In the early sixteenth century, the Oba, on the hip or neck, wore the Benin pendant mask during sacred ceremonies. The pendant represents Queen Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, who ruled the Benin court. The pendant is an ivory mask decorated with heads that represent the Portuguese men with beards, symbolizing the Benin’s alliance and dominion over Europeans. The pendant’s forehead was decorated with a pair of metal strips to indicate scarification marks. Below the chin, the pendant has bands of coral beads and carved mudfish are on the crown and collar. Due to their ability to live both on land and in water, mudfish symbolized the king’s double nature as human and divine. Since the Portuguese came from across the seas, they were considered people …show more content…
In addition, ivory is Benin’s primary trading product, which helped increase Benin wealth by attracting the Portuguese traders. The pendant was expensive because it was made of valuable tradable ivory that represented Olokun. The Benin palace was the center of ritual activity that concentrated on the abundance and expansion of the Edo people. Every year the king of Benin participated in rituals, where he honored his ancestors to increase the good fortunes of his people. An important ceremony was when the Oba’s main purpose was to push away any evil forces. The Oba would sit in a red pavilion, which resembled a threatening color to force evil away. Then he would dance an ivory gong, striking it to repel evil forces. The Benin pendant mask helps us understand imperialism through the British invasion in 1897. During the invasion many sculptures were taken away without permission because the British believed they were superior and had the power. It shows how the Edo people were forcefully taken away their lands and riches because they were inferior to the British. Through this pendant we are able to understand history through the eyes of the Edo people instead of the Europeans perspective. To the Europeans, the Edo people were uncivilized people who needed their help because they had different beliefs and practiced different rituals. However, the pendant gives us an insight on what the Edo people believed and their justification to the way they
Initially there was a great deal of debate about Benin art and its display, as it did not equate with the perceptions then held about Africa. Until the British conquest of Benin in 1897, little was known about Benin and its culture apart from brief interaction with other Europeans in the sixteenth century. The perception of Africa was of a primitive, savage and uncivilised land, full of ‘abuses and fetishes and idolatries’, (Hodgkin, 1975, p33). Therefore, when the British invaded Benin they treated any artefacts they found as ‘war booty’ (Woods, 2008, p30) and sold anything of any value to pay for the expedition. They removed artefacts and artwork without recording any contextual evidence of form or function. These ideas are evident in the photographs in figures 1.10 on page 31, 2.2 on page 50 in Cultural Encounters (AA100, Book 3) and Plate 3.1.14 in the Illustration Book: Plates for Book 3 and 4 where artefacts are bundled into piles with centralised white figures suggesting only British triumph (Loftus, 2008). The ‘clever workmanship’ (Gallewey, 1893b, p37) and ‘delicacy of detail’ (Bacon, 1897, p39) attest to the quality of the artwork and the subsequent bidding by rival museums and galleries for the pieces did not prevent the perception that Africa, and thus Benin, as being barbaric and primitive.
Of Water and the Spirit is more than simply an account of Malidoma's life and initiation, it is a detailed description of the worldview of a Dagara man, who is forcibly subjected to traditional Western thought for fifteen years and then returns to his home physically, at first, but spiritually only once he goes through initiation, or what the Dagara call the Baar. Malidoma's recount of his story, being very similar to the storytelling of an African Griot, uses amazing imagery that allows the listener to sincerely experience his thoughts and actions and the things he sees, hears, and feels throughout his early life up to now.
Image and Text.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 33.2 (2006): 297-317. Jstor. 12 Oct 2011.
Nothing is promised in life except for one thing and that is death! Everyone has to eventually die but in African cultures they believe that there is life after death and this where ancestors reside. Art works are there to help serve as a point of contact between the living and the dead. In the country of Gabon in central Africa the Kota people have a guardian figure made to hold, honor and protect the bones on their ancestors. “The traditional religion of Kota centered around ancestors who are believed to wield power in the afterlife as they had as living leaders of the community.” Ancestors are respected elders who have passed away and who continues to serve as an extension of a family and community. In the image below I will explain some of the parts found on the figure. If you have noticed there is no mouth on the figure and that is because the ancestors no longer communicate with words. Below the neck there is a diamond shaped part of the figure which happens to be the arms, these are used to tightly hold onto the remains of the ancestor’s bones. “Wooden sculptures covered with sheets of copper and brass, known as reliquary or guardian figures, were attached to the baskets containing bones. Some believe that the figures were an abstract portrait of the deceased individual, while others argue that they were merely to protect the spirt of the deceased from evil.”
http://www.arm.arc.co.uk/britishBenin.html Negritude http://www.nigerdeltadirectory.com/websiteseminars/negritude.html http://www.culturekiosque.com/calendar/item14966.html http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/negritude/ (Accessed 14.02.11). African Art http://www.jpanafrican.com/ (Accessed 14.02.11). Benin Massacre http://www.dawodu.com/igbinedion3.htm http://www.arm.arc.co.uk/britishBenin.html http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/anthony-okosun/the-glory-of-benin-kingdom-and-the-shame-of-the-british-empire.html. http://books.google.co.uk (Benin Diplomatic Handbook By USA International Business Publications).
