Looking for African home decor? TANAKA AFRICA's home decor culturally enriches your home by imbuing it with the ambiance and nuanced stories of western Africa with one-of-a-kind handmade products. Today we will discuss three types of African home decor items with which to decorate your living space: drums, masks, and baskets.
Looking for African home decor that culturally enriches your home? Drums can serve as African home decor. Drums vary in shape, tonality, and decoration. Djembe drums in Ghana, West Africa, are deep resounding rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drums. Ghanaians make Akan drums for music as well as communication. Akan drums are "talking drums." Skilled drummers replicate the tones, punctuation, and accents of the Akan language. The Akan drums translate clan, tribal, and state mottos into drum language, that is, to literally 'talk' to the community. Messages included warning signals to far-off villages of impending danger and summoning community members together for ceremonial gatherings or war. Your African home decor can be a real "conversation" starter! Most drums are made of kineboa wood and sheepskin. The African Tree Trunk Twin Drum is hand-carved of yellow wood and cowskin.
Looking for African home decor that culturally enriches your home? Masks are exotic pieces of African home decor. These masks are handmade of white wood and sese wood. The artisans that sculpture these wood masks convey the stories of their history. Unlike in other parts of Africa, Ghanaian masks are not intended to be worn. Ghanaian masks commemorate dead rulers, specifically as funerary symbols of chiefs. Masks are most popular among the Ashanti tribe in Ghana. These masks are renowned for their realism and close resemblance to the human face. Ghanaian masks depict Adinkra symbols, Ashanti fertility goddesses, modesty statues, and the Akan chief. Animal-face masks are worn for various rites of passage rituals. Members of a clan or tribal group appreciate the chosen animal species as a role model when they adopt the animal as a totem. Clan people aspire to emulate the animal's natural qualities, which serves as a means of building strong unity and cohesion. The totem acts as a symbol by which a clan or tribal group can be identified among other groups. Totem masks represent animals such as crocodiles, giraffes, gazelles, lizards, cats, elephants, and Sankofa birds.
Looking for African home decor that culturally enriches your home? Handwoven baskets are African home decor. The centuries-old weaving region in Ghana is located in the far north in a town called Bolgatanga. Bolga Baskets are exclusively woven by artisans native to this region. Different communities specialize in their own designs that tend to mimic patterns found in nature, such as the spider's web or a bird's nest. Baskets are woven from a wild savanna grass called "kinkahe," as well as Raffia straw. "Kinkahe," which means elephant grass, derives its name from being a favorite food and hiding place for elephants. Weavers collect straw from the tops of the kinkahe grass. Raffia straw is a natural fiber that comes from the raffia palm tree. Raffia palm leaves are stripped, and their strands are dried in the sun.
Art invites us to reflect on which stories we choose to value and privilege and which narratives we choose to exclude and ignore. We are convinced that a piece of Tanaka Africa's art home decor residing in your home can become a symbol of social change. All items are purchased directly from artisans in Ghana at fair trade prices to honor the artisans who make them. Take a piece of Africa home today.