African Photo Magazine Issue #6

Cultural Heritage Centre, Arusha Tanzania
In almost all African societies,
the most important role of women
is to bear children. Whatever else
– farming, cooking, or their role
in women’s associations – their
primary responsibility is to produce
and nurture children. In many West
African communities women are
the most important members of the
society in terms of magic power and
statues glorify women. Women’s
magic is demonstrable in the act of
giving birth and as nurturer of life, just
as her magic invigorates the magic of
the earth. She represents the womb
of the earth in which life and death
repose. The female child is therefore
also revered as a continuation of that
legacy.
In Defense of our
Heritage
s publishers of this magazine, we feel very deeply about cherishing our heritage as our past is what has
forged our present and will mold our future. It is to this end we showcase our 2nd installment of artifacts
from the Cultural Heritage Centre in Arusha, Tanzania, in celebration our African heritage and capturing it
through the photographer’s lens. (Photography Teddy Mitchener)
A(See the 1st installment in issue #5 for the back-story on the Cultural Heritage Centre)
The North East monsoon carried on its winds Arab trading dhows on an ancient sea route to the east coast of
Africa and stashed away in holds of the exotic dhows were large numbers of elaborately decorated wooden boxes.
These boxes, found all over bustling port cities where the Arabs traded and settled, were originally crafted by Indian
carpenters. They were in great demand in the Arab world, as prized pieces of furniture, occupying the place of pride in
homes. Over hundreds of years of migrations, the origins of the chests became blurred, as they began to be reproduced
in the Arabian Gulf, and the coastal cities of East Africa. They were usually classified by their distinctive hasps, hinges,
handles, wood and style of decoration.
In Africa, south of the Sahara, wood
is the natural material for carving. In
the 20th century sculpture in wood
is still very much a living tradition.
Tribal carving was done for a clear
and practical purpose. A figure may
represent an ancestor, destined to
stand in a shrine. A mask may be
intended for use by a shaman just
once a year in a special dance. A post
may be designed to prop up a chief’s
verandah or to form part of a palisade
round his house. An elaborate chair is
likely to be for the chief himself to sit
on, and so on.
The characteristic sculpture of
Africa, which forms the largest part of
what is usually considered primitive
art, can be seen as early as 500 BC
in the Nok culture - named from
the village in Nigeria where pottery
figures of this kind were first found.
The Nok statuettes are mainly of
human subjects. Made of terracotta,
they combine strong formal elements
with a complete disregard for precise
anatomy. Their expressive quality
places them unmistakably at the start
of the African sculptural tradition.
Traditional African birthing chairs
were intended to provide balance and
support to mothers giving birth. The
birthing chairs supported the bottom
of the women in labor and often have
a slender, sloped back for comfort
and to allow birthing assistants, who
are positioned behind the mother
in labor, to massage or support her.
The chairs were usually only 8 to 10
inches off the ground specifically to
allow laboring women to brace their
feet against the ground in a squatting
position to help in pushing.
ISSUE 6 JUNE 2017 9