Adinkrahene (2016)

" Sometimes, as we stand here

 we get to hear the sound of a djembe.

We enjoy a particular rythm. It is the one announcing that somewhere, in the far,

a peacemaker has put an end to a fight

and now people are having a party.

That’s what true leaders do.

They gather people."

This painting shows a mother watching a wide landscape with her child. She is a queen preparing her daughter to taking her succession someday. Their status is shown by the printing of Adinkrahene symbols on the dresses they are wearing. Adinkrahene is the chief symbol of all Adinkra symbols. It is about greatness, royalty, leadership and importance to play such roles. As a future queen, the little girl is dressed with the same fabric as her mother.

My goal here was also to show that there are limits to the superiority of human kind on Earth and that we should seek harmony with nature. This queen is humble, aware and already in communion with it. And nature, here, is represented through the four elements. The sun is fire. Air is emphasized by the location of the two characters in height and the wide landscape. The earth is shown through valley and mountains (also recalling the pyramids). Last but not least, water appears calm and still in the valley, and then spreads behind the mountains, showing that it cannot be controlled.

This little girl is being taught all this because the main goal of a leader must be that of cultivating harmony and not a despotic attitude that could bring destruction. It is also that awareness that is displayed by the Gye Nyame symbol (supremacy of God) placed on the balcony bars.  

This painting shows a mother watching a wide landscape with her child. She is a queen preparing her daughter to taking her succession someday. Their status is shown by the printing of Adinkrahene symbols on the dresses they are wearing. Adinkrahene is the chief symbol of all Adinkra symbols. It is about greatness, royalty, leadership and importance to play such roles. As a future queen, the little girl is dressed with the same fabric as her mother.

My goal here was also to show that there are limits to the superiority of human kind on Earth and that we should seek harmony with nature. This queen is humble, aware and already in communion with it. And nature, here, is represented through the four elements. The sun is fire. Air is emphasized by the location of the two characters in height and the wide landscape. The earth is shown through valley and mountains (also recalling the pyramids). Last but not least, water appears calm and still in the valley, and then spreads behind the mountains, showing that it cannot be controlled.

This little girl is being taught all this because the main goal of a leader must be that of cultivating harmony and not a despotic attitude that could bring destruction. It is also that awareness that is displayed by the Gye Nyame symbol (supremacy of God) placed on the balcony bars.  

'' Sometimes, as we stand here,

 we get to hear the sound of a djembe.

We enjoy a particular rythm. It is the one announcing that somewhere, in the far,

a peacemaker has put an end to a fight

and now people are having a party.

That’s what true leaders do.

They gather people.''

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