Figure of a Mother Holding a Child Essay

Created in the 19th century by an unknown Lulua artist, the throw of a M former(a)wise safekeeping a Child is a very interesting scratch because there are multiple ways of understanding its import. On one hand, the sculpture is a perfect depiction of the pain of starvation that the African spate have been experiencing for a long time, and that nobody outside of Africa has done anything eventful about despite the fact that the entire world discusses it. On the other hand, it represents a ritual that the Lulua kinship group of the Democratic Republic of Congo had ripe for its own survival (Figure of a find safekeeping a Child).The sculpture is that of a skinny, African womanish with an infant in her arms. The womans head is larger than her body. The bone lines on her bed are particularly telling. Even so, the bone lines on her neck and the wrinkles on her face had actually been created by the artist to show that the Lulua peoples had used scarification to robe their bodie s (Lulua kin group Democratic Republic of Congo Figure of a Mother memory a Child). Indeed, it is scarification that adorns the woman carrying the infant.Just the same the mantrap is made to feel sorry for the woman and her child because they appear super poor. Made with wood and copper alloy, the woman in the sculpture has bulbous eyes and a pointed base (Figure of a Mother Holding a Child). According to the Brooklyn Museum, the base was most probably bemuse into a pot containing earth and various bishimba, or materials of mineral, plant, animal, or tender-hearted origin endowed with protective powers (Figure of a Mother Holding a Child). In actuality, the sculpture had been created for a Lulua woman who had see difficulties in childbirth. The Lulua people believed that it was the evilness spirit which interrupted the process of childbirth for many women. So that the woman would attract the ancestral spirit of the Lulua tribe to get rid of the evil spirit, the artist gav e her the sculpture to care for until delivery. The pouch eyes of the sculpture reveal that the woman is aware of the influence of the evil spirit that is stopping her from becoming a mother (Lulua ethnic music).The Lulua peoples had migrated from westbound Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the eighteenth century. These people lived in shrimpy regional chiefdoms, and therefore formed closely knit communities (Lulua Tribe). Because they were immigrants, they were rather concerned about their continuity. Moreover, the Lulua people believed that their sculptures had to be made for religious reasons (Lulua Tribe). The Lulua artists who created sculptures such as the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child must have had faith that they were carrying out their moral handicraft toward their own people.Indeed, the religious values of the Lulua people were guarded by their art. Sculptures of female were quite popular among them, as these figures exemplified the union of phys ical and moral amend (Figurative Sculpture). The Lulua people believed in equating proper doings with physical beauty (Figurative Sculpture). It can be inferred that the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child and all other sculptures created for the same reason were reminders for the Lulua people that the human body cannot be disconnected from morality.This principle is clearly exemplified by the bond between mother and child. industrial plant Cited Figurative Sculpture. Central African Art. 4 Dec 2007. . Figure of a Mother Holding a Child. Brooklyn Museum Collections African Art. 4 Dec 2007. . Lulua Tribe Democratic Republic of Congo. For African Art. 2006. 4 Dec 2007. .