User:RichardMcCoy/Songye power figures

Power figures are magico-religious sculptures made and used by the Songye people, an ethnic group living in the Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Songye use the Bantu term nkisi (plural mankisi, also nkishi/mankishi) to refer specifically to a power figure. Scholars of African art use "power figure" or “magical figure” instead of nkisi because the term nkisi is used throughout Central Africa and refers to any “assemblage of objects and entities whose efficacy and capacity to influence the affairs of the living depend upon some external agency, usually identified with spirits or with ancestors.”

History


NOTE: I tried to find a Wiki article on a non-western art form that I could use as a template. I found Totem Pole which seemed the most adaptable. I think this hits the categories we had sketched out.

This will probably have three sub-sections:

Pre-Colonial

Colonial

Post-Colonial/Present

Meaning and Purpose
The Songye made and used power figures for community use and individual use. Community power figures, like the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 2005.21, were larger (perhaps more than 1 meter) and more heavily ornamented than individual power figures, like the Indianapolis Museum of Art's EC43.

Types of Figures
There are two basic types of Songye power figures: small, privately owned figures and larger community figures. Many museums have examples of each in their collections. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has examples of both types of figures. (Scholars agree on these two types of power figures; however, Metasch mentions a third type, the village figure. The distinction Mestach makes between community and village is their placement. Village power figures were isolated and sheltered while community power figures were grouped together in special huts.)



Personal figures were commissioned for immediate dangers, and once the danger had passed the power figure, having fulfilled its function, would be discarded. Personal power figures, while functioning in the same manner as community power figures, differ from them in size, craftsmanship, and ornamentation. Personal power figures range in height from just 1 ½ inches (4 cm) to 15 ¾ inches (40 cm). Generally the carving is not as refined as that found in the larger, community figures. While community power figures always are full figures, personal power figures are made as both full figures and half figures. Personal power figures are also less ornamented and do not have chiefly paraphernalia.



The community figures are. ..

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Artwork from Songye People article
Songye artworks include wooden figures that are usually decorated with feathers and other organic materials, and which are known as bishimba (medicine). The figures are stocky with elongated torsos, shortened legs, short arms resting on the breast or stomach, an oversized head and closed, almond-shaped eyes. Many pieces bear an animal horn projecting from the apex of the head. This, and the bulging stomach, hold materials that are believed to be magical - blessed by the nganga - and which give the figure its power. As the Songye live over a fairly large area, artistic styles are variable, and the geographical origin of bishimba can usually be ascertained by the shape of the face, head position, and the presence or extent of neck elongation. Most pieces are in wood although ivory figures are also known. Large-scale and important pieces are created for use by members of the Bwadi Bwa secret society. These include masks known as kifwebe (with highly distinctive faces covered in curvilinear decorations). Very large figures are also known. These are kept in miniature huts and are intended to protect the villagers from harm. Secular pieces such as staffs and tools are also often decorated with recognisably Songye motifs.

How to use notes
The engine flew for the first time in February 1977 when it replaced one of the four Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines on the McDonnell Douglas YC-15, an entrant in the Air Force's Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition. Soon after, the second CFM56 was mounted on a Sud Aviation Caravelle at the SNECMA flight test center in France. This engine had a slightly different configuration with a long bypass duct and mixed exhaust flow, rather than a short bypass duct with unmixed exhaust flow. It was the first to include a "Thrust Management System" to maintain engine trim.