January 22, 2019
Cultural Heritage Center
John and I went to the Cultural Heritage Center.
The cost here in Arusha is about 17¢ - 22¢ / 400 TZS per
person per ride. As Wazungu, I think we paid the higher price. John pointed out that 20 dala dala passengers
brought in 8000 TZS and it costs about $4.32 / 10,000 TZS to take a taxi into
town from Kundayo. The Cultural Heritage
Center is outside of the downtown area so it would have probably cost us more
than 10,000 TZS to get there by taxi. Then there’s the return trip. Dala dalas
are a cheap way to travel…and of course there’s the adventure factor.
When we entered the grounds of the Cultural Heritage Center,
we saw different tableaus that depicted African life for both the people and
the animals.
Some of the tableaus showed realistic traditional life for
the Maasai and other tribes.
This is how cows are milked.
The woman is holding a long gourd to catch the milk.
Women in this sculpture are dancing to the beat of the drums
(imagine the drum beat:
boom-bada-boom-bada-boom)
I’m not sure of the significance of this piece but it’s
realistic.
Here’s a warrior and chief.
The chiefs are the ones that sit on small stools. John said that the high chief might even have
a gold seat. Others must stand. I recently read that if a chair or stool is
not available, the chief would stand.
In order to become a warrior a young’un must kill a lion so
here is the glory of that.
Even the slave trade was depicted.
There were many other scenes. Some of the photos didn’t turn
out and others I missed taking altogether.
The tableaus also depicted animals. Some were serious and realistic. Here are
some cows. (Actually the cows are fatter
than in real life, according to John.)
Take a look at the crocodile and the lion.
In this photo, it looks like the hippo is trying to bite the
sign..or maybe the sign is holding the mouth open-- but it’s just the angle of my camera.
Some of the animals were portrayed in a fanciful way, like
these baboons being….baboonish.
And let’s not forget the party animals.
This group of donkeys are one of my favorites. The 3rd donkey has a fanciful
aspect… or is that wishful thinking(!).
Makonde come from Southeast Tanzania. These are like story poles that sometimes
tell the story of an extended family through generations. They are all intricately
designed to show different people doing different things from their lives.
These are carved from ebony trees. The
first photo shows the roots of the tree. Amazing, eh. It boggles my mind to
see the artistic craftsmanship. Carving ebony? It might as well be carving iron.
On the front veranda of the exhibit building, I saw this
absolutely stunning chair. Take a close look at the thousands of beads that
make up the designs. There were 2 of these on the veranda and more in small groupings
inside.
The front door presented a man and a woman as sentinels to
the treasures inside. Notice that the
sign to the left of the man exhorts “The use of cameras and videos from any
device are prohibited at ALL times inside the gallery.”
What can I say? The galleries were on several floors. Going with John made the visit most fascinating since he's a (retired) professor from Whitworth University. He taught African Studies there and has lived in and studied about several parts of Africa. He understands the history, culture and politics of many regions of Africa so I was able to learn the significance of many of the items in the Cultural Heritage Center.
The bottom floor was mostly sculptures and
artifacts of traditional life. Chief stools. Birthing stools. Kings chairs.
Spears, swords and other weapons. Vessels. And MASKS and MASKS and
MASKS. Some of the items were newish while others were made to look
oldish. Some might have been really old
but….
OK….confession time.
I lost control and took one photo of this mask with all of its beautiful
beadwork. My sister, Teresa, wants me to
bring back a mask for her but since a cheap one is about $500, I suggest that
she (and anyone else) just gets this forbidden photo printed and framed. (Sorry,
Tee)
In addition to all the artifacts, there were some animal
sculptures and lots of paintings on the other floors. To get a general idea of what the Cultural
Heritage Center has to offer, you can go their website: http://www.culturalheritage.co.tz/
Or if you want to feel kind of naughty, you can go to Trip Advisor
and see photos of forbidden pictures of the inside galleries. (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297913-d2305304-Reviews-Cultural_Heritage_Centre-Arusha_Arusha_Region.html)
After wandering through the galleries for a couple of hours,
we were on overwhelm and decided to leave and get some lunch. So, we walked through the tusk gates…..
…and took life and limb into our hands to cross the
treacherous street to find a dala dala. We took one to Shoppers which is a
large supermarket with a lot of expensive foreign stuff like Corn Flakes and Cadbury. It also has a café in the back where I
ordered Chipsie Mayai (pronounced “my-eye”).
It’s nothing more than a french fry omelet. The drink was very good—watermelon and
cucumber. John had a hamburger and
fries. My part of the bill came to $4.75 but it was an expensive Wazungu place.
After lunch, we again took the perilous trek across the
street and down the road to catch a dala dala.
I wish I could take photos and dodge traffic at the same time, but alas,
I haven’t yet acquired that skill.
Thus ends another adventure in Arusha.
POSTSCRIPT: I heard that the poet, Mary Oliver, died last
week. I like her poetry so here is one that catches my fancy for now….
Three Things to Remember
As long as you’re dancing,
you can break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is
just
extending the rules.
Sometimes there are no rules.
By Mary Oliver
