Thesis Abstract

<p> </p><p>AN APPRAISAL OF ATYAP PERFORMING ARTS OF ZANGON KATAF KADUNA<br>STATE, NIGERIA 1950 – 2013,By Samuel Caleb.(N.C.E. Fine and Applied Arts KSCOE<br>Kafanchan, B.A.Fine Arts, M.A Art History A.B.U Zaria)<br>This study explored the activities of the Atyap performing arts, defining what they are by<br>name. Chapter one introduces the background history of the Atyap performing arts of<br>ZangonKataf Kaduna State Nigeria from 1950 – 2013. The problem of the study was that,<br>the Atyap performing arts have dwindled over these years and that, it is being endangered.<br>The aim of the study sought to establish the state of the Atyap performing arts. The<br>objectives of the study were to investigate the historical evolution of the performing arts<br>from 1950 – 2013, to identify the existing Atyap performing arts and the instruments of<br>music; study the socio-cultural character of the Atyap performing arts; examine the fears of<br>extinction expressed by researchers on performing arts of Atyap; and categorize the Atyap<br>performing arts according to their various manifestations. The performing arts of the Atyap<br>from available records, haven undergone considerable change of recent justify this study.<br>The scope of this research was devoted to the existing Atyap performing arts from the<br>numerous traditional music and theatre arts existing from 1950 – 2013. The performing arts<br>are diverse in nature; they include those performed without instruments, those performed<br>with musical instruments, those performed theatrically and those performed poetically.<br>They are those performing arts found within Abin-Atyap.Chapter two focuses mainly on<br>the review of relevant literature which further reveals the gaps existing in the previous<br>studies, especially in the examination of the nature, content and context of the Atyap<br>performing arts of ZangonKataf, Kaduna State. The relevant reviewed literature showed<br>that the influences that permeated the early periods of the Atyap performers have continued<br>to manifest themselves in different shades and circumstances to the extent that there are<br>new transformations and assimilations of performances from nearby ethnic groups<br>bordering Atyap, Chapter three discusses the methodology, research designed of the study.<br>Both the historical and qualitative methods of data collection were used. Several experts<br>suggested the use of multiple approaches to art historical studies, and were adopted in this<br>work to investigate the historical evolution of the Atyap performing arts from 1950 to<br>2013. The population of the performing arts is those practised in Abin-Atyap. The selection<br>was done using the purposive sampling due to the heterogeneous settlement pattern of<br>Atyap. In carrying out the field work of this study, the qualitative method of investigation<br>was used. The interviews conducted were done based on the sampled population, using<br>questions that were open ended in nature. Information collected from the field was<br>analyzed in Chapter four and five of the study. The discussions made were done through<br>categorization, description and comparative analysis. Chapter four analyzed the data<br>collected base on specific headings. These headings include (i) early performing Arts in<br>Abin-Atyap (Song Guguwa, Song Zunzuo, Song Zunzom Atah, song zunzom Angurung,<br>Song Zunzom Akhuwoo, Song Kuku), (ii) Borrowed performances (Song Zunzom Akatam,<br>Song Samba, Song Bori, Song B.B, Song Akpat (Hausa praise singers), (iii) Recent<br>performances (Song Din-vag) and Song Ashong. Chapter five pulled together some<br>assertions on the extinction of the Atyap Performing arts and discussed them through<br>viii<br>intrinsic deductions from the art forms and performances seen in the different celebrations.<br>The findings of this study established that some performances are actually going into<br>extinction, while most performances are undergoing refinement due to acculturation. Over<br>the years, there has been multiplication of adopted Atyap performing arts stemming from<br>youths, adults, and women groups. Chapter six contains a summarized overview of the<br>entire study. The recommendations of this study states that, most of the existing<br>performing arts needs sustenance. Schools were recommended to adopt some performing<br>arts for extra-curricular activities. Churches in the land were encouraged to adopt some of<br>the performing arts with some refinements for their praise, worship session.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>

Thesis Overview

<p> Introduction and Background of the study<br>The study “An Appraisal of Atyap Performing Arts of Zangon Kataf Kaduna State,<br>Nigeria” is a research on the past and present performing culture of the Atyap of Zangon<br>Kataf Local government; with special interest on the art of theshow. The study traced the<br>history of the Atyap performing arts from 1950 – 2013. The name Kataf as used in many<br>writings is used in this study as “Atyap”. Anywhere the name is used as Kataf it means the<br>same as Atyap. This is necessary for the reader of this work to understand the successive<br>change of the name of the ethnic group from Atyap to Kataf in the literature review in this<br>work. AtyapcommunityOnline (2010) states that Atyap,<br>Also known as Kataf by Hausa, are an ethnic group that occupy part of the Zangon-<br>Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. They speak Tyap<br>language, one of the West Plateau languages. They occupy the south east portion of<br>present day Southern Kaduna, in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna<br>state. The ethnic groups in this area speak a common language, and display so<br>much uniformity of cultural traits that the groups may almost be regarded as<br>constituting a homogeneous language with the Oegorok, Sholio, Chechaat,<br>Fantswam and Jju. Thus, each division of the group is seen by other ethnic groups<br>as constituting an ethnic group. However, the ethnic groups have no political<br>uniformity other than a continuous ancestral and social intercourse.