Oduwa

Location: Aberyswyth, Wales

Year / Period Created
2019

Description:
She is primarily made from willow and thatching straw. To make the main body, we made a coracle size and shapeish basket by planting the willow into earth and then bending the willow over and wove a strong border and some horizontals to attach straw to. The head part (which detaches) is also a basket but conical. We soaked the straw and bent it around the horizontals and then attached with 2 made-up methods, one being wire used as a kind of flat clamp and the other being tight binding to splay out the straw ( which is so snappy it’s not the best to make from in this way, best kept straight!). Originally her ragged skirt was made with Devon soil dyed sheets and red cotton but has since been added to with other colours. Her face was 2 female pheasants’ wings, with one eye and the Pythagorean symbol in black and white on her forehead. And now (as the wings got moth-eaten), she has rags around her face.She was created as an homage to the Blue Oss in Padstow, from where the idea for the circular way she moves and her rotating dance came. She is a bit of a mash up really, named after a Fertility goddess from the Yoruba tradition, Oduduwa is credited with creating the Earth and its inhabitants. She assisted her husband, Obatala, in the formation of the world and the seeding of life. And the black and white on her face accompanying the straw was inspired by masks created by the Bobo and Bwa peoples of Burkina Faso. We were and still are on a mission to imagine what masked characters in the UK could have been and so we were looking to understand how natural materials are used in other counties and then trying to find materials that may have been used in the UK.

The whole of the idea for how she was made and the procession at Fire in the Mountain are linked that year, as she was created for the 2019 procession, (although she has been out each year ever since) . I was very inspired by Padstow (still am) and the way that so many people in a town can come together and dance on the streets all day, and really be part even if they do not inhabit the Oss, and i wanted to bring that kind of inclusivity to FitM. So we created 3 teams and they each had a colour, a beast, dance and song. They represented the 4 corners of the world and the 4 elements. Fire was represented by a metal bull sculpture, of Brigid’s bull (welsh mythology) and i forget the names of the other Air and water beasts that were created, as Oduwa is the only one to have lived longer than a year. So she represents the earth, its rotation and seasonality in her shape and movement and the fertility of its soils in our choice thatching straw. She dances at the festival every year in the procession on the Saturday. And does her part in reminding the world to keep on turning, and in reminding us to honour and give thanks for all the wonders the world gives to us.

What was the first event the Giant/Beast attended
FITM procession 2019

Does the Giant/Beast still exist? If not when and how did it retire?
She certainly does, although she needs some upkeep!

Any tales of outings/visits/strange and wonderful occurrences or special memories that should go down in History
I have witnessed Oduwa jump from floor to table (with a large group sitting at it) in one smooth rotation of a movement and not spill any drinks! She has nestled in a giant willow nest and been fed grasses by children. She is often seen barefoot and dancing so close that the rags whip you as she spins by. She has spent many a night under a tarp in a storm waiting to emerge in her glory. And she is now very proud to have been captured in print! She has never visited any other part of the world, and loves her valley, woods, and stream and all that live with her.

How is it stored?
Hanging above the Speakeasy suspended between two rafters with bailer twine, at the Fire in the Mountain site :A private, working farm near Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. Created in St Thomas Exeter at my workshop in the Theatre Alibi building

Who carries the Giant/inhabits the Beast or is it a shared role?
Benedict Webb has been the dancer since 2024, and now i’m not sure she would be so keen on anyone else. He is an amazing reader of space and energy (many years of Inline skating and surfing) and somehow combines this with a wonderful embodiment of her true nature. She is the most alive beast other than the Oss I have ever experienced. Originally she was created so that she could be worn by many people within 1 procession ( again Padstow inspired). Both Leah and I wore her on her first outing. I’m struggling to remember who else has inhabited her, sorry folks!

Maker / Creators (if known)
Ruth Webb and Leah Kirby