"The collection of scholarly essays 'Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths' accompanies an international traveling exhibition of the same title organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA. For more than two millennia, ironworking has shaped African cultures in the most fundamental ways. 'Striking Iron' reveals the history of invention and technical sophistication that led African blacksmiths to transform one of Earth's most basic natural resources into objects of life-changing utility, empowerment, prestige, spiritual potency, and astonishing artistry. The contributions of diverse scholars examine how blacksmiths' virtuosic works can harness the powers of the natural and spiritual worlds, effect change and ensure protection, prestige, and status, assist with life's challenges and transitions, and enhance the efficacies of sacred acts such as ancestor veneration, healing, fertility, and prophecy. The publication features full-color photographic reproductions of over 225 artworks from across the African continent, focusing on the region south of the Sahara and covering a time period spanning early archaeological evidence to the present day. These works include blades, currencies, diverse musical instruments, body adornments, ritual accoutrements, tools, weapons, and other important iron objects. Following its presentation at the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles the exhibition 'Striking Iron' travels to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., and the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris"--Provided by publisher.
Preface 1: Lingua ferrum : soliloquies of smiths / Tom Joyce -- Preface 2: Heavy metal : iron in the universe / E.C. Krupp -- Preface 3: Ògún, the òrìṣà whose fame is worldwide / Rowland Abiodun -- Introduction / Allen F. Roberts -- The place of iron in African cosmologies / Allen F. Roberts -- Supertransformers : iron smelting and gender / Candice Goucher -- Iron's empowering presence / Henry J. Drewal -- Interleaf A: Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ mask honoring blacksmiths / Tom Joyce and Henry J. Drewal -- Potency conveyed with a hammer's blow / Tom Joyce -- Interleaf B: Blacksmiths onstage / Tom Joyce -- Precolonial currencies : value, power, and prestige / Allen F. Roberts -- Blades : of hard work and honor / Allen F. Roberts -- Interleaf C: Shona blades for the ancestors / William J. Dewey -- Beauty that bites : creative virtuosity in African throwing knives / Patrick McNaughton -- Interleaf D: For whose eyes were they? Calligraphic blades of Mahdist Sudan / Allen F. Roberts -- Portfolio I: Currencies -- Portfolio II: Blades -- Ages of iron : origins of the blacksmith's art in Africa south of the Sahara / Shadreck Chirikure, William J. Dewey, and Scott MacEachern -- Transforming culture : West and Central African iron archaeology / Scott MacEachern -- Interleaf E: Ancient prestige works from the Upemba region of Central Africa / William J. Dewey -- Culture as technology : East and Southern African iron archaeology / Shadreck Chirikure and William J. Dewey -- Interleaf F: Forged values : hoes in the archaeology and history of Southern Africa / Shadreck Chirikure -- Blacksmith societies of a Mande world / Patrick McNaughton -- Ògún/Gu's resonance in Yorùbá, Edo, and Fon worlds / Rowland Abiodun and Henry J. Drewal -- Interleaf G: Dancing for Ògún Oǹdó / Henry J. Drewal -- Interleaf H: Gu's journey to the Louvre / Colleen E. Kriger -- Interleaf I: Symbols of authority : Igbo Ọfọ in wood and iron / Philip M. Peek -- Worn and held : forging life's passages in northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria / Scott MacEachern and Marla C. Berns -- Interleaf J: Personal adornment of Himba women / John Watson -- Forging power and memory in West-Central Africa / Colleen E. Kriger -- Of blacksmiths and kings : a Central Bantu world / William J. Dewey and Allen F. Roberts -- