sculpture, wood
sculpture
wood
musical-instrument
Dimensions: 22 1/2 x 6 3/8 x 23 3/4 in. (57.15 x 16.19 x 60.33 cm)
Copyright: Public Domain
This harp was crafted by the Nzakara people, using wood, hide, and string. The Nzakara harp is an instrument that transcends mere utility. Its wooden body, carefully hollowed and shaped, speaks to the hand skills passed down through generations. Notice how the maker has carefully selected, carved, and assembled the various components. The headstock is crowned with a human head, rendered with sensitivity. The hide provides tension and resonance, while the strings, stretched taut, await the musician's touch. Consider the labor embedded in each stage of its creation – from felling the tree to precisely tuning the strings. The harp is not just an object, but an index of human ingenuity and cultural expression. It challenges us to look beyond the purely aesthetic, and to recognize the profound artistry inherent in all forms of making.
Comments
It may resemble a guitar and sound like a lute. But with five strings running perpendicular to its sound box, rather than strung across it, this is a harp—a bow harp, in fact, owing to its shape. A century ago, among the Nzakara people in Central Africa, court poets praised—and sometimes critiqued—the deeds of past and present kings to the accompaniment of a bow harp.
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