Key Moments in Life: Newborn/Infancy |
| Newborn | 1 | 2 |
 |
An African woman's roles are as life bearer, nurturer and source of generations. For African women in a traditional rural community the chief measure of success in life is her ability to bear many children for her husband and his family. The very existence of the family and clan depends on these children who will provide security for their parents in old age, and who will continue to nourish the spirits of the ancestors through sacrificial offerings. As a result, much of African art is directed toward encouraging the fertility of women. Many shrines, some filled with sculpture and other devotional objects, are dedicated to spirits that provide the blessings of fertility. |
Female figure with child |
Ashanti people,
Ghana |
| Newborn | 1 | 2 |
 |
On a continent where infant mortality rates are high, much art is created to deal with maternal and child health. After a woman experiences frequent miscarriages, a figure that representing the spirits of ancestors reborn as infants may be carved to encourage the spirits of those infants to "stay behind" in the world of the living rather than returning to the spirit world. Like many peoples throughout the world, Africans have ambivalent feelings about twins. Twins are considered to be supernatural creatures that can bring misfortune to their families, or in the case of the Yoruba people in Nigeria, may bring prosperity. Among the Mossi of Burkina Faso twins are called kinkirsi, the same name used to describe the malevolent red nature spirits that live in trees afflicting passers-by with accidents and disease. Figures may be carved to represent the spirits of deceased infants to bring good fortune to their parents. |
|
Twin figure, ere Ibeji |
Yoruba people,
Nigeria |
Go to Key Moments in Life Section:
Newborn |
||||
