Ę je ka soro ti John Randle Centre fun asa ati itan awon Yoruba

We entered this museum and I was like it must suck to not be Yoruba because……🤭

My shoulder went up straight away at the fact that we have such a stunning monument that showcases the Yoruba culture and its history.

I went with my shaylaaa (miss you already!) and we felt the nostalgia.

If you ever find yourself in Lagos, you’ve got to visit the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, it is so beautiful, colorful, immersive and masterfully curated.

My excitement started from the parking lot.

I imagined a world where Yoruba was our first language like the asians.

As a designer, the Yoruba signs got me geeked! Now I want to create designs influenced by my language and culture.

The Museum interprets the culture in a modern, immersive and interactive way. The exhibtion started from the story of creation and ended at a futuristic imagination of the Yorubas. They merged ancestral and ancient relics, artworks, and exhibits but also included modern ones in quite a fluid layout. I loved the entrance, the wall that simulates folktales being told under the tree (o mu mi ranti abe igi orombo), the Yoruba atires…so sorry but we got steezeee…like when you’re adorned in a Yoruba outfit, you feel like you are the ish, the textiles and patterns, an Oba’s throne, the painting (stunned!), the music records, the designs from those times, and the Yoruba movies we grew up watching. I’m definitely going again and I left appreciating my culture and language a lot more so if you catch me speaking and writing Yoruba unprovoked — o ni idi😌 (there’s a reason).

Feast on these lovely shots from our visit.

with love,
gbems