The lack of central authority entails the absence of a court yard, where they could be concentrated works of art. Art lobby and in particular their sculpture is a distinct type of religious art for your own use. Owners of religious objects /art produced in very large numbers, they hid them from outside opinions, and this situation explains the fact that of all forms of art lobby for a long time in Europe were known only jewelry - bracelets and pendativy of metal or ivory - or the little three-legged stool and a club - the attributes of ritual dances - carved wood.
On the other hand, the inhabitants of the country often lobby produced its own ritual of the statue, so that the statue of high quality drowned in a mass roughly manufactured goods of poor quality. Not surprisingly, the first European audience sculptures that people describe it as "brutal, ugly, contrary to all the proportions, made in haste and something like" ( "Tribes of the branch lobby" Henri Lafore, 1931). This view prevailed until the 1950's.
In his book "The Art of the peoples of black Africa, the plastic products" (1967) J. Delange otdlaet tribute Lobi sculpture. In 1960-70 gg. this art was discovered in the present, which indicates and that resistance Lobi Europeanization of society was very weak, and already a famous exhibition of African art, held in Zurich in 1971, had 11 sculptures Lobi.
Social structure
For a long time society lobby attributed to martilinearnomu type; indeed, immediately after the birth of every child - boy or girl - gets the name of connecting with the matrix-clan of his mother. The names are passed from mother to daughter, staying connected to the common ancestor of the female sex. The sons also bear this name, but do not transmit it to their descendants. In addition, the inheritance passes through the maternal line.
However, the paternal line is also very important, because it sayazana with a zone of the sacred, in particular, it defines the lobby of each belongs to a group dedicated to the cult of Györ. The child learns the name of their group only at the time of initiation, this name is kept secret.
In addition, the performance of ritual worship many lobby implemented father - head of the family, and all associated items are passed from father to son. Thus, society is bilinearnym lobby, and after marriage the wife prizodit to live with her husband.
In addition to everything, every lobby throughout his life subordinated body guardianship - matriklanu his father, binding him with all the other relatives of his father's maternal line. Thus, of all his life (initiation, marriage, building a house, home, altars, funeral expenses) in line with decisions of his father or next of kin of the father's maternal line. Sue modzhno conclude that the father is the organizer of the socio-religious life of the lobby.
Finally, each lobby is a member of the rural community under the auspices of a deity, revered by all its members regardless of their origin.
Religion
The only form of government, recognized by lobby - is the power of supernatural beings, and their social organization is closely linked with the sacred. The religious lobby system is built around
tangba, the higher the creator, the creator of the world, which is fertilized by the rain, and all that lives. This Creator is unknowable, but it manifests itself in several forms, such as lightning. These expressions can in turn be obektorm worship and have their altars.
Tangba is not involved directly in the earthly life, he makes it through the supernatural beings Teale, invisible to mere mortals. In the religious system, lobby, there are several categories of spirits,
Conte. This invisible beings who inhabit the mountains, rivers, trees, forests. Their prisuststvie can be dangerous to humans and, therefore, have to defend ourselves from them and try to achieve their benevolence.
Finally, ucopshie, who after the death cross the Upper Volta and returned to live in the land of their ancestors, are also involved in zhiznm next generations and are the subject of worship.
Thus, in the course of his life lobby should correct a number of cults and comply with their injunctions. Otherwise, his life would be in danger - it can get sick and die, and in the most serious cases, the risk may podvergnutlsya his family. Performance requirements of worship and obedience to their taboos is a certain code of good conduct. Religious lobby system guarantees social equilibrium.
Altars lobby often look like clay structures of various sizes (from 10 cm to 1 m or more), generally conical shape, the design can be more or less clearly expressed anthropomorphic character. They determine both the nature and inside the home, often in the room the first wife.
Sculptural figures
Visionary lobby often require members of the variable is destroyed, requesting them to find solutions to their problems, carved wooden sculpture, most often antropomorfeuyu, which can then be placed on the altar or near it - ststui lobby is almost always tied to their numerous cults.
Visionary provides guidance on the characteristics skultpury - its size, posture, gender, etc. Sculpture lobby undoubtedly the greatest variety of different hard vsegr African art - not found in almost all positions of the human body: standing and sitting figures, whose hands may be raised, separated, folded under the chin or extend along tuloviza. Sometimes statuette depicts a couple of characters - a mother and child, man and woman ...
Add images of strange chuschestv with multiple arms, legs and heads, with a double trunk Siamese twins with the heads of animals.
Select posture reflects the intended character figurines. P. Meyer set the value of certain items and on this basis classified sculpture lobby.
"Koldlovskie figures" - predaznacheny for protection from the spell of evil sorcerers. The most "dangerous", that is the most effective are the figures who have raised one or both hands - a gesture of spells, as well as figurines of the above strannyzh characters.
"Sad figure" - a woman mourning the deceased. These figures should take the grief of their owner, to withdraw from his misfortune. For figurines such an appointment is also characterized by Shirov razyvedennye hands.
"Specialized figures" - that meet a specific need punctual, for example, to treat a woman or a man from infertility. These figures izobdrazhayut a mother with a child, or mating characters.
Thus, the sculpture has a lobby incantatory and redemptive nature, which may still be the enhancement of gestures, based on a complex symbolism, and in different clans have different circulation of its variants.
Scientists have tried to find out whether some of these statues represent ancestors. In connection with this matter arose are common on the existence of the cult of ancestors. If \ l cult, it is understood as the worship of all the relatives and clan ancestors, then it certainly exists in various forms. Were naydkny commemorative statues of individual ancestors, but the general trend, they do not reflect.
