detail and ornate style to create a vision of Afrofuturism.
His preferred medium is charcoal, "because it’s something as natural as life and death," he writes, and he also works in acrylics, inks and even wood. Senbanjo created work for the astonishing "Sorry" video from Beyoncé's Lemonade, and he has worked with Angelique Kidjo, Kenneth Cole, Alicia Keys, Usher and many more.
Laolu Senbanjo | Speaker | TED.com