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AfroCubaWeb
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| Publications (with links
to content) Aerosol Kingdom Back in print, 2012 Graffiti art in NY. Presentation on Ékpè and Abakuá by Dr. Ivor Miller - 27 August 2:00pm, National Museum of African Art’s Lecture Hall, Washington DC. With the support of traditional intellectuals as well as musicians and dancers from Cameroon and Cuba. Cuba Calabar Radio - web radio from Calabar, Nigeria on the links between Cuban Abakwá and Ékpè Book Launch, Nigerian Edition of Voice of the Leopard: African Secret Societies and Cuba, 7/9/11: raising consciousness around the Abakuá and Ékpè Colloquium on Language, History and
Culture, 12/23/10 Dr.
Ivor Miller is interviewed on Cross River TV, 4/14/10 El Tambor Llama! Tanbou A Rele! (The Drum Calls). Sacred Drumming Traditions of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico, 4/25/09 Hostos Community College/CUNY, the Bronx, NY. Mambo Abakua, Ivor Miller at the University of Texas, Austin, 3/09 "Cross River Philosophy and Arts in Cuban Abakua" at University of Wisconsin, 9/22/07
Sociedad Abakuá es tan fuerte en Cuba como en África,dice investigador Norteamericano,
WDS, 8/13/07 “The Formation of African Identities in the Americas: Spiritual ‘ethnicity’.” Contours: A Journal of the African Diaspora by Ivor Miller, dedicated to Rogelio Martinez Fure, 2004. [PDF: 451 kb] “Introduction.” Special Issue. Contours: A Journal of the African
Diaspora,
based on a conference with Roman Diaz' group Omi
Odara, 2003 [PDF: 233 kb] |
Dr. Ivor L. Miller
Ivor L. Miller is a scholar focused on Cuban cultural history in the trans-Atlantic context. He has conducted research in Cuba since 1991. His dissertation (1995) focused on the Lukumi-Yoruba initiation systems of Ocha and Ifa (Santería) in Cuban society, the relationship of its practitioners and symbols to the nation's political class, as well as its influences in the USA (See Miller 2000). In collaboration with Dr. Wande Abimbola, in 1997 he published a book on the trans-Atlantic reach of Yoruba culture, in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad and the USA. Recent publications treat the migration of Cross River peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon in West Africa who established the Abakuá mutual aid society in Cuba (19th century), as well as the classical Bata drums of Ocha/Santeria, and their recent expansion in popular and sacred music in the Western Hemisphere and globally. Ivor Miller is a cultural historian specializing in the African Diaspora in the Caribbean and the Americas. His book Aerosol Kingdom (UP of Mississippi, 2002) documents and interprets the creation of Hip Hop culture in New York City from its beginnings in the late 1960s till the present, focusing on the Afro-Caribbean and African-American contributions resulting from 20th century migrations. Miller's current book, Voice of the Leopard (UP of Mississippi, 2008), documents the little known history of the Cuban Abakuá, a mutual-aid institution derived from the Ekpe (leopard) society of the Cross River region of Nigeria and Cameroon. Working with both Ékpè and Abakuá leaders, he has documented the foundation of the society in 19th century Havana, and its adaptaions to Cuban society. Abakuá lore in Cuba has proven useful to Cross River peoples as they reconstruct their own cultural history. In 2001 he helped facilitate the first-ever encounter between the Efik of Nigeria and the related Abakuá of Cuba - an event sponsored by the Efik National Association at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. Since then a series of further encounters were organized, in Michigan (2003), in Calabar (2004), and in Paris (2007). Ivor Miller's collected papers and field recordings are housed in the Amherst College Library. Miller has also written about Cuban artists working with initiation-symbols from African-derived systems, for example Juan Boza, Leandro Soto, and Francisco "Gordillo" Arredondo: “Kongo Cruzado: Lukumí and Kongo Identities in Cuba: the Art of Francisco ‘Gordillo’ Arredondo” The International Review of African American Art. Vol. 20, No. 2., 2005 by Ivor Miller [2MB PDF]
Francisco 'Gordillo' Arredondo, "Echu" Ivor Miller wrote Aerosol Kingdom: Subway
Painters of New York City in 2002 and collaborated with Wande
Abimbola on Ifá Will Mend Our Broken
World: Thoughts on Yorùbá Culture in
Jesús Pérez and the transculturation of the Cuban batá
drum.” Dialago. n. 7. Center for Latino Research. DePaul University.
