The Dogon people have created more than eighty mask types to represent characters in their cosmic myths. They are worn in large numbers in funeral dances. The Dogon use such dances to lead the homeless souls of the deceased to their final resting places in the world of spirit, where they become part of the ancestor realm. ‘Certain masks act out stories in addition to dancing. An example of this is the dyommo mask (rabbit) which performs with the dannana mask (hunter). The hunter pretends to hunt the several rabbit masks performing with him. He chases them; they flee in all directions, hiding among the spectators assembled in the village square.’
Imperato, Dogon Cliff Dwellers, L. Kahan Gallery Inc., 1978.

Feature Video

Lent by Dr Eugene and Mrs Harriet Becker
Wood, Pigment. Height 10’ 10”

This heroic figure represents the great Malian soccer player Salif Keita, who played the game in the 1960s and 70s. It is carved from one piece of wood, except for the ball. The sculpture was collected by William Wright in New York City about ten years ago. The figure may have been carved in Mali, but the style suggests that it is Baule, from the Ivory Coast. The sculpture is remarkable – not only for its size but for the artist’s characterization of the athlete. The axis of the hips is twisted against that of the shoulders, one foot is forward, the left hand is raised with the forefinger pointing upward. The figure is all potential, poised for quick and effective movement. The face is all concentration, focused on the game. This man is a winner! I submit that this work is great folk art. It is probable that the sculptor had no formal training. Despite the extraordinary action of the figure, he is working out of West African tradition. It is possible that he had some exposure to images of monumental European sculpture and/or Egyptian.

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Feature Video

Giving birth to a child is a singular rite of passage for a Ghanaian woman. The inability to conceive is cause for suspicion of poor health, even witchcraft. The traditional solution for the barren woman is the AKUA’ BA DOLL. More than a “doll” in the Western sense, an AKUA’ BA DOLL is a surrogate child, wrapped in cloth and carried on the back as one would carry a normal African baby; suckled and put to bed like a real child. An AKUA’ BA DOLL is a good luck charm, an attempt to lobby the fertility gods for a child.
According to legend, a barren woman named Akua went to a traditional priest for help. He instructed her to commission a small wooden child and carry it on her back, treating it as if it were a living child. This subjected her to ridicule in the village, and the term “Akua’ ba” (“child of Akua”) was born. In time, however, Akua conceived, giving birth to a beautiful baby girl. Of a sudden, carrying an AKUA’ BA DOLL became common practice, a symbol of hope for barren women. So prevalent did they become, in fact, that even pregnant women took to carrying them—to ensure a healthy child. The disc-shaped head and the neck depicting rolls of fat are ideals of Ashanti beauty. They once molded the shape of their newborns’ heads in such a way.

Feature Video

In his book Religion and Art in Ashanti, R.S. Rattray describes the word Adinkra (also called Adinkara) as deriving from the so-named King of Gyaman—now present-day Cote D’ Ivoire—who angered Ashanti King Bonsu-Panyin by copying that tribe’s Golden Stool. Bonsu-Panyin defeated and slew Adinkara in the early 19th century. ADINKRA SYMBOLS are indigenous to both the Akan of Ghana and the Gyaman of neighboring Cote d’Ivoire.
Originally designed to pattern funerary cloth, ADINKRA has become ubiquitous in Ghanaian culture, from everyday clothing (see the three batik T-shirts) and jewelry to decorations for buildings and monuments. Of the hundreds of ADINKRA SYMBOLS that now exist, GYE NYAME—meaning “God alone”—predominates. Indeed, it is likely the plastic chair you are sitting in at the local Ghanaian “spot” (bar) is decorated with a GYE NYAME symbol.
ADINKRA SYMBOLS are often symmetrical, their abstract simplicity giving them a timeless quality. Often they are based on parables, though sometimes they are merely decorative. In a country besieged by Western influence, ADINKRA SYMBOLS continue to thrive. Though their “purity” is debatable—as in the “BARAK OBAMA 2009” I saw referred to as an ADINKRA SYMBOL in a magazine recently—and the evidence that they originate from the Moslem north is strong, ADINKRA SYMBOLS are an art form Ghana has made its own. Their closest modern-day parallel is the characters in Chinese writing.
Courtesy of Kabuki Creations of Accra, from left to right these T-shirts display symbols meaning “Hope,” “God alone” (the GYE NYAME symbol echoed by the framed string art to the right center and elsewhere in this exhibition), and “Strength of Mind, Body and Soul” (as symbolized by a ram’s horns). Flanking a pair of royal chairs atop the cases, an ADINKRA stool depicts a two-headed crocodile with a common stomach, symbol of “Unity With Diversity.”
The three cloths are loaded with ADINKRA SYMBOLS. For example, the cloth on the left contains the symbol for “The Back of Gyawu’s Head” (a royal hairdo that is repeated in the bark cloth in the middle), “Sacrifice” (a cross that is repeated in all three cloths), “The Teeth and The Tongue” (two connected ovoids, each with three “buds” extending from their sides, symbol of communication), “Aya” (the fern, symbol of hardiness), and “Crossed Divisions” (symbol of precision). Note also the symbols on the bark cloth (middle), with the stool symbolizing royalty and another version of the ram’s horns symbol.
All definitions courtesy of W. Bruce Willis’s The Adinkra Dictionary.

