格伦·乔夫（Glen Joffe）
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公元前35000年——或者左右,time – a couple huddled together in a cave located in present day Africa. They spoke in more than grunts and simple gestures. Ultimately, their language became lost in time just like the language of many who would come after their departure. Nonetheless, in the present they had made as good a life for themselves as any other homo sapiens on the planet. They had also made a satisfactory home. The cave was large and although they were not the only inhabitants, their space afforded them some privacy. Located in a large natural alcove near the main entrance, it also illustrated they had gained some status among the rest of the occupants. Perhaps the male was a good hunter; the female handy when it came to crafting hides and other materials into garments and useful utensils. Maybe they had just lasted longer than their neighbors. Back then, longevity was valued. So was experience.
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One evening, as twilight receded into darkness, the male built a fire in the center of their space. Wood that had been drying lined one wall and in a stone bowl was hair and small chips of bark and wood used for kindling. He rolled a long stick with the point pinned to a small amount of hair and kindling, and blew gently until the kindling started to smoke and erupt into a small flame. Gradually, he built a campfire. As the flame increased in size he could see the carcass of a small animal he had hunted earlier. Dinner was on the docket. Nearby was the female, nursing an infant child. The male felt a renewed sense of responsibility ever since the child was born and the female survived the rigors of childbirth. He was grateful, for he knew luck played a role in the survival of mother and child. As the male fed the fire, it further illuminated what was going on in their space, and upon closer examination he realized all was neither good nor safe.
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在遥远的墙上，他看到了不属于任何人（或任何东西）在他的“家庭”中受到欢迎的眼睛的光芒。一只巨大的野猪，就像他自己一样大，靠在山洞的一侧，大概是直到袭击的时间为止。野猪的象牙弯曲和尖锐地擦在岩石上，就像任何刀一样锋利，只需一次推力就可以造成不可估量的伤害。在这个世界上，就像许多人被公猪杀死一样。在各个方面，该生物都是值得的对手。发现，公猪冲了雄性。没有时间以为他将大火踢到野猪的脸上，野猪的脸只停了一秒钟，摇了摇头，避开了以获得更好的攻击角度。在那一刻，女性尖叫着，婴儿将头埋在她的胸部，在恐惧的本能反动时刻，她向男性挥舞着一个木制俱乐部。他一口气猛地抓住了俱乐部，用他可以召集的所有力量挥舞着它，与眼睛之间的动物联系在一起。
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公猪掉到地上，微弱地咕unt着，只呼吸了几次，然后灭了。整集只花了几秒钟。洞穴中的任何邻居在洞穴中没有注意到这种骚动。很快其他家庭聚集在一起。雄性检查杀戮和女性，向所有相关各方提供养育单词和手势。当每个人的肾上腺素消退时，野猪被屠宰和煮熟。而且，洞穴居民分别得到了公平的份额。最终，这一事件变得传奇。它经常在洞穴的居民中进行讨论，甚至是由一位艺术家纪念的，他用描绘了随后的“野猪袭击的夜晚”装饰了洞穴墙壁。然而，当需要用木炭与动物脂肪混合并用红色o骨和血色的木炭描绘这一事件时，无处可见的是公猪。 Instead, the mother was shown with her child. The entire concept of fertility, motherhood, family, and nurturing was deemed more important than the picture of a boar being killed. Mothers and children – indeed, the entire concept of maternity- became revealed as a universal theme; and nowhere did this theme become more prevalent than in the art found across the African continent.
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在通常指撒哈拉以南非洲艺术的传统非洲艺术中，母性和产妇的概念几乎是每个部落群体的主题。尽管非洲的大多数社会都可以被视为家长式或男性主导，但巧妙地渲染的产妇人物理想化和荣耀妇女是司空见惯的。然而，这种艺术的目的不仅仅在于荣耀女性。作为传统非洲艺术的一种流派，产妇人物与连续性，生育能力，子孙后代，精神和再生能力的承诺以及从个人到整个社会的每个人培养每个人的能力有关。这些主题是由最经常用小孩表现出来的女性形式的描述来代表的，但它们是与男人和女人相关的主题。
For example, one standing maternity figure from the Luba people found in PRIMITIVE’s collection of traditional African art shows a child suckling a mother’s breast. Although this type of sculpture is found throughout traditional African art, in the case of the Luba it very likely refers to the power and authority of the king as much as the traditional power of women, since women were considered essential to Luba politics and a tremendous amount of Luba art refers to “kingship” and concepts of leadership. The Luba explicitly state “kingship is a woman,” which at first blush may appear to be a contradiction, but is actually a reference to female traits required for successful leadership. Consequently, one can interpret this statue as a reference to the king’s ability and obligation to manifest behavior illustrated by the maternity figure to help insure Luba society is nurtured, grows, and prospers.
