Royan Portraiture of the Kuba People

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Images of ruling ancestry were important chiefly art forms, so were images of existing rulers. In some cases, the very act of ordering a portrait was part of a leader's assumption of responsibilities and entitlements. Among the Kuba people a tradition of royal portraiture, known as ndop settled around 1700 and lasted until colonial times. During the time in power of each Kuba king, a wooden sculpture of monumental size was carved that depicted ‘him’ placed in a throne burdened with trimmings of royal status. The meeting of existing ndop sculptures represented the reign of Kuba kings, and the accumulation of the current ruler's image paved his place within that line.

African method and style to portraiture often replaced idealism for realism, images of rulers carved in a specific style tradition tended to look very much alike. As a result, personal and historical motifs unique to each ruler were often engaged for purposes of being different. The royal subject of an ndop sculpture could have been identified by his ibol, a royal mark that was exposed at the moment of his coronation. Portraits that used personal and historical motifs are also found among the cast brass and carved ivory sculptures of the kingdom of Benin. Obas (kings) and other citizens of the court were identified from one another through costume and ceremonial equipment as well as variations in scale and the most important sculpture in a gathering was the largest one. However, other motifs were used to represent specific individuals were cast brass objects, an ukhurhe (rattle staff) and an ikegobo (altar to the hand) featured depictions of unique individuals. The ukhurhe was used to summon a ruler's attendance at final court ceremonies. Akenzua's, one of the rulers ...

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...frica. The magazine "Time” described him as “The world changer.” After months of traveling through Africa's outmost regions, he was led into a different world a beautiful place where nature has inherited self-worth and elegance in the faces of its people. He tried to portray the natural wandering of the people and the way they lived. From travelling through Africa he photographed a collection of intimate portraits and bright rich landscapes of the continents. When looking at these portraits you see the pride in their eyes, their god-like harmony you lose yourself and experience the unconcealed life of the entire continent. Gerth has photographed Ethiopian tribes, some in color and others in monochrome; it consists of square designed portraits. The tribe’s survival is unfortunately, under threat by various developments for the area, which affects the Lower Omo River.

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