Striking iron : the art of African blacksmiths / edited by Allen F. Roberts, Tom Joyce, and Marla C. Berns, with William J. Dewey, Henry J. Drewal, and Candice Goucher ; with essays and contributions by Rowland Abiodun [and 17 others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Roberts, Allen F., 1945- editor.

Joyce, Tom, 1956- editor.

Berns, Marla, editor.

Dewey, William Joseph, editor.

Drewal, Henry John, editor.

Goucher, Candice Lee, editor.

Abiodun, Rowland, writer of added commentary.

Fowler Museum at UCLA, issuing body, host institution.

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Blacksmiths--Africa--Exhibitions.

Artist-blacksmiths--Africa--Exhibitions.

Art metal-work--Africa--Exhibitions.

Ironwork--Africa--Exhibitions.

Art metal-work.

Artist-blacksmiths.

Blacksmiths.

Ironwork.

Africa.

Genre:

Exhibition catalogs.

Physical Description:

510 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

Los Angeles, California : Fowler Museum at UCLA, [2019]

Summary:

"The collection of scholarly essays 'Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths' accompanies an international traveling exhibition of the same title organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA. For more than two millennia, ironworking has shaped African cultures in the most fundamental ways. 'Striking Iron' reveals the history of invention and technical sophistication that led African blacksmiths to transform one of Earth's most basic natural resources into objects of life-changing utility, empowerment, prestige, spiritual potency, and astonishing artistry. The contributions of diverse scholars examine how blacksmiths' virtuosic works can harness the powers of the natural and spiritual worlds, effect change and ensure protection, prestige, and status, assist with life's challenges and transitions, and enhance the efficacies of sacred acts such as ancestor veneration, healing, fertility, and prophecy. The publication features full-color photographic reproductions of over 225 artworks from across the African continent, focusing on the region south of the Sahara and covering a time period spanning early archaeological evidence to the present day. These works include blades, currencies, diverse musical instruments, body adornments, ritual accoutrements, tools, weapons, and other important iron objects. Following its presentation at the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles the exhibition 'Striking Iron' travels to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., and the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preface 1: Lingua ferrum : soliloquies of smiths / Tom Joyce

Preface 2: Heavy metal : iron in the universe / E.C. Krupp

Preface 3: Ògún, the òrìṣà whose fame is worldwide / Rowland Abiodun

Introduction / Allen F. Roberts

The place of iron in African cosmologies / Allen F. Roberts

Supertransformers : iron smelting and gender / Candice Goucher

Iron's empowering presence / Henry J. Drewal

Interleaf A: Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ mask honoring blacksmiths / Tom Joyce and Henry J. Drewal

Potency conveyed with a hammer's blow / Tom Joyce

Interleaf B: Blacksmiths onstage / Tom Joyce

Precolonial currencies : value, power, and prestige / Allen F. Roberts

Blades : of hard work and honor / Allen F. Roberts

Interleaf C: Shona blades for the ancestors / William J. Dewey

Beauty that bites : creative virtuosity in African throwing knives / Patrick McNaughton

Interleaf D: For whose eyes were they? Calligraphic blades of Mahdist Sudan / Allen F. Roberts

Portfolio I: Currencies

Portfolio II: Blades

Ages of iron : origins of the blacksmith's art in Africa south of the Sahara / Shadreck Chirikure, William J. Dewey, and Scott MacEachern

Transforming culture : West and Central African iron archaeology / Scott MacEachern

Interleaf E: Ancient prestige works from the Upemba region of Central Africa / William J. Dewey

Culture as technology : East and Southern African iron archaeology / Shadreck Chirikure and William J. Dewey

Interleaf F: Forged values : hoes in the archaeology and history of Southern Africa / Shadreck Chirikure

Blacksmith societies of a Mande world / Patrick McNaughton

Ògún/Gu's resonance in Yorùbá, Edo, and Fon worlds / Rowland Abiodun and Henry J. Drewal

Interleaf G: Dancing for Ògún Oǹdó / Henry J. Drewal

Interleaf H: Gu's journey to the Louvre / Colleen E. Kriger

Interleaf I: Symbols of authority : Igbo Ọfọ in wood and iron / Philip M. Peek

Worn and held : forging life's passages in northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria / Scott MacEachern and Marla C. Berns

Interleaf J: Personal adornment of Himba women / John Watson

Forging power and memory in West-Central Africa / Colleen E. Kriger

Of blacksmiths and kings : a Central Bantu world / William J. Dewey and Allen F. Roberts

Interleaf K: Interformances of a Kongo nail figure / Allen F. Roberts

Portfolio III: Personal adornment

Iron on the anvils of change / Candice Goucher

Interleaf L: "Voyage iron," from Europe to Africa / Colleen E. Kriger

Interleaf M: Thresholds : Sub-Saharan blacksmiths in Morocco / Henry J. Drewal

Interleaf N: Forging faith : Ethiopian iron crosses / Raymond Silverman

Sounding forms / Manuel Jordan

Interleaf O: Ritual activation with sound : Chamba of the Middle Benue, Nigeria / Marla C. Berns

Forged in the marketplace : migrant blacksmith identities in Bamako / Isaie Dougnon (translated by Allen F. Roberts)

Portfolio IV: Bamako market.

Notes:

Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, June 3-December 30, 2018; the Smithsonian Museum's National Museum of African Art, April 17-October 20, 2019; and Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, November 19, 2019-March 29, 2020.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 470-494) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9780990762669

0990762661

OCLC:

1088605587