Joyce, a sculptor trained in the art of forging
iron. Drawing on his hands-on experience and
insights into the techniques and stylistic specifi
cities of African blacksmiths based on extensive
fi eld research among smiths in West Africa,
Joyce helps visitors look closely at a selection
of remarkable objects. The discussion below
mirrors the installation’s thematic sections. The
exhibition was developed by and opened at the
Fowler Museum at UCLA and is presently at the
National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution, in Washington, D.C., until October
20, 2019. It can then be seen at the Musée du
Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris from November
71
19, 2019–March 29, 2020.
SECTION I: Introduction
More than ten billion years ago, exploding stars
and black holes in distant galaxies seeded the
cosmos with iron. Some of it wound up here on
Earth—with us, around us, and in us. Iron is in
the earth’s core and rocky crust. Iron is also in
our blood, tinting it red. Like the fi ery surface
FIG. 5 (left): Oil lamp, fi tula.
Sorko/Bozo; Mali. 19th
century.
Iron. H: 143 cm.
Yale University Art Gallery, inv.
2005.19.1; gift of Labelle Prussin,
PhD, 1973. Photo: Don Whaples,
2005. © Yale University Art Gallery.
This lavish oil lamp resembles the
Hebraic “Tree of Life,” or “Tree of
Light,” that spread throughout the
north African kabbalistic graphic
system. Such sacred designs were
displayed at important private and
public gatherings, from weddings
and funerals to initiations and sports
events. Each of the lamp’s forty-six
cups would have been fi lled with oil
or animal fat and lit with a cotton
wick, with brightness adjusted
using the small tools—shaped like
blacksmith tongs—that dangle from
the sides. Multiple symbolic
references are contained
in this forged object’s
embellishments. Its plant- or
serpent-like tendrils indicate
growth and renewal, while
its scrolled fi nials recall rams’
horns and perhaps ritual
animal sacrifi ce, associated with
ancestor veneration in Islamic
and Judaic traditions.
FIG. 6 (below):
Installation view, Fowler
Museum, 2018.
Photo © Joshua White.
FIGS. 3a and b (below):
Installation views of
Striking Iron, Fowler
Museum, 2018, showing
immersive video projection
representing iron in
micro/macro scales; in
the universe; on Earth; in
human blood; and in the
forge.
Video © Peter Kirby.
Photos © Joshua White.
FIG. 4 (below):
Installation view of Striking
Iron, Fowler Museum,
2018.
Photo © Joshua White.
This remarkable Songye fi gure bristles with an impenetrable coiffure of
miniature iron blades. It is additionally bedecked with medicinal bundles
around its neck, chest, and waist. As a power fi gure (nkishi) deemed too “hot”
to touch due to its supernatural capacities, it required iron intermediaries for
safe handling and was carried and manipulated by two articulated iron rods
forged like the ember rakes used to tend a blacksmith’s fi re. The accumulation
of iron accoutrements strengthened the nkishi’s protective potential and
activated divine forces residing within it. It was found by General Henry de
la Lindi in 1897, who reported it abandoned on the battlefi eld after a violent
skirmish between Belgian forces and local rebels, including Songye warriors.
FIG. 2 (far left):
Power fi gure, nkishi.
Songye; DR Congo. Mid to
late 19th century.
Iron, wood, cowries, leather, plant
fi ber, sacrifi cial material. H: 22.9 cm.
Musée Africain de Namur.
Photo: Pierre Wachholder, 2017.
Courtesy Musée Africain de Namur.
STRIKING IRON