Statue of the father or a close ancestor, often determined on an altar dedicated to the cult of his father, but the worship usually lasts no more than one to two generations.
It is possible that some of the sculptures depict the "twins" because of beliefs lobby, each man has a double, a leading independent existence and brought him in a dream.
In some tribes, in particular, Dagaaba people, vstrechabtsya firugy representing the spirits living in the jungle, which is necessary to induce the benevolent feelings matetializuya them in the form of people or creatures with the torso and chklovecheskim golovots zhiyotnogo.
Yato regard to "spiritual" nature of this sculpture, according to P. Mayer, lobby consider them independent beings, combines sverhhestestvennoe beginning with a human. They are placed on the altar of Teal to strengthen epgo zazitnye properties.
All the tribes that make up the "lobby branch" believe that these statues are endowed with the gift of speech, but understand it can only augur (lobby called them "whispering drug, Dagaaba people -" people talking wood "or" talking tree ").
Consequently, there are two types of sculptures:
1. Altar figure, serving to correct various cults, they are the most numerous, they can reach a considerable size - up to 1 m. Between them need to distinguish between:
- the statues for the altar, set on the nature
- the statues for the altar, set in sanctuaries or shelters
2. Proritsatelskie shapes, sizes do not exceed 40 cm
3. Protective or redemptive figure for personal use, very small size (5 DLO 25 cm), which the owner is with them or keep in a secret place. They can also be seen attached to the bow hunter or for his quiver, to the xylophone music, their children are like jewels, around the neck.
This classification is valid for the entire sculpture lobby. It helps to explain the difference in appearance and in the "Patina" items.
Altar figures represent objects that are manipulated extremely rare. Exchange them only when you move the altar. At the official sacrifices they may be watered with the blood of victims, beer or any other liquid, prescribed worship. If these statues are installed outdoors and exposed to the action of various elements, traces dertvoprinosheny persist for long, wood sculpture changes its color from rain and sun. The figures set out in the domestic altars retain many traces of sacrifices, which lead to the appearance of a layer of patina, especially in the upper part of these statues. The statues are stored in homes, subject to the effect of smoke from the hearth, from which they darken.
Instead, finury second and third types constantly being manipulated, so they represent the characteristic smooth and shiny povernost.
In our view, this classification is only applicable to the subjects, the origin and context are unknown. Nevertheless, the zone remains unknown - because of their size, patina, altar pieces can be easily identified, but the figures of the second and third categories may be similar in size and patina. In addition, after its manufacture purpose of the statue can be changed - so proritsatelskie figures after the death of their owner may be charged by his heirs to the family altar, on which their patina over the years is changing.
Now we note that the style of this sculpture beyond Lobi tribe in the narrow sense, and combines the art of all the kindred tribes.
Features of the nature of sculpture lobby affect primarily morphological components and anatomichyeskie details. Thus, the person most often interpreted by concave, eyes like a grain of coffee or almonds, upper eyelid acts; brow ridges merge with the curve of the forehead, hanging over the orbit. Nose with often detailed nostrils dominates the narrow mouth with a more or less voluminous lips, which even in the treatment of male characters in the memory causing the deformation caused by the double piercing.
Women's heads are usually devoid of hair or some kind of helmet are covered, ostalyayuschey impression that the hair is cropped. On the contrary, in the minds of men interpreted by a rooster's comb your hair in one or more rows, sometimes in combination with many braids, which are connected in a small ponytail over his back. As for the ears, they have the shape of a horseshoe.
Powerful vertical interpreted by the neck goes into the body with broad shoulders, flat-chested, with the difference between male and female characters is insignificant. In contrast to the genitals, navel has always emphasized and detailed, as well as the buttocks.
Hands are usually long, can be poldnyaty to the shoulders or face, but otherwise they hang parallel to the torso and reach the end of the thigh. The hands are often not detailed, the fingers are not marked at all or are symbolized by shallow notches in the tree.
Legs rather long, ending stupas, having a form of hooves. In exceptional cases, both feet together into a "platform".
These ststui cut from very hard wood, to protect them from destruction by insects, hzarakterizuyutsya and hieratic immobility and stiffness.
The stylistic variation and sculptor lobby
However, within a single style lobby, poschzvolyayuschemu easy to determine the origin of the statue, affects a variety of personal style artists. Often these features are expressed already in the proportions of figures, more or less thick-set, or neoborot, high and fragile, the angular or vice versa, rounded volumes. One might think that this sculpture found its expression many features of ethnic, klanicheskogo or religious nature. Moreover, respect for each individual gives the sculptor more creative freedom.
Unfortunately, the full stylistic analysis sculpture lobby does not yet exist.
Sculptors vkulture lobby not sostvlyayut osobyuoy caste. Sculptor become accidentally or by necessity. Each member of the tribe, in need of a statue for their altars, may be necessary to make it personally. If the results of this work are welcome, it can provide such a service to members of his family, and then the other applicants.
However, often a member of the tribe learns from a soothsayer, that
Teal veleet him to become a sculptor. Trying to escape his fate may lead to disaster.
Mastering the craft of the sculptor does not have any privileges. Like all members of the tribe, sculptor living a difficult life, constantly exposed to danger from the many evil spirits.
Thus, unlike the court painter, working on an order, the sculptor lobby is located in the heart of the struggle of people with occult forces.