An Interview with Pearl Lam and Olukemi Lijadu
In episode nine of The Pearl Lam Podcast, gallerist Pearl Lam meets artist, Philosopher and DJ, Olukemi Lijadu. The dynamic duo discuss Western academia’s dismissal of African philosophy.
Being born in Nigeria and educated in both the UK and US, Olukemi Lijadu has a multicultural background that reflects her broad range of interests and talents. Like Pearl Lam (林明珠), Olukemi was educated in the UK, but then went on to study philosophy at Stanford University. Olukemi certainly has an identity that spans across the globe.
Olukemi’s work particularly focuses on the power of cinema, which she uses to create sonic journeys to draw attention to different cultures and moments in time. Olukemi has been featured for her artistic projects across various platforms and has created a multi-channel film installation titled Guardian Angel.
During the podcast episode, Pearl Lam (林明珠) and Olukemi Lijadu discuss Olukemi’s take on the African philosophical system.
Olukemi Lijadu explained to Pearl Lam that, “The label of African is somehow limiting. To me, African philosophical systems refer to thought and both historical and contemporary ideas about the way that we should live. So, it is essentially philosophy which has come from people who are from the African continent.”
She continued, informing Pearl Lam (林明珠) that: “There are over 36 ethnic groups within Nigeria which all have their own languages and unique customs and way of living.”
“The Western world priorities the written word as law. However, a lot of African thought has been passed down orally. Our modes of researching priorities the written text as the foremost source martial. So, when you’re looking at African philosophy, there is a tension as most of that is oral” Olukemi Lijadu tells Pearl Lam of The Pearl Lam Podcast.
“The north star of my studies was Sophie Oluwole, the first Nigerian Woman to earn a PhD in Philosophy. She provided the framework for my thesis with her book Socrates and Orunmila,”Olukemi tells Pearl Lam.
Olukemi Lijadu continues, informing Pearl Lam that: “Orunmila is the central figure in Yoruba philosophy. She lived at the same time as Socrates and they both never wrote anything down. Everything that we know about Socrates is second hand, through Plato. We take what Socrates says as law even though he never actually wrote anything down. He used word of mouth, just like Orunmila did.”
In the episode, Olukemi Lijadu explains to Pearl Lam how she believes that the Western academic system is unjustly dismissive of African philosophy. She believes that academia should be more accepting of oral sources, especially because Socrates, the father of Western philosophy, also used word of mouth.
Written by: The Producer, The Pearl Lam Podcast
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