RP-Department of Art and Design

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Browsing RP-Department of Art and Design by Author "Orchardson-Mazrui, E."

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    Creativity and Aesthetics: A Case of Women's Beaded Ornaments in the Kenyan Coast
    (2013) Orchardson-Mazrui, E.
    Available literature on traditional African Art virtually ignores women's creative and aesthetic sensibilities in artistic production. When women's traditional African art is mentioned, focus is made within the crafts, giving an impression that crafts are less significant than art forms such as sculpture; which are produced by men. This situation obscures the significance of African women's art in society. Hence, through an in depth analysis of selected women's beadwork from the Kenyan coast, this paper examines creativity, aesthetics, and symbolism in these works of art. The paper is of the opinion that women's beadwork can be placed within the realm of poetic idiophones as found in poetry where the repetition of words, sounds, and rhythm heighten a poem's aesthetic effects and invoke various images in the reader. It is our contention that women's beadwork is a valuable contribution to the stylistic and aesthetic continuum peculiar to the East African coastal strip. Further, using the headwork under discussion, the paper shows the interrelationship between Mathematics and Art and Design demonstrating that coastal women created aesthetically pleasing beadwork using elements and principles of art, and certain mathematical formulas. The paper employs functionalism and formalism theories to interrogate its concerns. The functionalist approach recognizes that the aesthetics in artefacts seek to satisfy psychological, social, economic and cultural needs of the society. Even though the functionalist theory has come under sharp criticism and waned in interest, it is useful when applied to beadwork under discussion. However, since aesthetics is often culture-bound, we need to appreciate functionality within the context of the society or community under discussion. Additionally, the paper utilizes the formalistic theory, which looks at the application of elements and principles of art to achieve a unified formal quality in an art object.
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    Spirit possession among the Mijikenda
    (Kenya Museum Society, 1989) Orchardson-Mazrui, E.
    The Mijikendal believe that illness results from possession by malevolent spirits. Pepo za mwiri, a "spirit of the body", manifests itself in various ailments such as malaria, whooping cough, arthritis and smallpox. Bodily possession is treated with therapy, herbal medicine and magical ornaments. Pepo za kitswa, an Arabic-speaking Muslim "spirit of the head", can cause mental disturbances and necessitates a lengthy course of treatment which is similar but also includes an important exorcism ceremony called ngoma za pepo, "spirit dance". Both kinds of afflictions are diagnosed by specialists, waganga, who first identify the spirit then prescribe the course of appropriate treatment. The identity of the spirit is learned when the healer speaks to it, saying "we are here to listen to your wishes; reveal yourself; we are friends", etc. The spirit is thought to respond to the healer via the possessed person who speaks the spirit's own tongue. Thus, the spirit may be identified as Arab, Pemba, Somali, Maasai, Mugalla, etc. Waganga, who may be men or women, are concerned with curing people and use "good" medicine (uganga). Wachawi practise "bad" medicine in great secrecy. The Mijikenda are convinced that wachawi still exist but, of course, no one who practises uchawi would admit doing so. The belief in the existence of "evil" medicine offers Mijikenda people a convenient excuse when they are in conflict with their community. By claiming to be possessed by an Arab spirit, or being the victim of uchawi, an individual may go to a Muslim muganga who will exorcise the spirit. When this happens, it is often said that the spirit wanted the individual to break with Mijikenda tradition2. Entrepreneurs for example have commonly adopted this method of distancing themselves from the community.