The Others....

This week we read to articles “Mami Wata Shrines” by Henry John Drewal, and “Imaging Otherness in Ivory” by Suzanne Blier. In each of these articles they described this idea of “the others.” This idea being a foreign culture to another and how they were being depicted to understand them better.

In Blier’s article three peoples were being depicted the Beni, Sapi, and Kongo. Each of them had their own depiction of the “others” in the article “the others” are the Portuguese. All though they all had a similar theme about the Portuguese their interpretations varied. The beni associated the Portuguese with Olokun who was the wealthy god of the sea and the undead. Works of art done by the Beni are linking these ideas. Many of the plaques and other artwork depict this other with oval eyes long hair and mudfish.

The Kongo and Sapi associated them with the undead as well. The Kongo associated there spiral forms and crown hats with the path of the underworld. These cultures also notice the cross that they were wearing which have long been around before they showed up. The cross being very similar to the cross roads was a reinforcement of their spiritual context. The x-shape to the Sapi was as Blier puts it “the conflation of spiritual and earthly realms, particularly the regeneration of the dead among the living.” As for the Benin they saw it as political and religious signifiers. Although their interpretations varied of the Portuguese they all had a similar theme and that was the relationship between life and death and controlling those worlds of power.

During class we began discussing this idea of how others cultures have influenced ours. Many example were thrown out and I think one of the best examples that was brought up was the Americanizing of food. When you go to a restaurant there are many choices and those choices are from different cultures. Have you ever been to three different restaurants, ordered the same meal and each one tasting and looking completely different? I think this idea can relate back to what the articles were discussing. We saw something but then we related it to our culture so that it would be better understood. In this case the food is being altered to fit American tastes.

Hatian art

This week in class we focused on Haitian art and the practice of Vodou.  Vodou is the religion of eighty percent of Haiti and is nothing like Voodoo that we think of in America. While learning about Vodou this week I noticed many similarities to other peoples of Africa.

The Vodou religion is a complicated but intriguing religion. The McCarthy Brown essay even calls the relations between the living and the vodou spirits a complex web. The essay focuses on a Woman name mama Lola and her practices of Vodou as a mambo (Vodou priest). Through these practices she summons the Vodou spirits for insight and wisdom.  In the videos we watched they also talked about this possession and it reminded me of some of the other peoples we have studied this year. The first few weeks of class when we discussed Ghanaian art and Nani visited and performed dances for us. He also discussed how through these dances the spirits would possess them. Another thing that came to mind was Herbert Cole’s essay, “ I am not myself” Cole discusses masquerades  and discusses the mask wearers being possessed by the spirits. This seems to be a recurring idea in African art and culture. In Hatian Vodou like many of the other groups and practices we have studied there have been many recurring themes.  The Idea of the cross roads has come up a few time just recently in our study of Hatian art but also when we discussed about the Yoruba using it during divinations. One final thing that came to mind while watching the video they were making sacrifices using chickens and goats. This brought to mind the Boli from the Bamana. The Boli also has this idea of scarification attached to it.

Although many of these groups are different have very different practices and beliefs they still share a lot of the same ideas.

Yoruba spiritual beliefs

Yoruba visual culture communicates the cosmology and spiritual beliefs in many ways.The Egungun masquerades are associated with the venerations of ancestors while altar bowls like the Olumeye Alter Bowl to honor and respect the gods and spiritual ideas.
Like most African cultures the Yoruba use shrines to interact with deities and spirits. sculptural forms in this case the Olumeye Alter Bowl are added to shrines as gifts. This particular bowl was created for the altar of an orisha. The bowl depicts a female figure supporting the bowl as a messenger to the orisha. many other important ideas could also be derived from this piece. the woman is carrying a child on her back along with another at her side this could possibly represent twin which happen to be important in Yoruba culture. also on top four female figures are dancing. One might also look at the symbol on the side of the bowl as the crossroads.
The Egungun Masquerades are performed to communicate with the spirit world rather than be perceived as a static sculptural entity. Many Yoruba associate this masquerade with the veneration of ancestors. Some egungun masquerades impersonate the spirit of the recently departed to ensure everything is in order before crossing to the spirit world. Engungen are identified with specific families and play a regulating role in that family. This serves as a link between the living and the dead.
Although both of these things portraying cosmological and spiritual beliefs they are representing two very different ideas one dealing with ancestors and their spirits while the other deals with the aspect of gods and offering them gifts.