NonWestern Art History - Pacific, Africa, Americas

Yoruba, Ere Ibeji Figure, probably from Ado Odo in Yorubaland, pre-1877 (probably 19th century). Wood, 10" high. Ere ibeji = image of twins. Yoruba have highest rate of multiple births in world (46/1000) and twins are a sign of good fortune. If a twin dies, the family must consult a babalawo (diviner) to learn how to placate their spirit, to ensure they feel cared for and don't feel the need to come back and haunt or take the living twin. Usually the babalawo advises the family to commission an ere ibeji to serve as a dwelling place for the deceased. These are treated like real infants - dressed, fed, washed, etc. Figures are depicted as mature adults, regardless of the age that they died.

*** different from image in review slides

Asante, Kente Cloth, Textile wrapper (kente), 20th century. 6'10⅝" long. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Kente cloth = strip woven cloth made by Asante peoples - legend says Anansi the spider taught them - patterns and colors have special meanings -- kente = the cloth of kings. Symbolizes African heritage and status, made to be worn.

**different image than review slides

Ancestral Pueblo Peoples, Cliff Palace, 13th century, Mesa Verde, Colorado Ancestral Pueblo lived here c. 600-1300 - 5000 known archeology sites & 600 cliff dwellings (smaller scale than Chaco Canyon) - originally lived on top of mesa but migrated down to cliff faces -- possibly for protection from other tribes though not much evidence of warfare - protection from sun, and takes advtg. solar power to heat rocks & provide warmth, and provides shade to get out of sun, or at night, it cools off nicely. Also - as water seeps through sandstone until it hits shale, then comes out sides of cliff, so easy access. Domestic buildings typically rectilinear while communal kivas are circular

**image different than review slides

Gavin Jantjes, South African Colouring Book, 1974 Apartheid in South Africa 1948-94 12 silkscreen prints chronicling race classifications, conflicts, & exploitation - scenes of South African life in 1970s -- Jantjes' "own identity card, classifying him as a Cape Colored." - includes images from Sharpeville Massacre "Color these People Dead;" of a woman scrubbing the flor "color this labor dirt cheap;" gold mines "color this slavery golden"

**image slightly different here than in review slides

Maori -- Pātaka storehouse Raised storehouse - food and valuable goods, raised off ground to protect from animals, take on different forms but often w/ frontal facing figural carving like on the Aukland War Memorial Museum Pataka (in slides) which depicts Maori creation story

**this image is different from review slides

Shona culture, Great Zimbabwe, 1350—1450. Freestanding dry stone walls form enclosure, not for defense, but as symbol of power, wealth, & prestige of ruling class. Name "Zimbabwe" comes from "houses of stone" but came to mean "ruler's house" or "house to be respected". Great Zimbabwe is divided into Hill Complex, the Valley Ruins, and the Great Enclosure. Hill Complex to north thought to be ruler's residence, w/ archeological evidence to suggest it was built before valley complex. Incorporates natural granite boulders into stone block walls. Great Enclosure in valley = outer wall 178m long, 10m tall. Largest single prehistoric construction in Sub-Saharan Africa, and largest masonry structure in Africa after Egyptian pyramids. Conical tower maybe reference to granaries or a phallic symbol.

*image slightly different here

Aztec, The Dismemberment of Coyolxauhqui, Goddess of the Moon, late postclassic. Stone, 9'10⅛" diameter. Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico City Discovered in 1978 at base of Temple of Huitzilopochtili (Aztec god of sun & war) at Temple Mayor in Tenochtitlan Coyo ("Bells Her Face") = daughter of earth goddess, Coitlicue Coatlicue was sweeping on Snake Mountain when a ball of feathers fell on her and she was suddenly pregnant w/ a son, Huitzilophchtili - Coyooxauhqui was enraged at her mother, thinking she had shamefully been impregnated by a mortal, and attacked her but Huitzilophchtili was born, fully grown & fully armed and chopped of Coyo's head, and tossed her body down the mountain, where it broke into pieces. He threw her head into the sky and it became the moon, and her 400 brothers who helped her become stars. This stone maybe used during festival to reinact myth in act of devotion - war captives sacrificed at top of Temple Mayor, hearts removed and bodies tossed down steps to land on stone, where they would be dismembered

*this image is turned oddly...

Asmat, Bis poles, late 1950s. Wood, paint, and fiber, 18' × 3'6" × 5'3". Asmat people on New Guinea - Bis poles represent both the cyclical nature of human life and the logical family ties that connect community - made for collective funerary feasts, represent dead individuals to be avenged. generally carved from mangrove trees w/ one buttressing root left on for support. Lower part = canoe to carry dead into the afterlife so bis poles = soul ships - after ritual function is carried out these are returned to the groves to decay and bring spiritual strength to the trees

*this image slightly different from slides