"Saturday Afternoon......"

Last Saturday afternoon, Don and I went down to the Chazen Art Museum. We'd been there on Friday night as well, to hear a talk given on Mami Wata, a water goddess, originally from Africa. Mami Wata has traveled the world, due to the African slave trade, with each country or mixing of tribes, tweaking their beliefs and subtly making her a "local" goddess. After the talk, there was an opening reception, but it was a costumed event, so we chose to wait until Saturday to see the exhibit.

Saturday was "family day" for the exhibit, and they had numerous performers from around Wisconsin. This group (sorry, but I do not know any of the names of these groups) is from Milwaukee. All of the rhythm, was supplied by the 5 drums in front of the stairs. The girls were energetic and the lure of the percussion beat infectious.


Another group that performed was from Madison. This was their first dance, with the woman's costume giving us a preview of how colorful and elaborate the costumes were to become in their next numbers.


This was their percussionist and the only source of rhythm. The person who is responsible for the exhibit is behind the drummers head dress in the brown sweater. His name is Henry, and is the husband of a c0-worker of Dons.


This is probably the clearest photo of the group. Unfortunately, for the sake of taking photos, they were a VERY active troupe, but they were exciting to watch because of the high level of action.


This is a very blurry photo, but I included it because of it gives you an idea as to the size and elaborateness of their costumes.


And this photo gives another view of the size and variety of each of their costumes.


The exhibit is very interesting and I would recommend seeing it. It will be at the Chazen Art Museum through sometime in January.