Blog | Juwon Ogungbe

Swinging on the ropes

Having the attributes of an artist is good starting place. Learning the ropes is another ball game. Appreciation is part of the toolkit that an artist needs to make suitable choices. Is there any other path towards developing a sensibility? Cultures and their...

Pushing the boat out

Does it float your boat to play with a team? Or to function on your own? Peer pressure makes it seem as if there is only one obvious option to choose out of these two. Reality is a different ball game. Where and when do the innovative things happen? Perhaps they...

Isolation and the soul

Isolation is what it is. Nothing to be scared of. When events and fellow humans conspire to overwhelm a person who is unaware of his connectedness, isolation feels safe, snug, like a woolen glove on a cold day. In isolation, one learns to listen to one’s inner...

Sound and vision

Is cultural ownership the only means of gaining access to agency for creativity based on vision? For example, what was Colin McPhee doing in Bali, when he liaised with Gamelan performers from all over the island? McPhee lived in an era when it was taken for granted...

Things journeys can do

People set out on journeys for various reasons. Sometimes they have to move on, even though they don’t want to. In some cases, they want to escape from unbearable conditions. And in others, they travel out of curiosity, or simply to take a rest. Journeys in our hearts...

Who do cultures belong to?

I know folks from many cultures who are disaffected and living on the margins. They have vast amounts of insight to contribute to their communities, but they feel inhibited. Time doesn’t stand still. Flora and fauna go through stages of growth and then they...