FH 2 Village Life
..visitors have remarked that it has been the best exhibition yet hosted by the new art center...Susan Talbot-Stanaway, Director, Sioux City Art Center
Photo below was taken at the artist's first exhibition in 1992. He was explaining to a reporter that he wanted to use his sculptures to tell a story of the African American experience. He begins with village life before the arrival of Europeans in Africa and the New World.
The artist with one of his early sculptures, Fishermen Casting a Net, 1991
12 x 32 x 11 inches
Wire, Aluminum, Found
1993 p#16
click on photos to enlarge
Woman Carrying Baskets
18 x 6 x 9 inches
Wire, Aluminum
1994, Portfolio #69
click on photos to enlarge
African Blacksmiths
16 x 24 x 12 inches
Wire, Aluminum, Found
1993, Portfolio #17
*Iron furnaces have been found dating from the eighth century B.C. (see information at bottom of page.)
There is more to a palm tree than coconuts.
Palm Harvest
H.60 W.30 D.8" 1993 Portfolio # 9
Africans developed many uses for this tree which many Americans think of as mostly ornamental.
The fruit of the coconut is an ingredient in many recipes from soup to dessert. Different stages of maturity offer different rewards. A green coconut contains about a quart of fresh drinking water. At other times it offers a sweet spongy dessert, and at other times the firm nutty coconut that we are familiar with in the US.
Palm oil is used for cooking, fuel for lamps, and is an ingredient in soap, cosmetics and ointments.
As disposable dishes go, the biodegradable coconut shell is light years ahead of Styrofoam. Eat and drink from it at one meal, then use it as firewood to cook the next meal.
Palm Harvest
H.60 W30 D8" 1993 P# 9
At certain times the palm can be tapped and a sweet liquid is collected. It is delicious as is or when allowed to ferment naturally changes to wine.
Basket Maker
Palm fronds are used to make a roof, walls, floor mats and baskets; raffia has many uses including cloth and furniture. (Think hammock.) Fibers from the palm are twisted and braided into rope or nets for hunting and fishing nets, or woven into furniture, baskets, hats and clothing.
*Iron Age in Africa
Iron furnaces have been found dating from the eighth century B.C., and possibly as early as 1300 B.C.; true steel was invented by the middle of the first millennium B.C. According to Roderick J. McIntosh, professor of anthropology at Rice University, see: http://wysinger.homestead.com/ironage.html
There has been quite a bit of new information in the past 5-6 years coming out of south Africa in particular. It now seems that many aspects of sophisticated human behavior, including "art", personal adornment, and fancy weapons, appeared in Africa 10's of thousands of years before they cropped up anywhere else. A web search on Blombos Cave will provide you with links to some of the media coverage....Steven L. Kuhn, Professor
Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, April, 2008
Contrary to most movies which tend to show Africans only as servants for Europeans or gathering around visitors in a menacing way in villages, Africans who were captured and enslaved had worked as farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, hunters, artists, musicians, doctors, teachers, soldiers and builders. See Great Zimbabwe and Timbuktu links below to learn more about African cities before slavery. Also you can do an Internet search for ancient cities and kingdoms of Africa.
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/zimbabwe/art/greatzim/gz1.html