ARTIST STATEMENT
It was still the time of long-lived people, a time in which human beings could live to approximately 150. At that time, tradition and the land were deeply rooted in the inhabitants of the Bubi community. The families lived their religion and rituals to balance all the energy of the macrocosm and to live in harmony with all the energies that sustained the life of the community.
That was the time when Bula Wá Poro started having her children. She was a fertile young woman with a lot of vitality. She lived according to all the principles and laws that governed Bubi rituality. These laws ensured harmony with nature. However, she had the misfortune that her children died at birth.
The organization of the Bubi family revolves around the matriclan or kárityóbo. This family nucleus has its structure projected with the energies of the greater beech that guard the beings of the greater here, granting stability and continuity to the family. From these energies, we have the mmo wá kárityóbo and ö waíribo, as the custodian and generating forces of good within the germ of the family.
Cornered by all social and spiritual pressures, she went to her wairibos to ask for even a single offspring that could ensure the continuity of her branch. After three years, Bula Wé Poro gave birth to a girl. She was a small, stunted, and ugly baby. When Bula Wé Poro saw the baby, she thought she would not survive. She then decided not to breastfeed her, saying, “In my life, I have given birth to beautiful, robust, and strong children. I have even had twins. This,” referring to the newborn, “is not going to live, so I will not waste my time breastfeeding her.” Then Bula Wé Poro’s father took the creature and called her Mèmé,
which means “good and beautiful,” and decided to take care of her with the palm wine pulp freshly extracted from the date palm tree.
Mèmè grew up completely normally, and at three years old, her mother died. When she passed away, her grandfather told her the following:
“What does life mean? It is as long as it is short, as exquisite as it is difficult. Life is bitter, life is beautiful, but it is as beautiful as it is hard, as cold as it is fiery. What is life? Life is a heartbeat, life is war, conflict, and fight. Life is love, hate, and ingratitude. Life is joy, sadness, and desolation. Life is a miracle, wonder, and astonishment. Life is everything and nothing at once.”
Mèmè continued to grow up and be educated by her grandfather. At the age of 10, her grandfather, whom she depended on, died. From that moment, Mèmè’s life became a constant struggle to eat, sleep, and see a new dawn. However, as her grandfather told her, “ëtéba á bötyö we e bokiö”, you must have a noble heart. She inherited from her mentor a pure and clean heart, a very bright light that enveloped every space and turned every sadness into happiness.
Mèmè lived from house to house, doing piecework to survive. If someone called her to work, she would settle in that person’s house in a space where she would not interrupt their comfort or life. Often, these were spaces such as galleries, warehouses, or kitchens. After finishing the work with that person, they would say to Mèmè, “I’m sorry, but I no longer have space for you here.” And so, she grew and grew, radiating joy, singing, and dancing often for the community. In this way, she survived the vicissitudes of the wandering life.
When she reached the age to attend the bötói, she left with the idea of asking the great mother and the deities for many children, health, and means of subsistence.
The bötói is the rite of fertility, the most important religious ceremony of the Bubi people, in which the great mother is asked for the abundance of crops, fertility in men and women, job opportunities, good health, and prosperity for the town. However, the oracle told Mèmè that an immense family would emerge from her descendants, and they would remember her as Bönana Sinké, the survivor and fighter. And thus, Kítailo was born.
