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Lectern
Courtyard stools
Sankofa Birds
Rear Chalk-board doors. |
African Heritage
Classroom Stools, Chalkboard doors, Sankofa Birds The
Professor's Lectern The lectern
design stems from a traditional Benin stool (agba) of
the period 900-1200 A.D. The legs' interlaced pattern, called "The Rope of the World," was a symbol
of status. Courtyard
Stools Wooden stools
used throughout Africa have distinctive forms
and are known for their beauty and stylistic diversity. Our stools were carved by Kweku Andrews, a professor of
Fine Arts in Ghana. The
stools provide informal seating in the room. Andrews also created the frieze
symbols, the wall bas reliefs,
and the thatch roof. Sankofa Birds.
Below the chalkboard, Sankofa birds,
facing in different directions, symbolize the need to learn from the past in
order to prepare for the future. The Chalkboard. The room contains two sets of chalkboard doors, one in the Front
and one in the Rear. Carved by Lamidi Fakeye of Nigeria, the doors are
patterned after Igbo doors and bear the lozenge-and-star design found in the
Awka (Nimo) area of Nigeria. The lozenge represents the kola nut bowl (okwa uji), symbol of ritual hospitality and decorum. The
star symbolizes the head of the kola nut, reinforcing ritual and social values. The doors in
the front of the room open to reveal brass plates bearing
maps of ancient and medieval African kingdoms
and of modern African nations. The complex cultures of the continent have produced the many languages and dialects that are listed here. |
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