Images(3)

Group of beads (Isoito le Enkeshui)

Label TextMaasai Elders Only Elders of the Merrueshi community of the Kaputiei section of the Maasai assembled this sequence to represent the objects most significant to their lives. Central to their daily experience is the mancala gameboard, which is surrounded by all the elements that are traded as the elders sit under a tree and play. Counters are collected over many years, and consist of rocks, aluminum balls, and worn glass. An authority staff is offered only to those who earn respect and are presented with it on behalf of the community. All this art came as a special exchange with the Merruschi community.

Object number2000.2.3

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., p. 271, reproduced pl. 100.

Credit LineGeneral Acquisition Fund

MediumRock, aluminum, and glass