The Walls and Wallways of Lagos

The green ceramic tile class this three story residence in the town square.  Ok there are at least four town squares.  You will not miss green!  From the entry through the old wall there is a glimpse at the artistry of Lagos.  We spent last night at a concert of Portuguese folk music and were treated to the visiting Cuban male choir, Bafo de Baco.  Concert started at 9:30 pm. Well past our bedtime!  Lagos has surprises, visual and aural at every twist of the narrow streets.

From murals to coloured doorways this city promises both individualism and collective esprit de corps.

There, funnelled between buildings a road that leads to the ocean.  Every twisted trail leads downhill to the water.  Orienteering is somewhere between steeples and tides.

The heart of the community and the art of this community are carved with the precision of a fish scaler in the market.  There is a precision and a promise embedded in every knife movement.  Lagos is alive, visually, emotionally, spiritually and economically.  Preserved by a stubborn adherence to language and tradition.  Folk music and folk dances are more than novelty.  Like all traditions, be it church, fish, art, or music each one is preserved with care and corruption.  From the conflicts a city emerges.

 

 

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