[Re:]Entanglements fieldwork activities

George Agbo (right) conducting an interview with Chiri Izu Igwilo and Odidika Chidolue in Neni
George Agbo (right) interviewing Chiri Izu Igwilo and Odidika Chidolue in Neni, Anambra State, Nigeria. Photograph by Glory Chika-Kanu.

Field research in West Africa is an important part of the [Re:]Entanglements project. This research, which will be one of the main activities of the project’s second year, involves retracing parts of the journeys made by Northcote Thomas during his anthropological surveys in Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915.

One of the objective of this fieldwork is to reconnect with the communinties that Thomas visited over 100 years ago, and, where possible, to deposit copies of Thomas’s photographs, sound recordings and other archival materials with the descendants of those he documented. The historical archives and collections provide a medium through which to build relationships in the present. As well as ‘repatriating’ the archive, we are learning a great deal more about its content. The photographs, sound recordings and material culture collections are remarkably well contextualised compared with other ethnographic archives, but still there is much we don’t know. The return of the photographs and sound recordings provide occasions for telling the history of the settlement or community, explaining what is going on in a particular scene, or indeed correcting errors in Thomas’s documentation.

Paul Basu conducting fieldwork in Idunmwowina with David Ormoruyi Egonmwan and Ekhaguosa Aisien
Paul Basu (left) conducting fieldwork with elders, including David Ormoruyi Egonmwan and Ekhaguosa Aisien, at Idunmwowina, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Photograph by George Agbo.

In our initial travels with these archives, we have found, of course, that much has changed in the areas in which Thomas worked a century ago. Places that were villages surrounded by forests have become neighbourhoods in conurbations. Thatched, mud-brick houses have been replaced by concrete and glass. Christian churches have often supplanted local shrines and traditional religious practices. And yet the continuities are also striking. Older members of the community still recall the old buildings from their youth; the names of photographed ancestors are known – a family resemblance is detected their descendants’ faces; the sacred grove is still somehow sacred.

Iyowa elders, including Ambassador Etiuosa Ighodaro and Mr James Aigbuza, pictured with their respective forebears Agbuza, Idodaio and Odiaisi
Iyowa elders, including Mr James Aigbuza and Ambassador Etiuosa Ighodaro, pictured with their respective forebears Agbuza (NWT 1250), Idodaio (NWT 1244) and Odiaisi (NWT 1246). Photographs by Paul Basu.

We will post longer accounts of our fieldwork here on the project blog, but please also follow our progress by joining the project Facebook Group, where we post more frequent updates.

Represencing the past

Ghost of the gate that once marked the entrance to Idunmwowina
Ghosts of past landscapes? Idunmwowina on the outskirts of Benin City. While Idunmwowina has changed much in the 110 years since Northcote Thomas visited with his camera, we were able to locate many of the exact locations he photographed. Here, for example, is Thomas’s photograph of the gate that once marked the entrance to the town superimposed on the scene as it appears today. Photographs by N. W. Thomas (NWT 332, RAI 15494) and Paul Basu.

Continuity and change

Nriaka, the town crier of Nri in 1911, photographed by Northcote Thomas, and Edechi Chidokwe, the present-day town crier of Nri.
Agukwu Nri, Anambra State, Nigeria – Then and Now. Much has changed in the 108 years since N. W. Thomas visited Agukwu Nri, but there are many continuities too. Here, for example, is the Nri town crier of 1911, whose name Thomas recorded as Nriaka, and Edechi Chidokwe, who is the Nri town crier today. The wooden gong they carry is called ekwe ogbo in Igbo, and today they are often inscribed with the name of the owner’s age grade. Photographs by N. W. Thomas (NWT 2671, RAI 15167) and Paul Basu.
Eke Market, Agukwu Nri in 1911 and today
Eke Market, Agukwu Nri in 1911 and today. Photographs by N. W. Thomas (NWT 2240, RAI 15841) and Paul Basu.