Mother Africa. Motherhood in Black Africa’s Art

Mother Africa

Motherhood in Black Africa’s Art

From October 21^st to November 23^rd 2008

Thesaurus Room - La Naumber 23rd 2008

From Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 to 13.30 and from 16 to 20 h.

Sunday, from 10 to 14 h.

Organised by Farmamundi. Sponsored by Generalitat Valenciana. In cooperation with Universitat de València

Curator: F. Javier Ballesteros Morales

Cultural commitment and solidarity with Africa

For some years now, the activity programmes of the Cultural Centre La Nau, Universitat de València, include active cooperation with humanitarian and social projects and support to solidarity initiatives such as the campaigns for the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty in the world.

Together with the NGO Farmamundi and through their awareness project “Health in the millennium: a pending issue" we have an opportunity to get to know not only the very rich African art but also the social and health situation of the poorest continent.

Farmamundi is an NGO focused on health as a universal right rather than a privilege. For some years now, it has concentrated on the promotion of access to essential drugs in developing countries through cooperation and humanitarian aid projects as well as with awareness initiatives to inform society about the health situation of these countries, and to prompt society to respond. It is also the first NGO in Spain specialised in the supply of medicines and pharmaceutical aid.

This year, Farmamundi launched the awareness campaign “Health in the millennium, a pending issue” funded by the Regional Government of Valencia. The campaign is intended to inform people on health matters in developing countries and to involve them in the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals, to eradicate health-related problems.

One of the activities of the campaign is the exhibition MOTHER AFRICA. With this initiative, Farmamundi addresses Africa’s cultural wealth and social poverty, illustrates the continent’s concept of motherhood, and underlines the importance of improving infant and mother health to contribute to the fight against poverty. This inevitably requires the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals relative to health:

Goal 4: Reduce under-five child mortality by two thirds.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health reducing by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, halting and reversing their spread.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development, and in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.

THE EXHIBITION 

Mother Africa is a tour around African culture through maternity sculptures and information panels that show women's reality in Africa and the need to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals in the area of health, especially Goals 4 and 5: “Reduce child mortality” and "Improve maternal health".

The exhibition consists of 70 wood and bronze sculptures from the 12^th, 13^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries. Borrowed from art collectors, the figures represent African maternity. Next to them the panels describe the social reality and health situation of the continent, especially that of millions of women and their vulnerability to the problems caused by the shortage of medicines and health care.

At a first glimpse, we may be puzzled by the absence of maternal affection towards the child; but it would be a mistake to do a psychological interpretation and conclude that mothers are detached and cold. Our gaze should not be detached but helpful. The image does not mirror an interpersonal relationship. We are not standing in front of a story of a specific individual but in front of the idealised depiction of maternity as the ancestor giving way to a lineage or a divinity. African figures do not represent emotion because they don't need to: they are created out of emotions and surrounded by emotions. That is what is common to all past and future mothers, beyond their differences.

From this viewpoint, looking for details with references to specific people or experiences does not boost the meaning of the figure. Rather, it makes it poorer, constraining it to a specific time and place, taking our attention from what really matters. Precisely because of that, African sculpture does not pursue the ideal of full, realist and detailed depiction but the selective concentration on symbolically essential elements: the breasts, the belly, the navel, the hairstyle, the scarifications and female body paints, more or less emphasised by different cultures.

In Africa, defining motherhood can even be more difficult. Each ethnic group has its own clans, tribes, etc. Based on their own experiences and adaptation to the new times, the concept of motherhood has its own peculiarities that make it impossible to analyse or understand.

The panels reproduce the Millennium Development Goals in the area of health and the targets to achieve them.

The materials are completed by a DVD explaining the current situation of the four goals related to health.

www.farmamundi.org/lasaludenelmilenio