Mama Dinka - South Sudan #3
by Gloria Ssali
Title
Mama Dinka - South Sudan #3
Artist
Gloria Ssali
Medium
Ceramic Art - Acrylics On Ceramics
Description
The Dinka have cultural and linguistic affinity to and share much with the Nuer and Shilluk to whom they refer to in their names. The Dinka refer to other peoples as foreigners (jur) and the colour of the skin is the only distinction. �Jur chol� refer to black foreigners and jur mathiang or buony refer to light skin people .
Modernity and foreign ideas have permeated Dinka culture and are slowly replacing their traditions and customs. Many Dinka have converted to Christianity and Islam - in Ngok and Abialang. They have adopted either jellabia or European dress and now nudity and wearing of skins are rare sight even in the cattle camps.
Uploaded
January 18th, 2013
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Comments (39)
ARJUN L SEN
What a wonderful creation. One can look and look and look and see more stories, more soul. The elegant, flowing style takes even a n ignorant stranger like me right into the heart of Africa. I see this painting and I am there and that is a privilege. And though I may not understand the language and know the culture, I can see the golden sun and sacred dust of Africa in the colour and texture of the background pale brown ceramic, I can see the energy, purpose and spirit in the lines showing the people, and I know that somewhere here lies the secret of human life that has been lost by modern men with their machines and their economic systems of hnsustainable growth. In Bhutan, a remote kingdom between Tibet and India, they came up with a political concept they called Gross Domestic Happiness . Mordern man has lost his way. We need something of modern medicine andvsystems but we need to redisciver some of the old ways to rediscover our gross Domestic Happiness. Your art is not only intrinsically beautiful but it reminds us of what Dinka culture has to offer to the world. I like your art especially because it is not mere entertainment, show or ornament, but has an important message. Therefore it is High Art meaning it is both visually significant as well as extremely meaningful. Fv
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