<br>The ethnic groups in Southern Kaduna cannot be said to have no political, ancestrial and<br>socialintercourse, history had it that most of the ethnic groups like Oegorok, Ham, Asholio<br>left the north-east to their present abode, that some of the ethnic groups arrived earlier than<br>the other, which they called early arrival while others arrived later just as the Rohogo and<br>2<br>Minyam story of the Atyap. Other ethnic groups were believed to have come out from<br>others as a result of hunting expendition like the Attakar and Bajju who are believed to<br>have come out of Atyap. This was why the polity of the region was similar. The language<br>is some what similar and culture. The Atyap, according to Achi (1981:28),<br>… occupy the central area of the lower valley of the Niger and Benue rivers in the<br>South- eastern part of Kaduna State. The area is bordered to the north by the<br>Binawa,Rimbu, Kiballo and Surubu speaking peoples; to the north – east by the<br>Kurama, to the east by the Chawai people and the Kaduna River; to the south-east<br>by the Chechaat and Maroa, to the South by the Oegrok people, and to the southwest<br>by Bajju, Ham, Angan and Bakulu peoples.<br>In the quest to live and prosper to reports, according to Magaji (1994), the Atyap engaged<br>in several ceremonial activities; some of such were social activities during the dry season<br>believed to be the resting period. This necessitated the production of various musical<br>instruments used by various age grades, the young, the middle aged, the old, the palace<br>praise singers and the religious Abwai Cult for diverse cultural events. During such<br>celebrations, the Atyap would often use horses which included caravabration. Atyap<br>produced saddles for horses to be used by young boys and men who heralded every<br>celebration. The celebrations led to the production of custumes, instruments used during<br>performances.<br>Statement of the Problem<br>The Atyap, according to oral history, had religious, political and socio-cultural<br>performances like most pre- 20th Century African communities (Dauke, 2004:19-26). At a<br>particular time, the performing arts were said to have metamorphosed into a culture. Each<br>3<br>clan was said to be identified with at least one form of performance or the other. This was<br>necessitated by the environmental and human challenges frequently faced in the region,<br>some of which were natural or man made. Of recenthowever, there seemsto be a sharp<br>decline in the art of music and performances.<br>Three researches on the art of the Atyap, to the knowledge of the researcher, have<br>shown concern about it. They are: “Form and Functions of Art among the Kataf of Kaduna<br>State”, by Nkom (1987), “Wood Carving in Atyap land” by Samaila (1994), and “The<br>Social Function of Art in Atyap New Year Festival” by Samaila (1999). Nkom (1987:117-<br>118) establishes that,<br>The Kataf society is blessed with a variety of art and crafts, most of which are<br>functional and performing arts. The artists generally are of age…between the ages<br>of thirty (30) upwards. The youths do not have time for any art work in Kataf<br>society; they feel it is old fashion. From the numerous art forms that exist in Kataf,<br>a good number of them are no longer in public view.<br>Samaila (1999:5) similarly contends that, the vast coverage of performing arts of the Atyap<br>was fast in the decline in recent years. The fascinating art productsof costume, wood<br>carvings, and hand crafts are going into extinction, and there seems to be nothing done to<br>revive their functional significance.Thus thedecline and fears ofextinction of performing<br>arts in Abin-Atyapis a problem which needed to be solved.<br>Aim and Objectives of the Study<br>The aim was to appraise the present state of the Atyap performing arts. The objectives<br>of the study are to:<br>Investigate the historical evolution of the performing arts of Atyapfrom 1950 – 2013.<br>4<br>Identify the existing Atyap performing arts and the instruments of music.<br>Find out whether Atyapperforming arts still plays in culture it used to play from 1950 to<br>2013<br>Study the socio-cultural character of the Atyap performing arts.<br>Examine the fears of extinction expressed by researchers on performing arts of Atyap.<br>Categorize the Atyap performing artsaccording to their various manifestations.<br>Justification for the study<br>Notable performing art forms exist in Atyap which have not enjoyed scholarly<br>attention as the Nok terra cottas do for instance. Oral record shows that Atyap art has<br>suffered considerable neglect from scholars who have continued to study the Nok art with<br>no allusion to the study of art of near by ethnic groups who had at one time or the other<br>made claims to the Nok art. Recent finds of the Nok reveal that the ceramic tradition of the<br>Atyap could be connected to Nok art. Moreso, that the performing artsof the Atyap have<br>suffered considerable change of recent, justifies this study.