Sitting dog "aja" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3053656
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Description
light wood, pigments,
Depictions of dogs can be found in the shrines of the god “shango” and are associated with the figure of “lube yemi”.
According to a story passed down by Ulli Beier, this concerns a dog that fled from “ogun”, the god of iron, to “shango”, as “ogun” ate dog meat. After “ogun” had transformed him into a dwarf, “shango” nevertheless took him in and spoke the words “lube yemi”. Guy van Rijn notes in this regard that, according to his research, “lube yemi” can be translated from Yoruba as “kiss my hand”. Here, “lube” means “to kiss” and “yemi” means “my hand”. The phrase is used as a polite request and expresses respect or affection.
Publications
Stoll, Gert & Mareidi, Ausstellungskatalog Galerie Schwarz-Weiss, München 1981, ill. 38
AHDRC: 0109569