griot

the akan peoples of west africa heavily incorporate cultural proverbs into their artworks and regalia traditions.

art2 prof: so how many proverbs do you think is in the akan culture?
student: well they probably have thousands if all they do is talk in proverbs!

that, is called WITTY.

:: i want to go to west africa right now and go wandering through the textile markets.

:: i take notes incessantly in the african art class. notes i won't ever go back and read. but i do it anyway. weird.

:: apparently i would've gotten full points on the exam if i'd identified who found king tut's tomb. was that even important info?! that loss of points is annoying me now because tut info has been burned into my brain since childhood: howard carter in 1922, funded by lord carnavon (who died from a "bee sting"), found a step on the next to last week he was able to stay in egypt. carter started his career as an archaelogical artist (drawing pics of items found since this was before the prevalence of cameras). one of his workers discovered a single step early one morning in a spot that had been a dumping ground for other digs in the kings' valley. they dig down 12 steps to find a doorway with inscriptions of warnings carved across the lintel, break down a small hole, and carter's the first one to shine a light into the darkness to see "the glint of gold everywhere." the first room is a small chamber that has items stacked rather haphazardly -- apparently ancient tomb robbers were apprehended by priests who hurriedly piled the items that weren't stolen in this room before sealing it. they probably also sealed the wall that blocked the entrance to the burial chamber (sandal marks can be seen in photographs of that wall before it was broken down). the hole where the ancient thieves crawled through is in the lower left corner next to the animal figure "tables" that were piled with dried foodstuffs. a disassembled chariot was also in this room. the archaelogical team spent weeks clearing out this area since carter insisted that the room be carefully recorded down in situ through numerous photos and drawings. entrance to the actual tomb chamber is guarded by two black anubis figures (black symbolizing the fertile soil of egypt -- hence "rebirth" and "life"). the shrine housing the numerous sarcophogi of tut practically fills the entire tomb chamber with only room for laying down oars on the sides. the first golden shrine was broken into but the next three were completely sealed -- carter being the first man in 3000 years to see the contents inside. tut is buried within four shrines, two sarcophogi, three coffins (the innermost of which was made of SOLID GOLD weighing over 400 lbs), and wore a pure-gold burial mask. this makes for a total of nine "encasements", nine being the number that symbolizes eternity in egyptian culture (much like the chinese, cool). numerous items were wrapped between the layers of linen around the mummy and there was a small wreath of dried flowers that encircled the cobra uraeus on tut's golden burial mask -- theorized to have been left there by his grieving queen (who was also his half-sister). beyond the burial chamber was the tiny annex room where numerous items meant to serve tut in a luxurious afterlife were stored: game tables, many jars filled with oils and ungents, weapons, chairs, tables, a bajillion servant statuettes (i forget what these are called), everyday use items like cosmetic containers and mirrors, and etcetra. my absolute favorite item from tut's tomb is the lotus lamp (already filled with oil) that was made of alabaster. a really close second is the small golden statuette of the goddess nut. third are the black anubis guardians. then the lapis scarab pendent. blah blah blah. i could go on and on and on.

in fact, i think i already have.