The chapter we were assigned to read this week in The Anthropology of Art is titled “Art and social life”, I think that ties perfectly into this film. During the duration of this film we were able to witness a burial ceremony of the Anbara people that lasted over weeks. In the beginning of the chapter Layton writes that art is not just something that is pretty to look at, but in “primitive” societies, art was made to be nice to look at and functional. And art may not always be a physical object, it can also be things such as a dance or a song.
Layton uses an example about a group of people who live on the Tikopea island in the Pacific, he say that during funerals certain songs are such by relatives of the deceased member. This is the same thing that we saw in the movie. Throughout the entire ceremony various songs were sung, and lead by different people. The songs that are sung are probably unique to that ceremony as well as the person who died. Another obvious form of art that the Anbara people used during their ceremony was the painting of the tree trunk that would be used as a coffin. The art that was done on the tree trunk was extremely important to the entire ceremony. When men from nearby areas came for the ceremony they first had to inspect the coffin to see if it was good enough to use in the funeral. In this case a few changes needed to be made in order for the coffin to be good enough.
A question proposed by Robert Firth within the chapter asks, “What does art do in small-scale societies?” To answer this question in relation to the movie on of the first thing I think of is that it brings people together. Not only were people coming together because a friend/relative had passed away, but in order for men from other tribes to join the ceremony the coffin that would represent the deceased has to appeal to everyone. Art forms such as dancing and singing are used regularly in these societies for multiple occasions. There were specific dances that we saw in the film that were specific for this funeral. This film is useful because people are able to see a ceremony that is meaningful and symbolic to a community of people. We’re lucky now that we can record rituals such as this, but it makes it difficult to study in depth about primitive people because we do not know if they used dance/songs as an art form in their lives.
Hey Sierra, I agree with what you're writing. I think its really neat that art is such an important part of social life in certain societies. It's interesting that we've used art to make the distinction between "primitive" people and ourselves. "Primitive" people do not necessarily distinguish between ritual, social life, and art...each is inextricably connected to the other. We have distinct categories most of the time and there is a time and a place for each thing. Maybe we've kind of replaced our artistic talents with pragmatism.
ReplyDeleteThe main theme of the movie and ceremony was definitely on paying respect to the passed member of their group, so I agree that the whole purpose of the ritual was a social process. The methodical preparations for the funeral definitely showed how important the process of burying a group member is. You're right that the art used was very specific to the ceremony, which added more significance to the ceremony and was an act of making special. Great analysis of the social impact art has in ceremony.
ReplyDeleteI really think that art in ritual makes it much easier to cope with loss and sadness (in the context of funerals) as the routine of ceremonies often bring order and closure to what would be (without the existence of ritual) a very hectic time for people. Art forms such as music and dance are often able to communicate thoughts/emotions better than language. Where we are at a loss for words we can always turn to music/dance/visual art to portray ourselves but in the film the aesthetics of the ritual still have regulated structure, like the point you brought up from the film where the coffin and the paintings on the coffin must appeal to everyone.
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