African Art Mamiwata Adan 1652

Description: Ref: sf-1652Height: 29 CMProduct DescriptionMamiwata Adan fetish from Ghana. Original piece over 50 years old. African mythologies. Mamiwata, Mother of Waters MamiWata comes from "Mother water", quickly transformed into "Mommy Water", then into "Mammy water", and finally into "MamiWata". Mamiwata is the Mother of the waters, half-woman, half-fish, half-terrestrial, half-aquatic, goddess of worship Vodun in Togo and Benin, a water spirit feared by fishermen in Nigeria and Ghana, a man-eater who wanders the African night in the guise of a ghost, patron saint of the prostitutes of Kinshasa. Mamiwata is a deity who is the object of as many cults as there are followers. Heroine of lake tales and urban legends, she covers as many symbols as cultures, and embodies as many virtues as hopes, as many curses as fears. This mermaid is one of the rare deities of African mythology to be represented, pictorially speaking, with recurring features and forms. The Gods of the Yoruba pantheon are almost the only ones to have human effigies and representations. Let us recall that one of the characteristics of African spirituality is its capacity to "animate" objects and beings belonging to the animal, plant or mineral world, by recognizing their soul and their own existence. But also by investing them with powers and symbols, allowing men to communicate with the “invisible” world, that of the dead and spirits. The myths of origins, of creation, cosmogony, which allow us to explain the origin, the essence and the meaning of the world, are symbolized, among most African peoples, by natural elements such as water, earth or fire, by totem animals embodying the primordial being, by ancestral, heroic or legendary figures. The majority of the elements that make up their spiritual universe are therefore already in nature, it is nature itself. Mamiwata, in addition to being a hybrid being, is a foreign deity. Foreign to men and foreign to nature. It is a supernatural creature, because it embodies the crossing of three worlds: animal, human and spiritual. This hybridity, which is in fact a deformity, because it makes Mamiwata a “monster”, paradoxically gives him all his powers. Mamiwata is also the only African deity venerated or known in a geographical area bringing together cultures and peoples as diverse as the Ibo of Nigeria, the Ewe of Benin, the Bamiléké of Cameroon and the Kongo of the DRC. Although she is the object of different cults and is linked to very specific symbols depending on ethnic groups, beliefs, but also social backgrounds, we can say that Mamiwata is a "pan-African" goddess. Based on the "coastal" location of the countries where the cult of Mamiwata is most widespread, namely the Gulf of Guinea, for Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Togo, and Central Africa for Cameroon and the DRC, some researchers have come to the conclusion that Mamiwata, in its modern representation, appeared for the first time in Africa in the 15th century, when Europeans reached the coasts of the black continent. The mermaid is said to have been introduced to Africa, both through the stories of European sailors, but also through the figureheads of their ships, which very often represented this fabulous creature. In the mid-19th century, another image, called "the snake charmer", inspired by Hindu goddesses, was taken to Africa. It circulated widely in West Africa, where it was perceived as a mystical painting, due to its strangeness, and the power and beauty of the female figure, whose features resembled those of an African woman. Furthermore, the snake theme fit with African beliefs about this sacred animal. It is more likely that these images and stories influenced the figurative representation of Mamiwata, giving him a "human" face and characteristics, but they did not invent it. Africans have only appropriated these external elements, they have reinvented them in order to better integrate them into already existing beliefs. Aquatic or lake deities were already very numerous, in West Africa as in Central Africa. In the Ibo culture of Nigeria, the ndi mmili, water spirits, were venerated, while in the Kongo civilization, these spirits were called mbumba, and often referred to a large mythical serpent. The deity Mamiwata was integrated into the pantheon of pre-existing gods of vodun on the basis of one or more water deities, but especially through the Dan cult of the royal python, practiced by the Mina, the Ewé, the Adja, the Fon, the Yoruba and the Ibo. The Vodun religion having crossed the Atlantic with African slaves during nearly four centuries of trade, the mermaid Mamiwata is also very present in certain cults of the black diaspora. In particular those of Candomblé in Brazil, where it is called Yemanja, and those of Santeria in Cuba, where the descendants of African slaves named it Yemoya. Mamiwata is therefore a subtle combination of African beliefs and both European and Indian imagery. The "foreign" aspect of Mamiwata has always been strongly emphasized in his pictorial representation, as a symbol of the cultural upheavals brought about by the slave trade and European colonization. Mamiwata, as an allegory of colonial power and violence, symbolizes the negative influence of the outside world on African values. The goddess comes from the world of waters, seas, oceans through which came the first Portuguese ships, then Dutch, English and French, which took millions of slaves to the Americas, and imposed their political, economic and cultural powers. Although his physical representation and symbolism vary across cultures, in his most common representation, everything about Mamiwata recalls the white man of the colonial and contemporary periods. Her physical characteristics are those of a European (white skin and long hair), as are her temperament (authoritarian, selfish, vain with a strong sense of superiority), her morals (free, amoral and individualistic) and her powers (linked to money, outward signs of wealth and economic success). But despite all this syncretism, this mixture of influences and symbolisms, Mamiwata is indeed an African divinity. For many, it is an allegory, a projection of sexual desires, economic difficulties, hopes of social advancement. Its hybridity and its “monstrosity” reflect above all the disarray of African societies faced with their own mutations, between tradition and modernity, between authenticity and alienation. In Central African countries, such as Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo for example, this divinity or rather his spirit, appears in the heart of large cities, preferably at nightfall. It is also very present in the markets, another allegory of the invisible world, which by their affluence attract the covetousness of ghosts and evil spirits. Mamiwata appears mostly in bars and places of debauchery, always in the guise of a very beautiful woman who leads men into madness. In Congolese folklore, Mamiwata is a prostitute who tempts and perverts men. It symbolizes all the excesses linked to sexuality: polygamy, infidelity, but above all AIDS. The myth of Mamiwata is far from fixed. It feeds every day on the new symbols given to it by those who appropriate it. Like all myths, Mamiwata serves to embody a positive or negative worldview. Whether it is a spiritual landmark or a scapegoat, it constitutes a means of expressing the dreams and fears that the uncertainties of the modern world arouse in Africa.African art, African masksPart delivered with an invoice and a certificate of authenticity.african art african tribal arte africana afrikanische kunstBased on the "coastal" location of the countries where the cult of Mamiwata is most widespread, namely the Gulf of Guinea, for Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Togo, and Central Africa for Cameroon and the DRC, some researchers have come to the conclusion that Mamiwata, in its modern representation, appeared for the first time in Africa in the 15th century, when Europeans reached the coasts of the black continent. The mermaid is said to have been introduced to Africa, both through the stories of European sailors, but also through the figureheads of their ships, which very often represented this fabulous creature. In the mid-19th century, another image, called "the snake charmer", inspired by Hindu goddesses, was taken to Africa. It circulated widely in West Africa, where it was perceived as a mys

Price: 710.62 USD

Location: Bastia

End Time: 2024-12-31T00:41:02.000Z

Shipping Cost: 48.68 USD