all other gods
twelve names. thirteen ways of remembering.
a visual sumtin'
for the names we carry
and the ones we are still learning
to pronounce
12 names.
13 ways of remembering.
some arrived through thunder.
some through water.
some through stories carried farther
than the people who first told them.
this is not a catalog.
one door still open.
nigeria
yorùbá · igbo
sàngó
some power arrives like thunder.
some power is thunder.
nothing escapes consequence.
òyá
the storm does not ask permission.
every door she closes was already falling from its hinges.
ìfá
knowledge tells you what is.
wisdom tells you what matters.
amadioha
lightning does not negotiate.
some scales are older than kings.
amadioha does not arrive to punish. he arrives because the balance was already broken.
ala
the earth holds everything.
belonging is not a place. it is a practice.
ala reminds us: you were never uninvited.
ghana
akan
anansi
before there were borders, there were stories.
the world survives one story at a time.
nyame
look up.
wonder is not the absence of knowledge.
it is what remains after knowledge has done all it can.
the coast
niger delta · gulf of guinea · the diaspora
mami wata
some things call to us because they are beautiful.
the hardest part is knowing the difference.
desire is a river. not every river leads home.
east africa
great lakes · zimbabwe
nyabingi
some spirits do not die when the body dies.
some spirits become drums.
nyabingi refused once and the refusal never stopped. it crossed lakes, crossed oceans, crossed centuries.
defiance is not anger. it is memory that will not kneel.
mwari
the cave does not shout.
the oracle does not perform.
mwari speaks through stone, through silence, through the people who carry the message farther than the source.
voice is not volume. it is the decision to keep speaking when the world has stopped listening.
southern africa
zulu
nomkhubulwane
the field must rest.
the spirit must rest.
renewal is not starting over.
it is returning to yourself.
mbaba mwana waresa
the earth gives. the rain gives. the seed gives.
abundance begins when we remember that enough was never meant to belong to one person alone.
the harvest does not ask who planted it.
the river returns.
the thunder quiets.
the door remains open.
distant cousins presents × mmaadd haus
20 × 24 in · framed archival art print · archival inks
numbered certificate of authenticity included
presale · $199
ye are gods
"i have said, ye are gods."
psalm 82:6
before the library closes, the door turns toward you.
not every god is inherited.
some are named by the life you choose to live.
give us your god name.
give us the values you stand for.
we will return two glyph directions.
you choose the one that feels true.
then we frame it and send it home.
this portal does not generate the work.
it opens the commission.
$299 total · $149.50 deposit · $149.50 balance
what should the glyph answer to?
tell us the values, principles, burdens, blessings, or contradictions you carry.
we send two glyph directions. you choose the one that feels true.
after the balance is paid, we finalize the framed archival print and send it home.
distant cousins presents is where culture moves.
we bring people together across africa, the caribbean, latin america, and the diaspora through reunions, stories, collaborations, and objects worth carrying forward.
some things begin as conversations. some become art. some become businesses. some become community.
all of them start with the same question:
what becomes possible when distant cousins stop acting like strangers?