[Part 1] The year is 1976. The city is Aba. In the thick of the night, smoldering embers morph into a petite fire in an unfortunate stall in the heart of the city’s Ekeoha Market. Encouraged by the market’s dense layout, the rogue blaze stealthily spreads to neighboring stalls packed with dry goods and garments―the perfect kindling. Thick plumes of black smoke are soon seen wafting into the air. Like a courrier, the midnight breeze picks up the troubling aroma of ash and burn

Maiden spirit masks are used primarily for entertainment in the Awka region. They are considered the “incarnate dead” who protect the living and promote abundant harvests, large families, and a general sense of prosperity. They may also perform at second burials of powerful elders. The annual Fame of Maidens festival features Agbogho mmwo, representing adolescent females who demonstrate feminine beauty. Many of the masks that ended up in British and American museums were coll

In the beginning, the great sky god, Chukwu created an anthill. Chukwu sent a servant, Eri, to sit upon the hill. Eri sat alone in the vast wetland and asked Chukwu for assistance and company. Chukwu dried the wetness and created plants and animals. He gave Eri yams and Eri became the first Eze Nri (King of Nri). With the yams. Eri was able to cultivate human life. From then on, the Eze Nri had the right and duty to dictate the harvesting and distribution of yam. The Eze Nri

OCTOBER 2019 saw Brooklyn play host to a motley gathering of underground artists, diasporan cool kids, and suavely-dressed sapeurs led on stage by none other than Jidenna, the original Classic Man. In a repurposed industrial warehouse tucked in East Williamsburg, the Wisconsin-born, Nigerian-American artist commemorated the latest leg of his “85 to Africa Tour” in concert with legions of fans. Far from an inconsequential pit stop, Jidenna’s performance that night in Brooklyn

Proverbs are ripely-aged morsels of our collective thought, delicately parceled in everyday observations. In our new segment,#NzukoProverbs, we’ll be using proverbs to explore traditional Igbo thought and expression. Lately, given the current social climate, we’ve been meditating on the meaning of solidarity. As the ‘aziza’—straw broomstick—shows us, singular entities command more power when banded together. Around the world, in mimicry of this truth, displays of solidarity h