Spring, 2003 |
 Senior Fellow Dr. Ivor Miller will be giving a presentation on
Monday 27 August at 2:00pm. This talk will be in the National Museum of
African Art’s Lecture hall and will include some special guests! Please
forward this message on to anyone you think may be interested. See below
for a synopsis of the talk:For centuries, the Ékpè ‘leopard’ society of the Cross River region in southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon was the supreme institution of governance that also embodied esoteric teachings about the life-cycle. African migrants in colonial Cuba recreated Ékpè in the early 1800s to protect members in a slave society and to gain their freedom. They called it Abakuá, after the Àbàkpà community of Calabar, Nigeria. During this process, Abakuá scribes documented large portions of their cultural history in 19th century manuscripts. Hidden from outsiders until recently, this little-known ‘people’s history’ is being shared with West African cultural leaders who are using it to understand their own pre-colonial traditional institutions and arts. With reference to photographs in the NMAfA collections, Ivor Miller will present key themes of this story with the support of traditional intellectuals as well as musicians and dancers from Cameroon and Cuba. The foci will be on trans-Atlantic cultural identities, symbols of ‘universal motherhood’, and the functions of ‘life-giving’ drums. The role of the Museum as a link between continental Africans and African-descendants in the USA to explore their legacies in the arts will be addressed. Traditional chiefs from Cameroon who live in the Washington D.C. region will participate. See http://ndiboyevengo.blogspot.com/2012/08/senir-smithsonian-fellow-chief-dr-ivor.html for further info at N'dibo Yeve N'go. |
| Ivor Miller, Senior Fellow, Smithsonian
National Museum of African Art presents
After recreating African institutions of governance
in the Caribbean during the colonial era, African descendants also
documented large portions of their cultural history in 19th century
manuscripts. Hidden from outsiders until recently, this little-known
story has been shared with West African cultural leaders who are using
it to understand their own pre-colonial traditional institutions and
arts. With reference to photographs and objects in the NMAfA
collections, Ivor Miller will present key themes of this story with the
support of musicians and dancers from Cameroon and Cuba. The focus will
be the Ekpè ‘leopard’ society of the Cross River region in
southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon, and the historically
related Cuban Abakuá society. Traditional chiefs from Cameroon who live
in the Washington DC region will participate.
Time
Monday, November 28 @ 4 p.m.
Place
National Museum of African Art
950 Independence Avenue, SW
Ibiono-Ibom, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, 2011 |
|
National Museum, Calabar, Old Residency Gallery December 23, 2010.
|
Chief
Dr. Ivor Miller is interviewed on Cross River TV,
4/14/2010
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KSzVRBnSIU
NdiboYeveNgo
— April
14, 2010 — Dr. Miller talks with Mrs Offiong Ani Offiong about
Ekpé traditions preserved in Cuba for over 200 years and the way in which these
traditions have been faithfully preserved by Abakua members from lodges in
Havana and Matanzas. www.crbconline.net
Calabar, Nigeria, Calabar Mgbe honor Ivor Miller, 30/5/2008
[We note that in Calabar the role of women is much stronger than among Abakua in Cuba. The general manager of the CRBC TV station, for example, is a woman as are many members of her staff and her board. -- Andy Petit]
For Miller's send-off from Nigeria, Calabar Mgbe prepared a statement of appreciation, read at the home of its President, Chief, E. E. Imona, in Big Qua Town, Calabar.
Afro-Cuba at the Crossroads: Arts, Culture, History, conference. University of Wisconsin at Madison. Nov 30, 2007
"Cross River Philosophy and Arts in
Cuban Abakua"
Ivor L. Miller, Reseeach Fellow, African
Studies Center, Boston University
The Abakua mutual-aid society of Cuba was created in the 1830s based upon
the Ekpe leopard society of West Africa's Cross River basin; both societies are
organized into a hierarchy of grades, each with a specific function. Abakua
masquerades and drum construction, as well as musical structures, are largely based on Ekpe models. The presentation
offers examples of Cross River
expressive arts in Abakua ritual performance. Discussant - Henry Drewal **To
listen to his radio program on this topic (can be downloaded and listened to --
it is up for a limited time on-line) go to: www.afropop.org/radio/radio_program/ID/686/The%20Voice%20of%20the%20Leopard
| "West African Ekpe and the Cuban Abakua, an historical continuum." With percusionists Roman Díaz and Vicente Sanchez. Sept. 28, Caribbean Cultural Center in Manhattan. Co-presenter, Chief Akanji of Nigeria's Ogboni society. See also Oriki Omi Odara, Roman Diaz' group |
Amherst College, 4/02, 2002 - "New Evidence for the African Diaspora in the Cuban Abakua Society."
| Lecture / performance by Dr. Ivor Miller, Copeland Fellow at Amherst College, accompanied by Omí Odara, a five member performance troupe directed by 'Roman' Díaz. Mr. Díaz is a title holder of the Abakua society, and a member of the sacred bata drum guild, Añá. Omí Odara performed Ireme masquerade dances and related chants, derived from the region of Calabar, Nigeria and recreated in 19th century Cuba, where they are integral to Abakua rites. |
Graduate Center City University of New York, 3/15/2002 - "African Diaspora and the Cuban Abakuá Society."
| Sponsored by the Cuba Project/Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere
Studies, The Graduate Center City University of New York.
