Ikakumo is a small village in south-western Nigeria in West Africa. There are people from many different places living in Ikakumo. You will meet Akaan people from Ikakumo, Ebira and Yoruba people, people from neighbouring villages and people from further away. The language of the Ikakumo people is Ikaan, but almost everyone also speaks Yoruba. Many people know Ebira. Some people have lived far away and now speak Hausa, too. People from neighbouring villages bring their own languages along, and the cow herders speak Fulani.
Many families in Ikakumo farm on the land surrounding the village and keep small animals. Many women trade at the market, and many families have small businesses like a shop or a grinding engine, braiding hair, or selling tasty little snacks. Like in many villages in West Africa, there is farmland around the village, and there is a river and there are many hills. In the village there are leafy green trees to sit and rest under and there are churches, mosques and a shrine. There are two primary schools and a secondary school and of course there is the market. Ikakumo has a road connecting the village to other places, it has boreholes for safe drinking water, electricity lines for power, very good mobile phone coverage and, you might be surprised to hear, an internet connection.
The Ikakumo photography project took place over three weeks in January 2013 and was conducted by Asya Gefter with help from Adesoji Olusi and Sophie Salffner. It aimed to involve school children more actively in the ongoing language and culture documentation project conducted by Sophie. The exhibition of their photographs was launched in SOAS (London) during Endangered Languages Week 2013. Following the showcase at PICS Festival at Rich Mix (London), the exhibition travelled to the West African Linguistics Conference 2013 at the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), before returning to Ikakumo to be given to Irepodun Comprehensive High School.
Exhibition catalog can be downloaded via this link.