Feature Video

The commonly used term ASHANTI GOLD WEIGHTS is somewhat misleading, as the Ashanti didn’t use gold dust as a currency—the weights being used to measure out gold dust—until 1700 (The Arts of Ghana by Cole/Ross), while this art form has been in existence since the pre-European 1400’s. The Ashanti are credited, however, with introducing representational art to this genre—so anything depicting a person or animal, post-1700, can rightly be called an ASHANTI GOLD WEIGHT.
Fashioned of cast brass using the cire perdue (lost wax) method, GOLD WEIGHTS are of three types: 1. abstract, with geometric patterns (the earliest incarnation), 2. chiefs, especially seated or on horseback, and 3. depictions of people engaged in various everyday activities (including intimate ones!). The seated chief remains the most common image.
In addition to their use as a means of conducting trade, some GOLD WEIGHTS were thought to have spiritual powers. They were a standard wedding gift, given to a young man along with two pounds of gold dust and a rifle. As do ADINKRA SYMBOLS, many GOLD WEIGHTS depict proverbs. Note the tremendous variety of imagery here, taking note of the unfortunate seated figure (right center of display) with a sepow knife thrust through his cheeks—so he can’t curse the chief before his execution! GOLD WEIGHTS have the distinction of being more varied than any other Ghanaian art form.

LINGUIST STAFFS are common to this day. It is a striking to behold a procession of chiefs arriving for a durbar (ceremonial gathering), each riding in a palanquin or walking beneath a huge umbrella, each led by his linguist carrying the gold-encrusted staff of his domain. A linguist is second in royal importance only to the chief. He is the chief’s public voice, as one must often speak through him in order to communicate with the chief.
LINGUIST STAFFS are rich in symbolism, with probably the second greatest variety of imagery in Ghanaian art after gold weights. They symbolize the chief’s power, often depicted in animal form. The tops of LINGUIST STAFFS, sometimes the entire staff, are gilded.
The two LINGUIST STAFF figure groups to the right illustrate the parable, “The boy does not know the lion,” an allusion to naivete in the face of danger. NOTE: the figure groups on both staffs don’t necessarily match the poles they are attached to.

These terra cotta heads have a 400 year tradition in southern Ghana, where they were fashioned to resemble the nobles who served a chief during his lifetime. All were originally painted, and some were parts of near-life-sized statues. Smaller heads may have adorned terra cotta vessels made to hold sacrificial offerings to the dead. They were either placed in rows around the grave or in a sacred grove nearby. Notice the sweetness of expression in the head featured in the center of the case!

Ghanaian Funerals and Color

Although their use is no longer restricted to funerals, certain colors retain their symbolic meaning in a funerary setting.
BLACK: is used primarily to mourn the deaths of younger people. It is often accompanied or even substituted by red and, increasingly, burnt orange. A Ghanaian priest tells me red is worn by the immediate family, black by others attending the funeral.
WHITE: is reserved for the death of older people, often accented with black. ADINKRA SYMBOLS, discussed elsewhere in this exhibit, can often be found on funerary cloth of any color.
Unlike its Western counterpart, a Ghanaian funeral is hardly a somber event. Especially in the case of a younger person’s death, the proceedings can get rowdy. Youth sporting red headbands and armbands parade down the street, singing songs and banging drums, sometimes stopping traffic to elicit “respect money” from passersby. I once witnessed a fight break out as a youth tried to prevent the coffin from being lowered into the grave!
Usually, the longer the interval between death and burial, the more important the individual—for one thing, because more friends and family need to be contacted. The burial of a chief can even take years as the succession to the stool is worked out. Funerals can be multi-day events, their constants being eating, drinking and a bombast of music. Indeed, sometimes it is hard to tell a wedding from a funeral in Ghana.
The three shirts hanging in this case are all funerary shirts. Note the accompanying necklace on the white shirt, its pendant fashioned from a melted-down Coke bottle by the Operation Hand In Hand workshop employing Ghanaians with mental disabilities in Nkoranza. The accompanying necklace on the red shirt is the ubiquitous GYE NYAME symbol (from the Cultural Centre in Kumasi). The orange shirt in the middle is of particular interest, its cloth commissioned for the death of Nii Armah II Odorkor Mantse, the Chief of Odorkor–a part of Accra–for 25 years. In addition to his portrait, note the various symbols: two swords (symbol of a former warrior; it is echoed by the hand holding a sword in the front of the case: possibly a LINGUIST STAFF finial) atop a stool (symbol of royalty), and a bird (possibly a totem animal for the chief and/or his people). A colleague related to the chief gave the cloth to me and others, to be made into shirts and dresses for attending the funeral. At the funeral, the chief’s body was decked out in full regalia as it reclined on a royal bed.