Lesson 7, Africa part 2
Spirituality and Art
African art (and Western art) is frequently an expression of spiritual values, giving form to the supernatural. When art is spiritual, it may have many functions, but a primary one is to support the function of religion, existing as a means of reinforcing religious values. Spiritual beliefs in Africa range from personal cults, to family-based ancestor worship, to wide spread practices and beliefs that serve a large population group. Images might be created to help in contacting various supernatural entities, which range from nature gods, to legendary heroes, to spirits of ancestors.
Elephant masqueraders; Bamileke, Cameroon
Elephant societies are widespread in central Africa. They often function as powerful judicial and legislative bodies. These beaded elephant masks are danced by secret societies of the Bamileke people, groups that are exclusively male and are charged with maintaining peace and safety. As is common in Africa, these images of elephants represent royalty.
Leadership and Art
In Africa art is frequently used as a means of social control, and it is important that the level of social integration comes into play here. Art can be used to reinforce the rules or laws of those in positions of authority, which can be political, religious, or economic authority. Art reflects the values of society by legitimizing the traditional ways and at the same time records information in tangible and lasting form. Art is a means of communication between peoples. Arts of leadership contrast with arts used by ordinary people in both form and materials. Arts for leadership are longer lasting, have more complex iconography, and are more expensive (i.e., the use of bronze for the heads and other objects on Benin royal altars). Another example is a royal procession of the Fante people of Ghana. They are a stratified, royal society with strong class distinction. The king is the apex of society, followed by nobles, commoners, and slaves. The king is always the visual focal point of festivals. He carried in procession on the shoulders of tall men. When seated, his head is elevated above all others because the king is seated on a stool, his feet raised from ground on a pillow. Around the king is a clustering of rich objects and richly attired people to add to the idea of display. Various attendants carry swords, umbrellas, and other portable objects of rank, all of which is meant to add to the status of the king and set him apart from everyone else. The Kuba people of Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) are comprised of seventeen small kingdoms which all owe allegiance to the king, called the Nyim. He is the embodiment of power and authority and most of the most of the extraordinary art of the Kuba is produced to satisfy the needs of the highly aristocratic society. Their aesthetic seems to be expressed in complex rectilinear patterning, a complexity that projects political and spiritual importance of the Nyim.
Masks and Masquerades
In Africa, masks and masking are not recreational activities, as they are in the West. In African practice, a mask embodies a spirit, and putting on and dancing a mask activates unseen forces from the supernatural realm. A person acts and speaks as the spirit of mask he wears, taking on the spiritual persona as he subverts his own personality. There are several functions of masking within societies: masks are a means of social control; they can act as agents of gender mediation; frequently they are used in ancestral veneration; almost always masks are part of the belief system of a society; and masks can also be danced for entertainment. The mask is only part of an ensemble, a tradition that includes the human who wears the mask, a costume, and a performance that includes motion, music, and usually song. Masks are not static, and in order to be understood completely must be seen in motion, in the context of the performance.
Mboom mask; Kuba, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)
Mboom masks are part of a royal masquerade that features three masked characters. These masks are worn by princely dignitaries in processions and ceremonies performed at initiation and burial rites. The dance itself is about an encounter between an indigenous king and intrusive king (the stranger). The intrusive king humiliates the indigenous king because he is primitive. Mboom is the indigenous, crude king. His mask is not highly decorated mask, but is recognizable because of the characteristic bulging forehead. In a general sense, Mboom represents the common people. Mwashamboy is the intrusive, elaborate king, represented by a mask that is decorated with beads and shells, and easily recognizable because of the hooked extension that hangs over the face. This extension symbolizes elephant parts. The third character in this royal story is Ngaddyamwash, a female character (but danced by a male). Ngaddyamwash is the wife of Woot, the founding ancestor of the Kuba people, who is her son as well. The Ngaddyamwash mask is the most realistic of these three, and covered with beaded decoration.
