Comparing Heads.

Well, unfortunately I do not have pictures of the two objects I will be comparing but if you guys can't remember what I'm talking about I'm going to provide you the page numbers in our book! That way if you really want to look at the pictures you know where to go.


The funerary heads from the Akan Culture in Ghana are very intriguing to me.  I am not exactly sure why but there is something about them that I like.  These heads are made out of terracotta and are used in memory of the deceased.  They are portraits on the person they are in memory for but they are not exact replicas.  They actually are not descriptive of the deceased at all except for a few defining details like scarification or hairstyles.  They were meant to be more of a generalization.


The memorial heads or Ori Ode from the Ile-Ife in Nigeria are also created in memory of the deceased.  These heads can be made of either terracotta or brass.  These memorial heads are more realistic than the funerary heads from the Akan Culture.  Features, such as the lips and eyes, are made idealistically but they are still made to represent the deceased.  Often these heads are made with striations on the face.  It is unsure if these are to symbolize scarification or if they are for aesthetic reasons.


Both of these heads could have been placed on a full size body to give it more symbolism.  However, this was not the case with all of them.  They could also be placed on altars or simply just paraded around without bodies at all.  These would then be placed with the buried or next to the graves or tombs.


Before blogging I didn't realize how similar the idea of the memorial heads would be.  Both cultures(as well as the majority of cultures) just want to remember their deceased and it's just interesting to see the ways in which things are similar and are different.

MASKerades.

Well, I feel like there is a lot I could talk about this week.  We covered what I feel is a lot of information in class.  All of which I find interesting.  Masks, while very prevalent in African Cultures, are also seen in other countries around the world.  We may not be able to relate with as much meaning as some African Cultures have with these masks but we can relate by having our own masquerades and costumes.


When we were watching the video in class on Thursday I was reminded of our mascots we see in our culture.  When we go to sporting events we see mascots who dress up to entertain the crowds and similarly we can see clowns when we go to parties.  The monkey mask in the Bwa peoples was what initially sparked the similarities in my mind.  The masked individuals entertain the crowds by acting as the mask they are wearing.


African Cultures take these masquerades to a whole new level but believing that they actually become the spirit of the mask.  They perform however they need to based on what the mask symbolizes.  Even with this being a form of entertainment, it is still considered a sacred ritual that must be performed.


Another aspect that we talked about this week that interested me was from the Baule and Bamana peoples.  They each have dances or groups separated by age.  How is this unlike our organizations we have here in our culture?  I don't see much difference besides the dancing and masks but in some cases that may not be far off.  I can relate closely to the Ndomo because the way we described it in class was similar to boy scouts.  Having gone through boy scouts when I was younger I understand the importance and need to teach our youth how to grow up to be outstanding citizens.


It's so interesting to me to see how much our culture compared with different African Cultures are so different yet, surprisingly to me, so similar in ways.  We all have this inherent need and want to be good and that seems to show in different ways through our cultures.

Flour Sacks Can Be Beautiful Too!

So... The Radiance of the King.  It's a very interesting article with loads that I could talk about.  Yet, I find that it's taking me a little bit to figure out what I want to say. In reading the article, the big thing I noticed is that there's this notion of power or authority on the different posters.  I'd like to use the word leadership as a general term for it, though.  In each poster there seems to be, generally, someone who has great strength or leadership and they are depicted with even more virtue.

Often times, these types of posters were used to advertise for movies.  They were not depicted as exact replicas of our movie posters but would often be similar.  What I find interesting about these posters is that they are often painted on flour sacks, everyday items, and used as movie posters.  This kind of touches on what I blogged about last week and how things don't need to be perfect in African art.  We mass produce these posters like it's our job(for some it is!) and hang them up everywhere.  I think this causes them to lose their effect because they're so common.  With these flour sacks they become unique and interesting in their own way and I feel are able to draw people in to being interested about the movie in much different ways.


Not only movie posters are painted on to these flour sacks either.  People of political power are often painted on them as well.  President Barack Obama is often depicted in these paintings.  He is a symbol of hope to many people in Africa.  Going back to the power and strength thing earlier, an example is Obama being portrayed as superman or a basketball player.  People have turned to him for guidance and now portray him in heroic manners.  


It's very interesting to me that people in African cultures not only know who our president is but they also look to him for hope and guidance.  Now, I'm not sure if I'm just blind to something I should know, but I have no idea who their leader is.  This week it just made me realize how different our cultures are, even though I already knew it.  It's just another aspect that I didn't think of.  


Another interesting idea to me is the Ghanaian funeral coffins that are created.  As a memory to someone, coffins are created to look like an object that would have been important to that person.  They are elaborately created even though they are buried in the ground.  Examples would be a fish for a fisherman or a paintbrush for a painter.  I really enjoy this idea because I think it's a "small" but special way to honor a person.  Another classmate who has blogged already asked an interesting question: what would your coffin be in the form of?  I'm still thinking about what mine would be because I want it to be just right, but I hope you all take time to think about this question.  How do you think we, in our culture, honor our dead?

Batik. It's what we did.

