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Balafon Player - African griot Drawing

Dave Kobrenski

United States

Drawing, Pencil on Paper

Size: 11 W x 14 H x 0.1 D in

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About The Artwork

A pencil portrait drawing of an African man playing the balafon in a village in West Africa. The balafon is an ancient instrument that resembles a wooden xylophone, with gourds used as resonators. It has roots dating back to the 13th century, and factored heavily in the epic story of Sundiata and the creation of the Mande empire. The balafon is typically played by griots (members of a hereditary caste of oral historians and musicians). Training to play the balafon is intense and takes many years. This man was a virtuoso musician who had likely trained since he was very young. He performed at a festival in the village honoring the chief. ---------------------------------------------- Artwork price includes frame. Comes matted and framed with UV coated / glare-resistant and shatter-proof plexiglass. ---------------------------------------------- Part of the “Drawing on Culture” series. NOTE: 30% of the after-commission price of the artwork in this series will go directly to support community projects in the villages of Sanankoro and Sangbarala, in Guinea, West Africa. “Drawing on Culture: West Africa” is the first in a series of artworks that explore various cultures from around the world, based on my travels in those places. Consisting of nearly 30 new artworks — many done on location while living in small villages along the Niger River in Guinea — the series attempts to portray the character and personalities of an ancient culture living in the modern world. Each artwork contains a story: who is this person, and what life have they lived? What joys and struggles have they known? By sharing a glimpse into their lives, I hope to reveal the commonalities that connect us as human beings — and celebrate the uniqueness of these people’s particular way of expressing themselves in their own place in space. Each culture on Earth is a strand in the collective fabric that is our human legacy. As we come to understand that we are all cut from the same genetic cloth, we can begin to see that each culture represents a unique expression of our potential as creative, intelligent beings. Drawing on Culture celebrates that potential — and in doing so, is itself part of an effort to prevent further degradation of the diversity of this legacy worldwide. More info about this project can be found at http://drawingonculture.com

Details & Dimensions

Drawing:Pencil on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:11 W x 14 H x 0.1 D in

Shipping & Returns

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.

I’m an artist, musician, and writer, and I get a lot of my inspiration from my adventures traveling to interesting places. I’m passionate about anthropology, which is to say, I want to understand the human experience and this thing that we call culture. My explorations into the diverse cultures of the world have inspired me to make artwork and music about the people and places I have seen. I’ve also written and illustrated a book about my time living in West Africa, where I studied traditional music styles over the past decade and a half. At my core, I’m an artist, and have been ever since I picked up a pencil and started drawing at age five. That started a life-long journey that has led me down some unique paths in life. There have been some detours off the path — or perhaps those side roads were really part of it. In any case, art has always been there in some form. I’m rediscovering it again, and committing to making it a full-time endeavor.

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