Spirit Partner and Nature Spirit figures; Baulé, Ivory Coast
The Baulé live in savanna grasslands in the Ivory Coast. They have a centralized leadership mixed with egalitarianism and are agriculturists growing millet, sorghum, maize, and yams. The Baulé make two types of sculpture in human form (which look identical). One type is called a spirit partner. It is carved to help someone with personal problems or if a woman cannot conceive a child. The spirit partner figure will be of the opposite sex, representing a spouse from spirit world. The other type of Baulé figure is a nature spirit. These spirits have the ability to interfere with human lives and the figures affect that interference. The two types of carved figures look identical when new, but after protracted use have much different surface patinas. The spirit partners will have a clean, shiny, oiled surface while nature spirits receive sacrifices, so older figures have an accumulation on the surface.
Dama ceremonial masks; Dogon, Mali
The Dogon people are mentioned above (see Couple figure). They have a rich tradition of masking that has been studied extensively in the 20th century, but is still a mystery because the Dogon have never revealed secrets about masks to outsiders. Dama is a funerary ceremony, and includes dozens of types of masks. Dama is held every three to six years to honor the lives of people who died since the last dama. The overall function of the ceremony is to transport the souls of the deceased away from the village. Kanaga masks are one used in dama. The form of kanaga is a double-barreled cross, with short elements at the tips. It is probably a cosmic symbol but the exact meaning is unknown. Sirige masks are another used in dama. Sometimes called "ladder to heaven", the sirige is worn during the celebration that marks the end of the period of mourning for a deceased man. The dancer who wears this mask strikes the ground with it in a head-swinging motion of high drama.
Couple figure; Dogon, Mali
The Dogon people of Mali live at the base of cliffs in a dry climate zone. Their society is egalitarian, governed by a council of elder men in a non-hierarchical structure. They are agriculturalists growing millet and guinea corn. The Dogon have a rich and long term tradition of wooden sculpture, most of which is spiritually based. The primordial couple figures are representations of the founding ancestors of Dogon culture. The figures are used in communal shrines that honor the founders. The couple is shown seated, the bodies seemingly constructed of tubes of different sizes, articulated at right angles, in a linkage of horizontal and vertical forms. On the male's back is a quiver, the female holds a child, and the male points to his own genitals and to the female's breasts, identifying the subjects as the primordial couple.
Mbari house; Igbo, Nigeria
The Igbo live east of the Niger River in a tropical area that has an abundant supply of resources. They are agriculturalists growing yams (tuberous varieties). The society is segmented, with many regional variations of traditional thought and practices. Igbo religion is a pantheon of deities, most of which are related to nature, and mbari addresses one of the most powerful of these deities, Ala, the earth goddess. The word mbari refers to many things: a house, a sculpture, relief painting, a feast, a protracted festival / performance in an architectural setting. Mba means village or town; ari means to eat: Mbari means 'the town eats.' Mbari is a sacrifice for and dedicated to Ala, the one which provides the soil where yams grow. She will eat the shrine, make crops grow, then feed the people, thus the 'town eats.' Building Mbari is a communal act of penance that may take several weeks or months to complete. The spirit workers (builders) live apart from village until the structure is completed. The mbari house is made of fufu or yam (actually clay, which is symbolic of yam, the Igbo dietary staple). In order to eat yams, they are pounded. Once in an edible state, yams are called fufu. The clay for the mbari house is also pounded, hence the same designation (the house will become food for Ala). The imagery created for an mbari house is a mix of the traditional and of the modern.20th century, usually elaborate tableaux of everyday life and of the spirits. There are several categories of decoration that must be addressed: the good and beautiful (couples, family, Ala, wishes) the terrifying and ugly (leopards, evil spirit beings) and the forbidden (birth, wanton sexuality, bestiality). Ala, the goddess of the earth, is always depicted front and center of the mbari. Once the house is completed it is allowed to slowly decay, returning the resources used in the building to nature, and in this way the mbari house is a sacrifice (food) for Ala.
