Improving African Futures Using Lessons from the Past

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1. Painting a spindle whorl, Kokua, 1994

Description:
Spindle whorls (gԑndԑ kaan in Nafaanra) are made by Muslim men in Kokua, a village on the Sampa-Asri road. Here a man decorates fired clay whorls, applying bands of colors (white, red, yellow) to their dark surface. He applies the color using a stylus, twisting the whorl to create horizontal bands around the whorl's circumference. In the foreground a finished spindle whorl sits on top of unpainted whorls in a metal pot. A bundle of thin wooden spindles sits at the man's foot, next to a calabash that holds white pigment. Yellow pigment is held by another container, possibly a turtle shell (carapace). Next to it, a red pigment stone (ochre) rests on a heavily worn grinding stone. The beauty of such a painted spindle whorl inspired the Nafaanra proverb "Chlͻ were nyu na gԑndԑ yi" (The woman is as beautiful as the spindle whorl.") Archaeological examples of whorls found on late 18th- and 19th-century sites in the Banda area are often shaped like these from Kokua, but few show signs of paint, perhaps because it has worn off during use. Kokua, 1994.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Kokua
Subjects:
Men's work; Decoration; Paint; Grinding stone
Subjects Facet:
Handicraft; Spindle whorls; Ocher
Identifier:
16
Creator:
Dr. M. Dores Cruz
Contributors:
Dr. Ann B. Stahl
Date searchable:
1994
Date searchable:
1994
Genre:
35 mm slide
Genre Facet:
35 mm slide
Location(s):
Kokua;7.852430, -2.646146
Date Digitized:
2016
People Facet:
Dr. M. Dores Cruz
Commentary:
Slide scanned by Veronique Plante
Geographic Coordinates:
7.852430, -2.646146