What
is a cache sexe?
•A
beaded pubic covering
•Used
in many ceremonies
•From
the Kirdi
people from Northern Cameroon
•Materials:
cotton, glass beads, cowrie shells
Who
are the Kirdi?
•The
word Kirdi is
used by their Muslim neighbours
•It
was applied to non- Muslims
•It is
a pejorative term (meaning non-believer)
•The Kirdi are
an animalist people who live in barren hills in N Cameroon and eastern Nigeria
History
•Beads
are one of the earliest forms of human craft
•The
first beads from Africa date from 10,000 BC
•Beads
are among the earliest forms of abstract thinking
•The
act of simultaneously concealing and revealing is a core idea in African
culture
•
•Hali-
carpet and textile art- issue 162, winter 2009
Context
•Other
cultures also use cache sexe•For
example the Iraqi tribe from Iraq (Jane Lightfoot, curator and collector)•The
Sporran (a male cache sex from Scotland)•Many
other cultures use beadwork for important cultural purposes
Why?
•I am
interested in how I (as a Southern Cameroonian Christian) see this object
•I am
also interested in how “we” (as a multi-cultural society) see this object
•Can
we understand this important cultural object today?
