Githinji Mbire

ąshe

Art Without Definition

 

The processes of art and its accumulation know no finite definition, yet art as a means to accessing everything aesthetically is fundamental to all manifestation.  It is the relationship between spirit and physical life: beauty in the mean.

 

Art represents ąshe, a Yoruba word that has no English equivalent.  A thing or a work of art that has ąshe transcends ordinary questions.  In ąshe there is magic, the power to make things happen, and the embodiment of a life force.  Ashe is a spiritual manifestation of the artistic process.  The end result is a spark of creative goodness.

 

Trees, animals, and nonliving things like iron all inspire creativity and better the human being who creates.  All this is godly.  If there is any definition of art, that's it to me: the endorsement of humanity and its connection to the divine.

 

Githinji Mbire,

August, 1999