Exam 1 - Encounters with the Arts of Global Africa

Art History 1130 - Wayne State - Professor: Samantha A. Noel

7 Myths of Africa

• Primal timeless Africa

• African art as bound by place

• African art as communitarian

• Tribal Africa

• Intuitive African art

• Primitive art / “Art for arts sake”

• African art as anthropologically framed

Drawing of the heads of an Ibo African man with a pronounced prognathism and an orangutan, found in Histoire Naturelle du Genre Humain by Julien Joseph Virey.

• Portrays African people as ape-like, not entirely human

• European man is superior

• Hierarchy: human ➡ part-human ➡ animal​

Thomas Nast, “The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things,” from Harper’s Weekly, 1871.

• Irish man as an ape and violent

• Fearmongering

• Irish immigrants (stereotypes)​

Ife

The holy city of Ife was an important city among the Yoruba kingdoms

Ade

Yoruba word for crown

Okin

A small royal bird that signifies royalty

Olorun

The supreme being

Orisha

Yoruba word for deities/gods and goddesses

Osun

The river goddess

Ogun

The deity of war and iron

Obatala

The deity of creativity, the creator of bodies of living beings

Eshu

The deity who is the embodiment of the crossroads; he is also the messenger of the gods

Shango

The deity of thunder; Shango was a medieval king

Babalawo

Yoruba priest

Ifa

The deity of divination

Ashe

The power to make things happen (God’s enabling light)

Ruler of Orangun-Ila, Airowayoye I, in beaded crown and other regalia, Yoruba (Nigeria), 1977.

• Royal regalia, made up entirely of beads

• ​Cone-shaped headpiece (the head of a person is very important)

• Stylized faces & bird that symbolizes royalty and the great mothers

• Holds a scepter, decorated & stylized with beads (design motif)

• Beaded fringe to protect anyone looking at him

• Too important/sacred to touch the ground

• Looks powerful, but is also powerless

• During colonization, the frequency of when rulers would wear regalia increased

Olowe of Ise,​ Sculpture from the palace of Ikere, Yoruba,​ 1910-14.

• ​Support from the palace

• King & his wife; the wife is literally towering over him

  • Hierarchy of size: who is most important

• People much smaller below the king (most likely his workers)

• This wife may have done something important/is highly regarded (so are mothers)

• Nudity ≠ sexual

Artist unknown, ​Eshu Figure, Yoruba, ​19th century (?)

• Eshu: trickster messenger god/deity

• Man with headpiece standing (Eshu)

• On the headpiece, there are bores filled with powder for the divination process (used to improve one’s life)

  • Also phallic (man), Eshu is also associated with love & romance

• Body of a child, but his head is mature

• Leather strings with cowrie shells (shells used as a form of currency)

Artist unknown,​ Shango Shrine Figure holding ​Dance staff, Yoruba, ​19th century.​

• Shango: lightning

• Kneeling woman devotee (with a child) (social expectation is to be a mother

• Her head has a double axe

Ogboni Society elder with paired brass sculptures, Yoruba, 1949-50.​

• Powerful society of elders (Ogboni); they kept the king in check (the king answers to them)

• Similar in status to the Supreme Court (would also judge non-king stuff)

• Ogboni: wisdom & thirty (thirty members of the society)

• Both men & women

  • Edan: emblem of the society, both male & female figures

Cowrie shells

A form of currency used in many forms of African art

Neolithic stone axes

Stone axes from the last phase of the stone age that are sacred to Shango 

Ogboni

Thirty; wisdom

Edan

The best-known emblem of the Ogboni society

Gelede Festival

• Gelede festival is to honor motherhood + family

• The masqueraders of the festival are only men

• 2 major events

  • Ife ceremony (night before)

  • Daylight dances of Gelede

Components of Gelede costume

Mask, hair ties, & leg rattles

Arabi Ajigbale. Yoruba.

• 1st

• Wearing the cloths of the iron deity, Ogun, Aravi Ajigbale sweeps the market to clear the way for the masqueraders that follow (cleanses the space)

Bearded Great Mother, lyanla.

Yoruba.

• 2nd

• A beard is proof of wisdom as an elder

• The bearded greate Mother, Iyanla, bent with age, trails white cloth on the ground

Oro Efe. Yoruba.

