Power figures are magico-religious sculptures made and used by the Songye people, an ethnic group living in the Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Songye use the Bantu term nkisi (plural mankisi, also nkishi/mankishi) to refer specifically to a power figure. Scholars of African art use "power figure" or “magical figure” instead of nkisi because the term nkisi is used throughout Central Africa and refers to any “assemblage of objects and entities whose efficacy and capacity to influence the affairs of the living depend upon some external agency, usually identified with spirits or with ancestors.”[1]
History edit
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NOTE: I tried to find a Wiki article on a non-western art form that I could use as a template. I found Totem Pole which seemed the most adaptable. I think this hits the categories we had sketched out.
This will probably have three sub-sections:
Pre-Colonial
Colonial
Post-Colonial/Present
Meaning and Purpose edit
The Songye made and used power figures for community use and individual use. Community power figures, like the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 2005.21, were larger (perhaps more than 1 meter) and more heavily ornamented than individual power figures, like the Indianapolis Museum of Art's EC43.
Types of Figures edit
There are two basic types of Songye power figures: small, privately owned figures and larger community figures. Many museums have examples of each in their collections. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has examples of both types of figures. (Scholars agree on these two types of power figures; however, Metasch mentions a third type, the village figure. The distinction Mestach makes between community and village is their placement. Village power figures were isolated and sheltered while community power figures were grouped together in special huts.)[2]
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Personal figures were commissioned for immediate dangers, and once the danger had passed the power figure, having fulfilled its function, would be discarded.[3] Personal power figures, while functioning in the same manner as community power figures, differ from them in size, craftsmanship, and ornamentation. Personal power figures range in height from just 1 ½ inches (4 cm) to 15 ¾ inches (40 cm).[4] Generally the carving is not as refined as that found in the larger, community figures. While community power figures always are full figures, personal power figures are made as both full figures and half figures.[4] Personal power figures are also less ornamented and do not have chiefly paraphernalia.[5]
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The community figures are . . .
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
Construction edit
Characteristics edit
Power Figures in Western Collections edit
See Also edit
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:RichardMcCoy/Hidden_elements_of_African_Songye_power_figures Separate article about Hidden Elements of African Songye Power Figures.]
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Other Notes:[6]
1. NKISI: Perhaps we could do a separate entry on nkisi. If we do, here's this good description: Entry for cat. no. 51 by JM (almost certainly John Mack) begins by mentioning that the widespread use of the term nkisi in Central Africa and its variation in meaning. “What all the various usages [of the term nkisi have in common, however, is that they allude to an assemblage of objects and entities whose efficacy and capacity to influence the affairs of the living depend upon some external agency, usually identified with spirits or with ancestors” (Africa, The Art of a Continent: 100 Works of Power and Beauty. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, October 4, 1995-January 21, 1996; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, March1-May 1, 1996; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, June 7-September 29, 1996. New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1996.) In any case, I think that using "assemblage" is a good idea -- it's used by various folks and we might consider it an art historical term. Also see Mack 1995 (In discussing the persistent use of the ambiguous term “fetish” by auction houses, Mack writes, “‘Fetish’ seems to adhere most tenaciously to what might be called accumulative objects, be they sculptural or natural in origin” (53). Mack tends to use the terms “power figure” and “magic figures” along with nkondi and nkisi.)
Artwork from Songye People article edit
Songye artworks include wooden figures that are usually decorated with feathers and other organic materials, and which are known as bishimba (medicine). The figures are stocky with elongated torsos, shortened legs, short arms resting on the breast or stomach, an oversized head and closed, almond-shaped eyes. Many pieces bear an animal horn projecting from the apex of the head. This, and the bulging stomach, hold materials that are believed to be magical - blessed by the nganga - and which give the figure its power. As the Songye live over a fairly large area, artistic styles are variable, and the geographical origin of bishimba can usually be ascertained by the shape of the face, head position, and the presence or extent of neck elongation. Most pieces are in wood although ivory figures are also known. Large-scale and important pieces are created for use by members of the Bwadi Bwa secret society. These include masks known as kifwebe (with highly distinctive faces covered in curvilinear decorations). Very large figures are also known. These are kept in miniature huts and are intended to protect the villagers from harm. Secular pieces such as staffs and tools are also often decorated with recognisably Songye motifs.
