Out Of Africa – African Drums and Masks for Unique Home Accents
To have a whole room in an African style would be not only unusual, but of tremendous interest to a lot of people. It would be great to able to point out the significance of this African mask, or in what celebration that African drum was used. So if you want to be popular . . .
African masks are made out of all sorts of material from animal hides to metal and wood, and are much sought after artefacts in the art world. They can be traced as far back as the Palaeolithic period, up to 300,000 years ago, and while masks of these great ages are not available to you or I, there are still many antique masks on sale at very good prices.
Use a wooden table and some African wooden stools as a centrepiece, standing on an African woven carpet or rug, and you have the basis of a wonderful African themed room in your home. Hang some masks on the walls and place a few African drums on the floor and on small display tables, and you have practically completed the effect. You can also find wooden statues of Masai warriors of various sizes and finely carved models of African animals such as giraffes and lions.
It wouldn’t take much to combine these into an African room that your visitors will rave about. Why hold your parties or soirees in just another old room when you can have something like that to welcome your visitors into. Just watch their jaws drop as they look around them!
Imagine the conversations you could have around the history of your African moon mask, or why that lion they see stalking the giraffe would never try to take it on in real life. Do your homework right and everybody will be amazed at your knowledge of Africa, even though you only looked it up the night before! They will be queuing up for your invitations to be handed out.
You could tell them that your Mandinka Djembe drum is used in celebrations such as harvests, the new moon and weddings, and others are used for more sombre occasions such as funerals. You could explain how many of the customs, such as African masking ceremonies, have all but died out due to relocation, colonialization and internal troubles killing off many of the old customs and tribal affiliations, and that African drums are rapidly being replaced in communications by cell phones!
Each of the pieces you have on show will have a story to tell, and if you know it then your visitors will be all ears. They won’t leave your house thinking it was just another boring old party with all the same stuff talked about as they did at the last one they attended. Yours will be different, unique and your invitations prized. They will leave with a desire to be invited back into this beautiful piece of Africa that you call home, even though it is just one room. They won’t notice that!