Series of six photographic diptychs
C-type print 127x185cm each diptych
‘Muyiwa Osifuye
Kaabiyesi: Courts of Influence is about the role of traditional rulers within current governmental practices in Nigeria and Benin. Osifuye travelled across both countries to photograph the Obas, the kings of the Yoruba people, who are considered divine. Although their domains still have historical and religious importance, only a hint of their former political power remains and their current position is often an ambiguous hybrid of tradition and modernity. Kaabiyesi! is a greeting reserved for a Yoruba king: uttered as a subject greets and prostrates before the Oba, acknowledging that the King’s words and actions are unquestionable and final.
