Kneeling is one of the loveliest of the gestures of African sculpture-you see it everywhere, you see it here in a kneeling figure from among the Yoruba.
The Yoruba woman kneels to present. Giving or generosity is seen as the highest
force of morality in Yoruba religion, for she or he who knows how to make
a bow, giving to higher force, will be blessed. And many riches will come
to her or to him. She is very noble. We know this because of her chiefly hairstyle,
she herself is no stranger to spirits. We know this because of the bursting
quality of her eyes. But most of all, she knows how to be enyentutu,
a cool person, a person who knows how to kneel before authority, which is
cooling in itself, and a person who knows how to kneel and to give-not just
with the right hand, not just with the left hand but with a double constellation,
with both hands-all these integrate and are then woven together splendidly
in this Oluymeye figure from Nigeria.
