Kindonkind: Revealing inner sense of the world
Book: Kindonkind Author: Emmanuel Eni Reviewer: Agwu Enekwachi Pages: 321 ISBN: 978-3-00-068028-1
As one reads the poems of Eni and contemplate his art, they appeal to consciousness, learning and reconciliation, allowing one to access aspects of the past and the future
As the world reeled under the global lockdown of 2020, Emmanuel Eni, German-based artist and author released his fourth poetry book; a 321-page anthology of 600 poems, Kindonkind.
The allure of poetry and art is that both possess something unique, which explains why they find a meeting point in the work of some gifted artists. This is true in Eni’s work as his poetry inspires his art and vice versa.
His early life and experience in Europe birthed some of the poems in the collection. He was also able to capture some contemporary issues with the nostalgic feeling about the history, like the mythical ‘Sankofa.’ To appreciate Eni’s work is not to see one aspect independent of the other. He speaks with a powerful multivalent voice that has won him accolades which made him to be popularly referred to as a “The Blackman in European Kitchen,” after one of his poems.
The “KINDONKIND” anthology is about the deeper values encoded in life’s dualities. In nature, things come in twos, for growth and sustainability. The inside is part of the outside, one connecting the other. The interplay of this duality exists in opposites like day and night, cold and hot, life and death.
The poems portray the attraction and curiousness that could be encountered by relating to one another. The underlying message in Eni’s poetry is from the standpoint of a collective understanding as captured in the book, time is always with every kind, through the introverted and extroverted dealings of one to one’s self, one to another, as well as one to nature.
This timely anthology also includes pageant poems, love, spirituality and philosophy. Also included are historical narratives relevant to the consequences of ‘repeated’ history.
All the poems in this anthology were written in a span of 30 years.
Some stories in the anthology revolve around war, violence and courage. Eni tells stories of valour, constructive achievements and discoveries among old African kings and legends. Some like “Chaka- king of Zulu”, “Sundiata and Sumanguru”, “Ovoranwen Nogbaisi”, and “Hang – Kinjeketille” sought to expand and protect their spaces. Eni’s classic and ever green work, “Israel and Palestine” an installation, and performance, reference the conflict in the middle - east, while drawing attention to the rising violence in Nigeria exemplified by violent groups like Boko Haram, bandits, herdsmen, ethnic militia and kidnappers.
His odyssey as a multi-media artist started during his undergraduate studies in Visual Arts, when he led casts ahead of some theatre arts majors. His work has always been invested in multiple expressions, the approximation he calls “contemporary Barock art.” Before “KINDONKIND,” his recent anthology, Eni had published three poetry books - “Masquerade undressing,” “Universes of Water,” and “Death of the Curator”.
The Germany-based Edo Stateborn artist has participated in several exhibitions in the country. It is very difficult to separate his arts from poetry due to his ability to have found a common ground for both to exist mutually and profitably.
This book should bring joy in our victories, spiritual warfare, or in our daring journeys. Other references in KINDONKIND anthology are evident in some of the poems like “Origin of the bell,” “The Girl and the water spirit,” “Do you love machine,” “Short story of Electric light,” “Gbomo Gbomo the wicked Kidnapper” and others.” As one reads the poems of Eni and contemplate his art, they appeal to consciousness, learning and reconciliation, allowing one to access aspects of the past and the future.