pokia family
The Pokia Family: Guardians of Memory and Ritual The Pokia family, hailing from the Kalabari Ijo people of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, stands as a testament to the enduring power of craft and ritual. For nearly five centuries, this lineage has been entrusted with creating the ‘ancestral screen,’ a profoundly significant object within Kalabari culture – a complex tapestry woven from wood, wicker, pigment, and iron, representing far more than mere decoration. These screens weren’t simply displayed; they were integral to family life, serving as focal points for storytelling, ancestor venerati…
The Subject Atlas
A chart of pokia family's corpus mapped not by date but by subject. Spokes are what they painted; rings are when; and the threads between stars reveal the patrons and places that secretly connect them.
Spokes — Subject
Each arm of the atlas gathers works by what they depict: portraits, sacred scenes, mythologies, and the scientific studies. Click a spoke to swing that cluster to the top.
Rings — Career Period
Distance from the center marks time. The innermost ring is the earliest period; the outermost, the final years. Style matures as you move outward.
Threads — Shared Context
Coloured lines link works bound by the same patron, commission, or theme. Trace a context to watch related clusters light up across subjects.