AN EXAMINATION OF TRADITIONAL MURAL ART OF THE OBINGWA

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Mural art along side body adornment, wood carving and weaving are the age-long traditional arts of Obingwa of Abia State, Nigeria. The mural art called “Agwugwa Ulo” meaning wall inscriptions is practiced by women. The art formed part of the architectural design of the people. They depict geometric and natural motifs, designs, indigenous styles, techniques, modes and functions of the art. The traditional architectural patterns of Obingwa are similar to those of other Southern Igbo communities, which are areas in present Abia and Imo States as delineated by Isichei (1977). This uniformity is due to the climate condition of the area. The design is done on mud walls and incorporate with delta leaves or raffia as roofs.

Mural art which is also seen as wall decoration is a work of art that decorates a wall or ceiling of a building. This could be done in the interior or exterior walls of the building. Irivwieri (2003) states that various motifs that are either geometric, botanical, human, zoomorphic, abstracts and indigenous motifs are employed to create art works and narrate stories on a subject matter, thereby projecting an idea inherent in it. According to Kleiner(2011),“the origin of mural art is traced to prehistoric rock and cave paintings and engravings, some of which dateback to 30,000 years”.