• 5th

• Very elaborate headdress

  • In a headdress adorned with woodpeckers, snakes, and a leopard, and in a costume covered with geometric and representational images

• Oro Efe moves through the performance area guided by his attendants

Gelede Mask featuring Role Recognition

• Male & female subject matter (gender)

• Able to recognize what gender is depicted

• In image: male, important (size hierarchy), has a scepter, a child in his lap, people surrounding him

Gelede Mask of Ridicule

• Criticizing society that is looked down upon

• In image: satirizing/charicterizing a sex worker

Gelede Masks of Cosmological Forces

• Animal imagery: animals are distinct from humans and can also be a metaphor for different personalities or roles (power dynamics)

• Cultural practices/innovations outside of Yoruba (European)

Orunmila

Deity governing divination

Yemoja

The deity of motherhood, of family; the patron deity of the Gelede spectacle

Efe ceremony

The ceremony that occurs the night before the Gelede spectacle

Idomole Egungun. Yoruba.

• The Idomole live up to their praise names which are translated as “that which entertains or pleases the eye”

• Panels & patchwork (almost like a quilt), use of sequins & appliques

• Each design has animals/symbols that mean transitioning to world of living to dead

• Box like structure

Alubata Egungun

• Highest ranking Egungun

• Alubata means the one who plays the bata drum

• Costume is voluminous & a lot of textile use, has white fur

• When arms are raised it looks like a triangle (it’s fitted at the feet)

Onidan Fish. Yoruba.

• This Egungun deals with highly regarded animals and also with social commentary

• Entertainment element/portion of the festival

• Mud fish is highly regarded because it can live longer than others out of water & it emits electric shock to predators

Onidan of Europeans. Yoruba.

• Social commentary; has a watch, a modern bag, holds a pen (making fun of white scholars coming to study Africans)

• Could also be commentary on colonization

Egungun Masquerade

Masquerade honors the ancestors. The masquerade allows the world of the living and the world of the dead to converge

Colobus Monkey

Associated with the origin of the myth of the Egungun.

Alubata Egungun

Highest ranking Egungun. Alubata means the one who plays the bata drum.

Idomole Egungun

The Idomole live up to their praise names which are translated as “that which entertains or pleases the eye.”

Onidan Egungun

This Egungun deals with highly regarded animals and also with social commentary.

Artist unknown, Memorial Sculpture in the form of a House, Fon, 19th century.

• Dedicated to King Wegbadja

• Asen (memorial)

• Would usually feature an object related to the dead person

• Places on a shaft or pole & would be found in a memorial shrine

• The higher the pole, the higher the significance of the person (same with the material)

• Calabash represents his rights of rulership

• The cross is a sign for the meeting of religious forces

• The cord represents him as the father of royal lineage

Royal Diejo (House for the soul), Fon, 1874.

• Built after the king’s death to house his soul

• Earth + added materials make the walls

• Elegant metal sculptures (roof finials) on the roofs (with the symbol on the certain king)

Frederick E. Forbes, Parade of King's Wealth during Huetanu Ceremonies, Fon, 1851

• Introduced by King Agaja

• Appliquéd tent containing different icons referring to the history of the kingdom

• 6-7 thousand people carry goods/valueables

• People of high ranking had parasols

Artist unknown. Sculpture of a man with fins, Fon, 19th 20" century.

• Evidence of King Tegbesu’s influence

• Made with silver on wood

• Represents male & female priests associated with the court religion (what they would wear)

• Necklaces with coins, headpiece with hanging coins, & no recognizable face (has stylized cowrie shells)

• Has fins on shoulder (water/fish)

Artist unknown, Royal War Tunic Fon, 19"h century.

• Kansawu (war tunic for kings & important military leaders)

• Evidence of King Agonglo’s influence

• Red is royal color (empowerment)

• Gold rings; number = rank

• Triangles meant to represent claws of leopard

• Striking & beautiful design meant to grab attention

King Wegbadja

Founded the Dahomey kingdom

Asen

A memorial sculpture from the Dahomey kingdom

King Agaja

Second king of the Dahomey kingdom; the son of King Wegbadja

Diejo

Built after the king’s death to house his soul

Huetanu

A ceremony to celebrate the king’s wealth

King Tegbesu

The third king of the Dahomey kingdom; the son of King Agaja

King Agonglo

King Tegbesu’s grandson

Kansawu

War tunic for kings and important military leaders