How to use notes edit
The engine flew for the first time in February 1977 when it replaced one of the four Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines on the McDonnell Douglas YC-15, an entrant in the Air Force's Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition.[7] Soon after, the second CFM56 was mounted on a Sud Aviation Caravelle at the SNECMA flight test center in France. This engine had a slightly different configuration with a long bypass duct and mixed exhaust flow,[nb 1] rather than a short bypass duct with unmixed exhaust flow.[nb 2] It was the first to include a "Thrust Management System" to maintain engine trim.[nb 3][8]
Notes edit
- ^ Mixed Exhaust Flow is a term used to describe turbofan engines (both low and high bypass) that exhaust both the hot core flow and the cool bypass flow through a single exit nozzle. The core and bypass flows are "mixed".
- ^ Unmixed Exhaust Flow is a term used to describe turbofan engines (usually, but not exclusively high-bypass) that exhaust cool bypass air separately from their hot core flow. This arrangement is visually distinctive as the outer, wider, bypass section usually ends mid-way along the nacelle and the core protrudes to the rear. With two separate exhaust points, the flow is "unmixed".
- ^ Engine Trim is a term that generally refers to keeping the components of an engine in synchronisation with each other. For example, maintaining proper engine trim could mean adjusting the airflow to keep the proper amount of air flowing through the high-pressure compressor for a particular flight condition.
References edit
- ^ Tom Phillips, ed. (1996). Africa, The Art of a Continent: 100 Works of Beauty and Power. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. p. 108. ISBN 0810968940.
- ^ Mestach, Jean Willy (1985). Etudes Songye, Formes et symbolique. Munich: Galerie Jahn. p. 161.
- ^ Hersak, Dunja (1985). Songye: Masks and Figure Sculpture. London: Ethnographica. p. 122. ISBN 0905788508.
- ^ a b Hersak, Dunja (1985). Songye: Masks and Figure Sculpture. London: Ethnographica. p. 154. ISBN 0905788508.
- ^ Hersak, Dunja (1985). Songye: Masks and Figure Sculpture. London: Ethnographica. p. 120. ISBN 0905788508.
- ^ LaGamma (2007). Alisa LaGamma (ed.). Eternal Ancestors; The Art of the Central African Reliquary. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. pp. x. ISBN 978-1-58839-228-2.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "YC-15 Enters New Flight Test Series". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 21 February 1977, p. 27.
- ^ Shivaram, Malur (1988). A Survey of the Flight Testing, and Evaluation of CFM56 Series Turbofan. 4th AIAA Flight Test Conference, San Diego, CA. May 18–20, 1988. Technical Papers AIAA-1988-2078.
Further Reading edit
- Dechamps, R. “L’identification anatomique des bois utilizes pour des sculptures en Afrique. V. La sculpture «Songye». Africa-Tervuren. 21.1/2 (1975): 26-33.
- Gubert, Betty. “Three Songye and Kongo Figures.” African Art. 15.1 (November 1981): 46-48, 87-88.
- Mestach, Jean Willy. Etudes Songye, Formes et symbolique. Exh. cat. Galerie Jahn, Munich. Munich, 1985.
- Neyt, François. Songye: Le redoubtable statuaire Songye d’Afrique central. Milan: Cinq Continets, 2004.
- Nkamany a Baleme, Kabamba. Art et Culture Songye. Kinshasa, 1983.
- Perrois, Louis. “The Western Historiography of African Reliquary Sculpture.” In Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary. Edited by Alisa LaGamma. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 2, 2007- March 2, 2008. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007: 63-77.
- Rubin, Arnold. African Accumulative Sculpture: Power and Display. New York: Pace Editions, Inc., 1974.
- Verswijver, Gustaaf, et al., editors. Masterpieces from Central Africa: The Tervuren Museum. Exh. cat. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa/Hull, 17 October 1996-19 May 1997. New York: Prestel, 1995.
- Wastiau, Boris. ExitCongoMuseum: An Essay on the “Social Life” of the Masterpieces of the Tervuren Museum. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa, 2000.