Art of Africa

bolster

(v.) to support, give a boost to; (n.) a long pillow or cushion; a supporting post

Crucifix

16th-17th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Angola; Republic of the Congo, solid cast brass, 27.3 cm high A cross with Jesus on it

Male and Female Poro Altar Figures

19th-mid-20th century Senufo peoples Korhogo reegion Bandama River region Côte d'Ivoire wood, pigment

Nkisi n'kondi (power figure)

Anthropomorphic Kongo statue carved by spiritual specialist who activates figures though prayers, sacred substances, and insertion of nails

intermediaries

Instead, the supreme deity is petitioned through intermediaries, or lesser spirits.

Senufo

Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast

Masquerades

Masquerades involve the active participation of dancers, musicians, and even the vehicle through which these invisible powers become manifest (a masquerade is a social gathering of persons wearing masks and often fantastical costumes).

outskirts

N. /边界；郊区；外围/fringes; outer borders. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

Sacrificial offerings

The offerings that were brought to the temple

fa

a divination ceremony of Fon People at Republic of Benin.

diviner

a person who is believed to have the power to foretell events or A diviner is a person with the power to use invocation and manipulation of spiritual entities,potent objects, and herbal mixtures to intercede with the gods on behalf of the people.

genesis

forming, producing, origin

Dr. Christa Clarke

https://smarthistory.org/author/dr-christa-clarke-copyright-2006-by-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-new-york/

morale

n. 精神气貌 to bolster morale

initiate

n.新加入组织的人

ark

n.方舟

initiated

n.知情人士

potency

power; strength; force

precluded

prevented "Although the acceptance of Islam or Christianity sometimes precluded the practice of traditional religions, in many cases they coexisted or were incorporated into preexisting beliefs." from Khan

Fon

the major African slave trading ethnic group in Benin, southwest Nigeria

donning

to put on

recount

to tell in detail

secluded

vt. 隔离 isolated from others adj.僻静的

conceived

vt.想出（idea）； 构想（project，works of art； 怀有（feeling） to conceive a hatred for sb. or sth. vi. to be conceive of doing sth. Nature spirits, appealed to by Baule diviners in Côte d'Ivoire for spiritual insights, are conceived of as grotesque beings associated with untamed wilderness.

Guinea

几内亚 West Africa

Burkina Faso

布基纳法索；West Africa

A patchwork effect

拼凑效果

Indigenous Religions

本土的信仰 Belief systems and philosophies practiced and traditionally passed from generation to generation among peoples within an indigenous tribe or group

precluded

杜绝（error） 防止（identification） 排除（suspicion） prevented; made impossible in advance

antelope

羚羊

untamed wilderness

荒蛮的原野 Many Europeans viewed the US as this before settlement, which does not acknowledge the work of Native Americans.

intercede

说情 (v.) to plead on behalf of someone else; to serve as a third party or go-between in a disagreement