Hey there Silverbloggers Community and all you wonderful Hivean's!
Oooh, I've been quite excited about part 3 😁 Mostly due to the fact that it's one of my favourite pieces, but the story, as sad and painful as it is, is also one I'd like to share.
I haven't come across a lot of great examples of statues created by the Pygmy people from Central Africa. This one below, imho, is absolutely gorgeous!
Perhaps it has to do with my slight fascination with Aliens, lol. With that being said, it's still a masterpiece that's well balanced and simply beautiful all round.
When I look at this piece, there are a few things that scream out Spacesuit. You see it too, right?
The horizontal and diagonal patterns around the large eyes, those rings around the neck, arms and feet. Dang, if I was a Pygmy and had to carve a God from the skies, I can picture this.
Somehow, it reminds me of the Mayan rocket carving. Sure, they're not quite the same, but both instances make me think of visitor's from another world. There are quite a few interesting images and carvings out there that have been left behind by our ancestors, which is great, for me at least, just to get the imagination going 😁
One thing that's quite interesting, which I cant quite put my finger on yet, is the way the hands are portrayed. Perhaps it's a sign of giving, to which the Artist wanted to express their gratitude. I don't know, maybe you have some thoughts or opinions on this.
As I said in the beginning, I need to mention the sadder side of the Pygmy people.
Before I write about that, let me just give you a bit more information about them. They were, and to a much lesser extent, still are, a hunter gatherer people that primarily resided in the rainforests of the Congo basin. They mostly lived in smaller groups of 10 to 15 families, and it's believed their small stature was due to their lifestyle, but also perhaps genealogy. All in all, they seemed to have lived sedentary, peaceful lives.
Over the years, the Pygmy people have been subjected to slavery, disease and even cannibalism. The Bantu people enslaved them and paid them with cigarettes, used clothing and sometimes nothing at all. Some Pygmy's were enslaved since birth. Rebel groups used them to hunt for food and if they returned empty handed, they stood a chance of becoming the meal themselves. How absolutely horrendous!
Their natural habitats and way of living have also been threatened by commercial practices, leaving the Pygmy people scattered and some groups pushed deeper into the forrests. Currently, the population is estimated to be anything between 250 000 to 600 000 thousand.
Man, I find it terribly sad that a group of people, who primarily lived a natural lifestyle, have been subjected to such atrocities.
For me, in some strange way, it makes the Pygmy Statue I have even more special. Knowing that I have a piece of them in my home, to continue their memory, is something special to me. Lost, but not forgotten. May the traditional ways of the Pygmy people of Congo live on in our hearts and minds.