Well, the obvious thing to talk about would be Nani and the Batiks we did with him.  I'll definitely touch on that today, but something that I want to talk(type) to you about is how "carefree" people from African Cultures are with their art and creations aesthetically.  

What I mean by this is that I've started to notice that more thought is put into the meaning of their art rather than the look and aesthetic of it.  DO NOT get me wrong, please.  I think that art from Africa is aesthetically pleasing and very enjoyable to look at, but I personally find it really appealing that there's such a rich history and meaning to each piece created.

We talked about the terracotta memorial heads in class and how, while they aren't exact replicas, they are made to define different people.  Things such as scaring or distinctive hairstyles are used to describe certain people and to dedicate the heads in their memory. I enjoy that there's not too much worry or care being put into the memorial heads in making sure they look exactly like the person it's in memory of.  I'm sure, if the creator wanted to they could produce a pretty close replica but that's not the point of the work.  It's created more for memory rather than looks.

Often times, we get too caught up in the details of art and we fall short of the true potential of our creations.  Why does something need to be perfect or an exact replica?  There's beauty in mistakes and "deformities".  Peoples from all the different African Cultures definitely embrace this idea and create for meaning and purpose rather than for perfection.  I just love that.  I find that there are times where I want things to turn out perfectly, too, but I'm working on letting go and enjoying the meaning behind art and the things I create.

Speaking of art not being perfect... The batik I made yesterday and today is definitely not perfect, but I'm ok with it.  I definitely learned a lot about the process and I understand why different African Cultures have such a strong emphasis on this way of creating beautiful fabrics.  I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.  I found that there are so many different patterns and combinations that could be used, even with the dye.  There were several different shades and styles that can be used.  It just really appealed to me and surprised me that there would be such a variety within our class even though we had a limited number of stamps and dyes.

Going back to art with lots of meaning, and just proving further that there's always a lot of thought and meaning that goes into African Culture, I enjoyed learning about the Adinkra stamps and all of the different meanings they have.  In our session today with Nani when he was asking what stamps we used I thought it was very interesting that even though each stamp had a meaning, the meaning to each individual person would change.  Each stamp spoke to people in different ways.  For example: the stamp that stood for turning the cheek has a positive meaning to some and to others it has a negative meaning.  No meaning is "correct", though.  The beauty is that it's different for everyone!  There's just so much meaning to everything and it's very exciting and interesting for me to see how everything is interpreted. 

I think having Nani(along with the discussions we're having in class) here to teach us batiking has really helped me to understand the rich meanings each artwork and creation have in African Cultures.  As well as the different meanings for each culture within Africa.  There's just so many levels of meaning and I can't help but be excited about it!

Leadership and Art. Those things can mix?

Well, If I wanted to start my blog out like most other people in the class I'd say something like, "I didn't know what I was getting myself into when joining this class" or "I'm really interested now that I'm taking the class".  Honestly, I can't blame you guys though! I'm in the same boat.  I DIDN'T know what I was getting myself into and now that we've had two weeks of class, I AM glad that I'm taking it.  To give us all a little break from that though, I thought I'd take a different route than most other people and talk about how leadership and art often walk hand-in-hand in African cultures.

Leadership is something that is all over the world, obviously.  We have presidents, parents, bosses, teachers and heck, even kids have different leadership opportunities (boy scouts, 4H, etc.).  Classes, clubs, internships and jobs all plague our society.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing.  I mean, who doesn't want that extra thing that will boost their resume?  After two weeks in this class I can already tell that's it's, not surprisingly, a big deal in African culture as well.  I think the idea that got my juices flowing was that leadership is so intertwined within art in Africa.  The Asantehene and the Omanhene are all adorned with sandals, footrests, finials, stools and lots of gold.  Their symbols of leadership are all more elaborate and beautiful than ours.  Often times all we get is a piece of paper or a name tag.  Unless you're the president or in boy scouts.  Those are two different stories...

Once again the cultural barrier has surprised me.  A stool, something so common and mundane for us, is considered a big symbol of leadership in the Akan people.  Everyone in the Akan culture has their own stool.  The stools for leaders in the culture are are carved elaborately and covered in gold.  This idea is a deep-routed tradition in their culture and it holds so much power for an individual person.  When these leaders died it is said that their souls are transferred to their stools.  The stools are then blackened and stored in a stool room.  Here it is said that all of the stools together represent the state's historical power.

I think the story of the golden stool is interesting, also.  The stool from this story symbolizes the unification of many of the Akan peoples under the Asante.  The stool is also said to be alive.  It's been passed down through the generations and has never been sat on or blackened.  The golden stool actually has a throne of it's own where it sits next to the Asantehene.

It's so interesting to me how leadership is so different among our culture and the African cultures.  What would our society be like if we all had a stool that symbolized our existence?  Do we have things now that even come close to this idea?  Are we that attached to a name tag or are we, in our culture, attached to the idea?  These are all questions that I've actually found myself thinking about after our first two weeks of classes and something that I look forward to learning more about in class.

Have a great weekend everyone!  See you on Tuesday, people.