Throughout history, British imperialism has influenced many countries’ culture and heritage for the worse. The competition for resources and markets made empires colonize different parts of the world to systematically spread their influence and force the colonized to forget their heritage. One of the most important African writers, Chinua Achebe was strongly concerned with political and social effects of British colonialism in the Igbo society. His novel, Things Fall Apart, is not an exceptionally positive one, utilizing the story to delineate a pioneer control that enters and afterward realizes the demise of the Igbo society (How Does Chinua Achebe Portray Colonialism Using Things Fall Apart?essay). Achebe paints a picture of how the colonizers treat the colonized and to what the local people are forced to accustom to the new culture that was forced upon them. Throughout the whole book, you can see diverse impacts on the tribe and the connections between the white and dark man (Colonialism in Things Fall Apart). The constant question of "Does the white man understand our custom abou...
In Ashanti tribe, family and the mother’s side are most important to this particular group. This tribe believe that child often inherit their father’s soul while flesh and blood is received from the mother. “Instrument such as talking drums are used for learning the Ashanti language and spreading news and used in ceremonies. This instrument is very important to the Ashanti and there are very important rituals involved in them”. (Vollbrecht, Judith A., 1979).
The Portuguese arrived in Benin, in modern Nigeria, between 1472 and 1486 to find an established and ancient kingdom with remarkable social and ritual complexity, with art that was comparatively naturalistic, and with a political system that was, on the surface, recognizable to the Europeans: monarchy. Even more importantly, they found a land rich in pepper, cloth, ivory, and slaves, and immediately set out to establish trade (Ben-Amos 35-6). Though we often imagine "first contacts" between Europeans and Africans as clashes of epochal proportions, leaving Europeans free to manipulate and coerce the flabbergasted and paralyzed Africans, this misjudges the resilience and indeed, preparedness, of the Benin people. The Benin were able to draw on their cultural, political, and religious traditions to fit the European arrival in an understandable context. Indeed, as the great brass plaques of the Benin palace demonstrate, the arrival was in fact manipulated by the Benin to strengthen, not diminish, indigenous royal power.
He has a business like manner, carrying in his right hand a brass manilla, the main item of exchange with Benin, and a walking cane in the other. It is significant that he is not armed, clearly indicating he is safe in foreign surroundings. The background is pleasingly stylised with clusters of petals set against a stippled ground, imbuing a secure feeling. It seems probable that Fernao Gomes, a Portuguese'merchant adventurer' discovered the kingdom of Benin in 1474 (Wood, K. 2008, p. 8), seeking trading opportunities and looking for gold. The Portuguese traded brass manillas (copper and zinc needed to make brass was in short supply in Benin) for slaves, who were usually the captured enemies of Benin (Woods, K. 2008, p. 8), then resold them further along the coast, using the proceeds to buy gold.... ...
Rituals "Rituals are found in every human community and area primary means of social communication and cohesion."(pg. 96, Livingston) Rituals help to make a smooth transition through the human life cycles. It gives a structure to the chaos of these events. Rituals also help explain changing of the seasons or a commemoration of a historical event.
The desire to explain the unknown is deeply rooted in the make-up of humanity. What one does not know evinces fear, but also opens a realm of endless possibility that can be manipulated and explained through individual and societal understandings of the truth. Throughout time the human understanding of the truism and science has changed much like the evolution of existence in terms of thresholds. The beauty of this fact is relevant when exploring the cognizance of the universe through the lens of Japanese myth. The culture of the mythology is an essence entwined with religion, which makes for a spiritual and grounded connection to the land and it’s properties. The Buddhist and Shinto religion combined form an inherent connection to time and space in which the Japanese people honor, reference, and mold their knowledge of history. The myths of Japan are a reflection of not only religious terminology, but also the Gods in which the people pray to and worship in temples and shrines. The teachings of Buddha and living within the means of inviolability are held up through myth and a great respect for nature is vital to the infrastructure of the rich culture and linguistic aspects of the stories. The vast domain of stories braided with religion paints a unique picture of origin and meaning that can be explored and organized into thresholds one through eight plus the future.
Achebe uses the symbol of tribal drums to show the flourishing culture and life that Umuofia experiences before the Europeans arrive. The symbol of drums is often present during cultural gatherings and celebrations in Umuofia. During the feast, which marks a new harvest year, “drums [are] still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound [is] no longer a separate thing from the living village” (104). Drums distinctly relate to the culture and traditions of the village. Moreover, the “persistent and unchanging” beat to the drums also reflects the unity of the society, and how the tribe currently operates (104). These traditions are unique to Umuofia and are an integral part of African culture. However, this unchanging and pe...
Ancient Japan, the Land of Rising Sun, was a miraculous civilization in eastern Asia. Even though ancient Japan’s culture is about thousands of years old, no one could ever forget their distinctive traditions and history throughout time. I featured Ancient Japan in this report because of its society, now, had combined their ancient customs with our modern innovations together. This fascinating civilization also consisted of unique clothing, food, and customs in their day-to-day life. In this essay, I will be interpreting you on how the magnificent country of Japan was like about 12,014 years ago in the past.
In many African customs theirs rituals, sacrifices, ancestors worship and rites of passage. African religions emphasize maintaining a harmonious relationship with the divine powers, and their rituals attempt to harness cosmic powers and channel them for good. Ritual is the means by
"Article. "Traditional Yoruba Theatre"" Yoruban Ritual/Theater. Movable Type Enterprise, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. .