"The African Diaspora and the Cuban Abakuá Society" |
|
Ivor L. Miller April 2012 Ph.D, Northwestern
University; M.A., Yale University Publications BOOKS 2009 Voice of the Leopard: African Secret Societies and Cuba. UP of Mississipi 2002 Aerosol Kingdom: Subway Painters of New York City. UP of Mississippi. 1997 Ifá Will Mend Our Broken World: Thoughts on Yorùbá Culture in ARTICLES: 2012 “Ékpè ‘leopard’ society in Africa and the Americas: Influence and Values of an Ancient Tradition.” With Dr. Mathew Ojong, University of Calabar. Ethnic and Racial Studies. Special Issue on “Secret or Private Organisations, Race & Ethnicity.” U.K. Pps. 1-16. 2011 2009 The genesis of African and Indian cooperation in colonial North America: An Interview with Helen Hornbeck Tanner. Ethnohistory Quarterly. 56.2 (Spring, 2009) American Society for Ethnohistory. 2007 “Cantos Abakuá de Cuba: examen de la nueva evidencia lingüística e histórica de la diáspora africana.”
Catauro: Revista cubana de antropología. Havana: Fundación Fernando Ortiz. Año 8. No. 15. pps. 4-33. Translation of my 2005 African Studies Review essay. 2006 Liner notes to Tambor Lukumí: Andrés Chacón y Iré Iré. Música Afro-Cubana. Three CD set. EarthCDs. 2006. 27 pages. 2005 “Cuban
Abakuá chants: examining new evidence for the African Abakuá entry (1000 words). Encyclopedia
of African-American Culture and History: The Black Experience in the
Americas. Colin Palmer, Editor in Chief. Detroit: Macmillan
Reference USA. Graffiti entry (2000 words). Encyclopedia
Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States.
Vol. 2. Ilan Stavans, Ed. Grolier Academic. Pp. 266-70. “On Hip-Hop”; “Ògún and Aerosol Art”; “The Trains and Aerosol”; “’Writing’, Not ‘Graffiti’.” The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 2004 “The
Formation of African Identities in the Americas: Spiritual “Introduction.”
Special Issue. Contours: A Journal
of the African “Notes from the Underground: the Increasing Relevance of Hip Hop” Black Renaissance/ Renaissance Noire. New York Univ. 6, 1 : 146-154. “El tambor como madre en la sociedad Abakuá.” Madre África: conceptos maternos en escultura tradicional africana. Centro Cultural Conde/ Duque. Madrid, Spain. (April-June) : 12-16. “Introduction.”
A Quatre Mains. CRASH/ H. Di Rosa catalogue. Galerie Speerstra.
Paris, France. Pp. 1-2. 2003 “Jesús Pérez and the transculturation of the Cuban batá drum.” Dialago. n. 7. Center for Latino Research. DePaul University. Spring : 70-74. 2000 “A Secret Society Goes Public: The Relationship Between Abakuá and Cuban Popular Culture.” African Studies Review. vol. 43, no. 1 (April, 2000) pp. 161 - 88. (Mine was the first article published in this journal to use tone markers for West African tonal languages). “Religious Symbolism in Cuban Political Performance.” TDR: A Journal of Performance Studies. Vol. 44, no. 2 (T166) pp. 30 - 55. [PDF, 2.5 MB] “Obras de fundación: la Sociedad Abakuá en los años 90.” Caminos: Revista Cubana de Pensamiento Socioteológico. La Habana: Centro Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. nos. 13-14 : 24 - 35. 1996 “We, The Colonized Ones: Peruvian Artist Kukuli Speaks About Her Art and Experience.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal 20. 1 : 1 - 25. 1995 "Belief and Power in Contemporary Cuba: The Dialogue Between Santería Practitioners and Revolutionary Leaders.” Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Performance Studies, Northwestern University. Advisor, Margaret T. Drewal. “The Singer As Priestess: Interviews with Two Cuban Artists.”
Sounding Off!: Music as Subversion/ Resistance/Revolution. Eds., Ron
Sakolsky & Fred Wei-han Ho. New York: Autonomedia. 287 - 304.
“Eno Washington: the memoirs of a Mississippi shaman.”
(with Jill Cutler) Race & Class 36. 3 : 21-38. 1994 “Celina González: The “Queen” of the Punto Cubano.” (with Idania Diaz) LUCERO: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies 5 : 9 - 20. “Celina González: Queen of the Punto Cubano.” Trans. Ivor Miller. The Beat 13. 2 : 46 - 47. 1993 “Guerrilla
Artists of New York City.” Race
& Class 35. 1 : 27 - 40. 1992 “No
More Carnivals: Cubans Struggle to Survive Their Economic 1991 “Night
Train: The Power That Man Made.” New
York Folklore 1990 “If
It Hasn't Been One Of Color: an interview with Roy DeCarava.” Callaloo:
Journal of African-American and African Arts and Letters.13. 4 : 847
– 857. Video Program - DANCE ON THE WIND Winner of the 1992 Connecticut Film & Video competition. Judge's Special Merit Award, 1993 New England Film & Video Competition Broadcast on Connecticut Public TV. Distributed by Cinema Guild, Inc.
Produced by Marty Frame, Ivor Miller, Jeremy Brecher and Jill Cutler |
Research Fellow
African Studies Center
Boston University
Boston, MA
email: imiller_AT_hampshire.edu
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