Imam Singer Drummer Drawing

A pencil portrait drawing of an African Muslim man singing and playing a traditional drum in a village in West Africa. In the village, there was a huge celebration one day honoring the chief 40 days after his death, as was the custom. The festival was interesting to me on many levels, not the least of which being that it was a display of the unique co-existence found here of traditional “animist” beliefs and Islamic practices. Muslims and non-Muslims gathered together to celebrate with music and dancing. In this drawing, an Imam leads a group of dancers in song, keeping time with the traditional tama drum (sometimes called the “talking” drum for its ability to “talk” as the player squeezes the drum to change its pitch). 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

Drawing:Pencil on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:14 W x 17 H x 0.1 D in

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