The Òrga Spiral Podcasts
Where do the rigid rules of science and the fluid beauty of language converge? Welcome to The Òrga Spiral Podcasts, a journey into the hidden patterns that connect our universe with radical history, poetry and geopolitics
We liken ourselves to the poetry in a double helix and the narrative arc of a scientific discovery. Each episode, we follow the graceful curve of the golden spiral—a shape found in galaxies, hurricanes, and sunflowers, collapsing empires—to uncover the profound links between seemingly distant worlds. How does the Fibonacci sequence structure a sonnet? What can the grammar of DNA teach us about the stories we tell? Such is the nature of our quest. Though much more expansive.
This is for the curious minds who find equal wonder in a physics equation and a perfectly crafted metaphor. For those who believe that to truly understand our world, you cannot separate the logic of science from the art of its expression.
Join us as we turn the fundamental questions of existence, from the quantum to the cultural, and discover the beautiful, intricate design that binds it all together. The Òrga Spiral Podcasts: Finding order in the chaos, and art in the equations Hidden feminist histories. Reviews of significant humanist writers. -The "hale clamjamfry"
The Òrga Spiral Podcasts
The Pathfinder Paradox: Historicizing African Art within Global Modernity
This scholarly review by Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, titled "The pathfinder paradox: historicizing African art within global modernity," critically examines Chika Okeke-Agulu’s book, Postcolonial Modernism: Art and Decolonization in 20th Century Nigeria. Ogbechie praises Okeke-Agulu’s work as a valuable social history but argues it oversimplifies the complex origins of Nigerian modernism, particularly by sidelining pioneering artists like Ben Enwonwu in favor of the Zaria Art Society. The review further discusses how colonialism, Cold War politics, and Western "culture brokers" like Ulli Beier profoundly shaped the narrative and reception of modern African art, often steering it towards Euro-modernist aesthetics and away from Pan-Africanist ideals. Ogbechie contends that Postcolonial Modernism misinterprets key historical figures and movements, ultimately failing to fully account for indigenous transformations and the nuanced development of modern African art within a global context. The critique highlights the ongoing struggle to define African art history from an African-centered perspective, free from Eurocentric biases and external influences.