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在原始发现的传统非洲艺术集合中，可以找到许多产妇人物。许多人的概念很容易使自己成为几乎每个部落群体的标准主题。通常，该主题以象征性雕塑的形式在三维上被描绘，通常称为产妇人物，这些雕塑经常不仅具有象征性的使用。例如，在原始的传统非洲艺术收藏中，是孕妇人物的形式，是来自中非加蓬的Punu People的员工顶级。Punu以白色面具的面具而闻名，理想化的女性美容称为Mukudj。单击此处以在博客中阅读有关Mukudj面具的更多信息，题为《旁观者》（Punu Mukudj Mas亚愽娱乐ks）的《超越美女》（Beauty Beauty）。这个小组的雕像更稀少。像Mukudj面具一样，Punu雕像是由男性大师创建的，他们是男性，并且在一个名为Mwiri的男子秘密社会中经历了特殊的启动仪式。尽管他们创造的艺术被男性所使用的比女性更多，但谁携带这位员工都没关系。物体本身仍然传达了产妇主题的所有细微差别，如产妇人物的形式。
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Another piece in PRIMITIVE’s collection of traditional African art is a Spirit Spouse in the form of a maternity figure from the Baule people, who reside in the Ivory Coast of West Africa. The figure depicts a mother holding a child who is presumably preparing to suckle. This piece is not a masterpiece or tour de force of carving, but it is highly relevant to this discussion. The Baule people believe there is an alternate world running parallel to the world of the living where each of us has a spirit spouse who can be called upon to help cure problems in the physical world. When called upon, the spirit spouse materializes as an effigy, a smaller painted wooden statue that must be cared for in the same manner as a physical mate. After the problem causing its creation dissipates, the spirit spouse is then released from its obligation. No one can say with certainty why this specific spirit spouse was created. Was it trouble conceiving a child? Perhaps it had to do with establishing a nurturing relationship? Maybe it related to carrying on a family lineage? Whatever the reason for its creation, it’s certain the maternity theme was at its core.
大多数人,当他们认为传统的非洲n art conjure images of wood statuary and masks; but the history of Africa is written in three other materials: stone, terra cotta, and bronze. At PRIMITIVE, we often say those three materials have one thing in common: they are the earth, for the earth is made of stone, clay and iron ore. Consequently, these are materials where you tend to find older, more historical pieces. While PRIMITIVE presents large collections of wooden traditional African art, there are also collections of traditional African art composed of stone, terra cotta and bronze; and in each of these materials one can find maternity figures. Examples include numerous miniature African bronzes, an often overlooked category in the collecting of African art; stone maternity figures from the Grasslands of Cameroon in West Africa; and many terra cotta figures such as fetishes crafted by the Makonde people in Tanzania, East Africa. The diversity of these pieces, which always depict a mother with child, reinforces once again the universality of the maternity theme.
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但是，并非所有与产妇主题有关的雕像都说明了母子。例如，原始的传统非洲艺术收藏中最著名的两篇作品来自西非几内亚的巴加人。这种类型的雕像实际上代表了“身体面具”，由一个或多个舞者携带，其角色被完整的拉菲亚服装藏起来。尼姆巴（Nimba）现在被认为是传统非洲艺术的一种古典形式，并没有用孩子说明女性形式，而是一个抽象的女性，旨在使女性在社会中的角色理想化。它的大喙和乳房象征着女性的力量，保护和生育能力。Nimba用于仪式，以增强田野的生育能力，因为面具本身被视为代表了丰富的女性神灵。然而，它也与保护孕妇以及所有接受孕妇和母性概念的人有关。因此，它也可能被视为产妇人物的一种形式。
In examining traditional African art as a collecting category, one is immediately struck by the figurative nature of most of the art, and how females are commonly represented whether in abstract or more representational forms. Whereas sculptures depicting males tend to illustrate concepts related to power, strength, and even aggression; female images commonly illustrate reverence for women, idealized beauty, motherhood, and most importantly, themes of maternity related to healing, fertility, growth, and finally, feminine power. So prevalent and important are the appearance of maternity figures in traditional African art, one can consider them a sub-category of traditional African art; and in turn, a springboard for the examination and discussion of the maternity theme and maternity figures created since the dawn of humankind across different art categories altogether.
