Object Guide

1. An Agent of Empire

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Equestrian figure, about 1450, Djenne, Wood

Map 1

  • A rare wooden carving offers a glimpse of the splendor and might of the ancient kingdom of Mali.
  • This carved wooden figure dates from the time of the Mali Empire, which emerged through its location at the center of a network of trade routes.
  • The figure is unusually old for a wooden artifact in Africa, where wood does not usually survive long due to the humid climate and insect life.
  • The writings of medieval Arab historians are important sources for understanding the context of this figure.
  • Other artifacts of a similar age add insight to an understanding of this figure, as do continuing cultural practices in the region.
  • The historical record is endangered by the looting of Mali’s archaeological sites in the recent climate of poverty and political disorder.
  • Access the lesson: Equestrian Figure.

 

 

 

2. A Persistent Tradition

Diptych icon, about 1700, Unknown artist, Ethiopia

Map 2

 

  • Ethiopia had ties with the Holy Land long before the Christian era and has been a Christian nation since the 300s CE, reflecting patterns of encounter with the ancient Roman Empire.
  • Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent nation, producing continuity and conservatism in its religious traditions.
  • Jesuit missionaries made an effort to convert Ethiopian church leaders to follow Roman Catholicism instead of the Eastern Orthodox Church  based Alexandria, introducing a new image of Mary in the 1500s that became part of Ethiopian tradition despite the failure of the mission.
  • Ethiopian imagery has spread to other parts of the world as refugees fled war and famine of the last 50 years.
  • Access the lesson: Diptych icon 

 

 

 

3. A Coastal Blend

Door, mid 19th century, Swahili, Wood, iron

Door, mid 19th century, Swahili, Wood, iron

Map 3

A carved door from a Swahili house on the Indian Ocean coast reflects a long history of exchange with Arab and Indian traders.
Indian Ocean trade routes encouraged a blending of cultures from around the Indian Ocean in East Africa, producing a distinct Swahili culture with Bantu, Arab, and Indian elements.
The blend of influences in Swahili culture can be observed in the carved wooden doors of traditional Swahili houses.
Historic houses remain in a few areas of the Swahili Coast that have been bypassed by modern development.
Colonial accounts of travel in the region provide descriptions that can offer insight if one can recognize their inherent biases and prejudice.

Access the lesson: Door.

 

 

 

4. Protected by Spirits

Songye Power figure

Power Figure, c.1900, Songye, wood, horn, brass tacks, metalwork, glass beads, fiber

Map 4

This figure is just a shell without the elements that made it powerful for the people who made it—the supernatural effects of substances and rituals believed to engage ancestral spirits.Like many African cultures, the traditional beliefs of the Songye people living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo hold that ancestral spirits have the power to influence their well-being, achieved through complex rituals to enlist their help.
The most important component of a “power figure” is not the carving itself, but the potent supernatural substances applied by a nganga (diviner/healer) and the rituals he conducts while the figure is active.
Relationships with the spirit world are so powerful and sacred that outsiders rarely have the chance to observe power figures in use.
There are hundreds of cultural groups in today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, though many of them speak related languages and share basic, fundamental concepts.
New examinations of objects aided by technology have expanded the insights accessible to outsiders.

Access the lesson: Power Figure.

5. Tradition Re-imagined

Fantasy coffin

Fantasy Coffin, 1993, Sowah Kwei, wood, plaster, acrylic paint

Map 5

  • Cultural practices are constantly evolving, as demonstrated by this “fantasy coffin” from Ghana.
  • Contemporary Ghanaian funerals are exuberant celebrations that last up to three days, often featuring a coffin carved to resemble something meaningful to the deceased.
  • The tradition began with the Ga people, arising from the practice of carrying their chiefs on platforms in the shape of clan totem animals at festivals, instead of the sleigh-shaped litters used by neighboring cultural groups.
  • Rising prosperity and better refrigeration techniques for preserving dead bodies have contributed to the trend toward elaborate funerals in Ghana, though many families spend far more than they can afford upon the death of a family member.
  • Access the lesson: Fantasy Coffin.