<br>Significance of the study<br>This research “An appraisal of Atyap Performance arts of Zangon Kataf Kaduna<br>State” is significant, first for bringing to light a new phase to the study of the art in the<br>midst of other art forms among the Southern Kaduna extraction. Second, this research<br>encourages better appreciation of the performing arts of the Atyap from the past to the<br>present. Third, this research records the various contributions made by the local artistes to<br>5<br>the development of arts in Abin-Atyap. Fourth, the findings and recommendations that<br>emerge from this research contributes significantly to the development of literary and<br>historical study of the performing arts of the Atyap in particular, and further studies of<br>Southern Kaduna performing arts in general.<br>Scope of the study<br>The scope of this research was devoted to the existing Atyap performing arts from<br>the numerous traditional music and theatre arts existing from 1950 – 2013. The performing<br>arts are diverse in nature; they include those performed without instruments, those<br>performed with musical instruments, and those performed theatrically and poetically. The<br>scope of the study is limited to performing arts found within Abin-Atyap.<br>Limitation of the Study<br>This study encountered the limitation of the inability to get pictures of performing arts of<br>the 1950s to 1970s. The writer visited the Agwatyap’s Palace at Atag Njei Zangon Kataf to<br>collect pictures with no success, and several visits were made to the national archieve, the<br>Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Kaduna, the Ministry of information and Arewa<br>House with no older photographs of 1950 – 1970s collected. For example, the Ministry of<br>information had many pictures of eminent personalities in Nigeria with only few durbar<br>pictures to show as the only recorded performing art, which had no relevance to this study.<br>Also, the older form of costumes of Atyap performing arts was not seen even with the<br>several attempts by reseach assistants to help search for older pictures to no avail.<br>6<br>Conceptual Framework<br>In considering the effective methods adopted by researchers in the visual arts, Sullivan<br>(2005) in Jari (2007:38-39) observes that in recent years, several specialists published texts<br>that deal with the topic of visual research and related approaches to inquiry. Generally,<br>there are three strategies employed by Jari: (i) Approaches that build on discipline-based<br>research that have a tradition of using visual means of gathering and interpreting data.<br>Such studies draw on areas such as sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies; (ii) A<br>discipline approach that draws on areas of visual arts such as art history, art theory, and<br>criticism. The research traditions are based on historical inquiry, literary-based<br>interpretative strategies, and post modern critical perspectives. The historical inquiry<br>answers questions like when were the art works made? What were the drives which<br>informed the production of the art works? How was the art being preserved through the<br>ages under the study? (iii) Art-based educational inquiry. Those who promote this<br>approach see the arts as comprising a set of practices that help broaden the way people<br>understand things, and thus can be used to expand how information is gathered and<br>represented. Also, several authors admit that many researches favour the use of a<br>combination of different methods. After listing eight different methods of social research,<br>Imoisili (1996) in Jari (2007:39) for instance, concludes that in practice, an average<br>researcher is likely to use a combination of methodologies.<br>In searching into the art of Africa, Willett (1975:9-10) identifies two types of research<br>methodologies, the primary and secondary studies. The primary study has to do with<br>the researcher going into the field to see and collect data from studios and from the<br>7<br>custodians of the arts. This helps in keeping track with the ever changing nature of society.<br>The secondary study is the compilation of literature on the field of study, much of which is<br>more valuable for its illustrations and rich historical documentation.<br>Nkom (1987:85) used survey method in her study “Form and Functions of Art among the<br>Kataf of Kaduna State”. Agya (1994:1) in his survey of the history of the Kadara people<br>used the survey method. Operationally, survey can be divided into any number of<br>subcategories, depending on the basis and purpose of the classification. Along a different<br>continuum, survey can be classified according to the instruments and techniques used, for<br>example questionnaires, interviews, observation. Jari (2007:41) concludes that more recent<br>studies on African art have been accompanied by huge exhibitions sponsored by corporate<br>organizations. The catalogues of such exhibitions contain texts usually on topical issues<br>contributed by many and varied scholars in the field. This study adopts Jari’s suggestion to<br>the use of a multiple-dimensional approach to research.<br>8 <br></p>