The Brooklyn museum of modern art trip was something that I will remember. Many historical sculptures, paintings, and designs had interesting backgrounds behind them. Each exhibit had something to offer and there were so many art pieces that caught my attention. However, there were three pieces of art work that I was interested in; the harmony chair, the kanaga mask, and the blossom.

The harmony chair, which was located in the arts of Africa exhibit captured my interest. The design looked interesting and i knew that there was a strong meaning behind this art piece. The harmony chair was created by Gonçalo Mabunda who came up with the idea. The chair is designed with machine guns, handguns and bullets. The weaponary of the chair represents the end of the civil war in Mozambique which was back in 1992. The chair itself wasn’t meant for sitting. The back of the chair is very high and it meant that power and prestige was seen as dominant. This part of the design is influenced from east Africa since they had tall chairs that would represent high prestige.

The Kanaga mask was a part of the arts of Africa exhibit. This art piece caught my attention because the creation of it looked very complex. These masks were used for a ceremony called dama, where they would pay tribute to the dead. When someone died, they would arrange the ceremony. Dogon dancers would wear the kanaga masks while dancing. The ceremony needed a dance because the Dogons believed that it created a bridge to the supernatural world. If there was no dance, then the dead would not live in peace. The dancers also imitated their god, Amma, who brought all things to life.

One art piece that stood out to me was Blossom, which was created by Sanfigord. When I saw this, I thought it was really cool and somehow I was interested in the concept. The tree and the piano are fused together to create a song “Strange Fruit”. The song was created by Billie holiday in the 1930s. It represented the lynching of bodies that once occurred in southern areas of the Unites States. The tree is also a representation of inspiration and interpretation. The creator of the art piece shows that Buddha once found that inspiration and enlightenment under a bohdi tree.

I really enjoyed my first time going to the Brooklyn museum. One of my friends gave me some background on some artwork from Africa so it was interesting to know some facts about African art. I’ve always wanted to visit a museum where they have historical art pieces and I’m glad that I got to witness all types of artwork from around the world.

The Blossom

The Harmony Chair

The Kanaga Mask