Oware is reputed to be the oldest game on earth. It is at least 15,000 years old and can be traced back to the Sumerians of ancient Africa. It is one of the oldest sedentary games of Ghana. It is also played in other parts of Africa, but the name varies from country to country.
Figurines with flat face made from wood. If an Akan woman had difficulty conceiving a child, she would be encouraged to visit a local shrine accompained by a senior women in her family. The woman who was having difficulty with conception would be placed on an altar for a period of time, and later reclaimed along with medicines. The sculpture was then carried, fed, bathed, and otherwise cared for by its commissioner as if it were a living baby. Once the woman had conceived and had a successful delivery, she would return the figurine to the Shrine as a form of offering. If the child died, the woman would keep the Akua'ba as a memorial.
In this piece, Allen pays homage to Black women as goddesses in an effort to change the image of how God has been portrayed. The beginning of the name, “Mwasi Ya Kumu,” means Queen in the Lingala language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Iyalodé” is also one of the names of the orisha, Oshun.
Ife is and ancient Yorbua city. These naturalist head sculptures, usually depicting royalty, were cast in zinc-bronze or terracotta, and were most popular between the 13th and 15th centuries A.D.
These unique irrigation implements were used on plantations and farms in several Southern states including Florida. The watering device helped double the work productivity of children assigned to this particular labor task.
A kora is a 21' string harp that originates among the Mandinka people of West Africa. Customarily, the kora is placed by members of djeli families. Djelis are traditional historians, genealogies and storytellers.
In the Akan tradition, these figurines are created to help women overcome difficulties bearing children. There is some variation in the doll across the different Akan ethnic subgroups, but they all function similarly: A woman requests that a doll be made. The doll is taken to a shrine, where rituals are done, prayers are made and medicines given to the hopeful mother. She then wears the doll on her back and cares for it as she would a real baby, until she conceives and delivers. id her real child dies, the mother keeps the aku'aba as a memorial.