Gelede Society masks; Yoruba, Nigeria
The Yoruba are descendants of the kingdom of Ife and live in the same territory. They have a large population (approximately 25 million), most of whom still farm and live in urbanized agro-towns. They are ruled by a king, called the Oni. There are many regional distinctions among the traditions of the Yoruba, and that includes their masquerades, which exist in great profusion. Gelede is a masquerade practiced among the western Yoruba and is unusual because it is not a sacred masquerade. It is performed for the purpose of honoring the elderly mothers, who are called the "owners of the world." It is believed that the powers these women possess can be used for the benefit or detriment of society, so the gelede masquerade is performed to, hopefully, keep these powers in balance. Another function is to celebrate female contributions to society. Gelede masks are worn by males only, but choruses are made up of both men and women, and the honored guests at gelede are mostly elderly women. The masks are made by individuals and follow several themes, which are roughly: role recognition (in which individuals or groups are praised), satire (in which anti-social persons or groups are damned), and cosmic forces (in which the forces that affect the life of community are addressed in the imagery of masks). The masks can be provocative to elicit reaction from the audience, they might convey a particular point of view, or the themes might be of humor or praise or condemnation.
Masks; Dan, Liberia
The masking traditions of the Dan people are unusual in many regards. They have many groups and categories of masks, and believe that some masks are just as powerful when they are not worn as when they are being performed; these masks embody power. In the Dan belief system a mask is not just an impersonation of a spirit, it is the spirit. Masks are the embodiment of spirits that come from the forest, which is seen as a somewhat dangerous area. The most unusual aspect of Dan masks is that the function (and category) of mask may change (even though its appearance doesn't change) as the status and importance of the mask begins to rise. As a mask ages it becomes more respected and might be promoted to become the spirit mask of a village section, in which case it takes on a role similar to that of a dignified elder, one who is charged with seeing that law and order prevail in the village. Ownership of a mask is a way for a Dan male to gain access to political and social power. One group of Dan masks is called gä or gle, which means "awesome being" and are believed to be alive with a spiritual embodiment. These masks are commissioned by someone who has had a vision, which is often a spirit that comes from the forest and requests that it be represented in a mask. Bugle masks are like "cheerleaders," in that they led warriors into battle, sang praise songs, encouraged them to be victorious. Kaogle masks are abstracted monkeys, actually a synthesis of a number of monkey species. When performed, a Kaogle mask engages in "monkey" business by entering the ritual space at a time of high tension and when people are on edge. The Kaogle lightens the mood by playing pranks and generally acting as a jokester. This is an important release or outlet for the crowd and for the heightened mood of the ceremony itself. Passport masks, which are miniatures, are smaller versions of the performance masks. When traveling beyond the area where a man is known, the miniature is carried because the mask says who he is, where he's from, what his status is, thus allowing a male to go safely from community to community.
Nkisi n'kondi (nail figure); Kongo, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)
The nkisi n'kondi is a power figure. The figure receives its power from a consecration performed by a priest. The function depends upon the "medicine" (or power or forces) instilled in it by the priest, but could be healing (life-giving) or the power could inflict harm or even bring death. Nails (or blades) are pounded into the figure to activate the medicine, or the power could be accessed by rubbing the figure or addressing it in a chant.
Sande society masks; Mende, Sierra Leone
The two most powerful secret societies of the Mende people are Poro and Sande. Poro is for males while Sande is the female society and is parallel and equal to the male society. Sande is also a female masking society in which women wear the wooden helmet masks. This is the only instance in Africa where women wear masks. Among the many duties of the Sande society are the perpetuation of ancestors and nature spirits, guarding sexual behavior and incest taboos, tending to major shrines, and to train young women for marriage and family life. This training of young women involves a prolonged initiation procedure that prepares puberty-aged girls into acceptable young women who will be good mothers and wives. During this initiation the Sande society dances masks called sowei. Sowei masks are sacred, and exclusively for women, although males carve them. Sowei masks are idealizations of the Mende standards of feminine beauty. The masks appear three times during the initiation process, marking important stages in the initiation and training process.