CROWTHER JOURNAL OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

The Omu-Aro is the emblem and insignia of the Arochukwu people, also known as the Aro-Okigbo. They are an Igbo subgroup, and the third largest city in Abia State, comprising 19 villages, led by Eze Aro. Arochukwu has a long history of slave trade relations with the West and is one of the last towns in the Southern protectorate to be overrun by the British colonial government. While the Arochukwu people have a retinue of symbols, none is as remarkable as the Omu-Aro. It is Arochukwu’s means of rallying together the Aro people scattered in various settlements in South Eastern Nigeria and the Diaspora. Even though the Omu-Aro is a Coat of Arms, seal, crest, symbols of unity, integrity, identity, etc., it is also an art that reveals the spirituality of the people of Aro. While the art is created using diverse elements like the knotted palm, eagle, hands, shield, sword, and gun, the spirituality of the Aro is conveyed by these elements. The Omu-Aro manifests the sacred and has become sacred, thus blurring the boundary between Aro art and spirituality; the aspects of knotted palm, eagle, gun, etc., further point to the Aro ecological, slave trade, and colonial experiences. While there are several studies on the elements of Aro spirituality, the present work distinguishes itself by its commitment towards establishing intersections between art, spirituality, colonialism, and ecology. Given the presence of these dimensions, the Igwebuike complementary theoretical framework and the multidimensional approach are employed to achieve the aim and objectives of this paper. The work discovers that beyond the arts in the Omu-Aro, there are echoes of spirituality, colonialism, and ecological experiences.

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