"Indigenous Arts of Africa"

First off, I got my information of my art piece earlier in the week from Hershberger Art Gallery in the Goshen College Music Center. However, I did not realize we needed to get pictures of the artwork until this morning, so I went over to the Music Center, and I found out it was closed. I can attach pictures of the artwork I chose when it opens on Monday morning, but I will not be able to get them until then. However, there is a link to the page that talks about the art exhibit, and in the picture at the top of the page, on the very left side, you can see half of the art piece that I chose. Here is the link:

http://www.goshen.edu/news/2013/06/07/african-indigenous-art-featured-in-goshen-college-exhibit/

Like I said, I went to the Hershberger Art Gallery to find a work of art. When you walked into the room, you could see many pieces of art. There were many smaller things lining the walls of the room, such as masks and cloth pieces of art. On the floor of the gallery, there were many pieces on top of white blocks that I believe were made of wood. I looked around for a while, and liked a few different pieces. However, the piece of artwork I chose to evaluate, is called "Chieftan's Judgment Chair." It is artwork from the Republic of Cameroon, West Africa.

 I will explain, starting from the bottom up. The whole piece itself was bronze. It was mostly smooth, except for the shapes and indents worked into the piece. At the bottom, there was a thick circle ring that was sort of flat, maybe a foot in diameter. On top of the ring, were people figures in a circle, maybe 6 inches tall, with their backs to the middle, holding up another ring, only thinner and more circular. On the top of that ring, there were more people figures that were the same as the others. They were also holding up a ring, however, there is a top to it, so it is a seat. On the edges and back of the top, there are the same small people, holding up larger figures, which seem to represent people who have more power in a tribe. In the back of the seat, the biggest figure is wearing a crown of sorts, and two figures on either side of him are each holding a pipe in their hands. Two large figures, that seem to be one step down from the figure with the crown, are on either side on the ends, where arm rests would seem to be. They are both holding long sticks.  All of the figures in this piece, from the lowest to the highest, are all naked, except for a front flap. Another thing I noticed, was that all of the figures are men. This piece seemed to tell a story of rank in an African village - the regular people of the village help to hold it up, and it is their job to hold up the important figures of the village. 

For this assignment, we also needed to make response to this art piece, in poem form. I modeled this poem after William Carlos William's poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" - short and sweet:

Life of a Village

Work it takes

to help another

seeming grim

from the outside, 

but this

is what it is

to be 

a village.

For each other,

live to help

each other.  

-Melanie Hertzler