Vigilant things: on thieves, Yoruba anti-aesthetics, and the strange fates of ordinary objects in Nigeria

Introduction

Part I. Creating ààlé: Presence, power and the past; palm fronds

Part II. Call-and-response: What we look at and remember; Color (Awo)

Part III. Portraits and punishments: An ontology of the broken; Corncobs (Suku Agbado); Snail shells (Ikarawun Igbin); Brooms (Igbale).

pt. 1. Creating Aale

pt. 2. Call-and-response

pt. 3. Portraits and punishments.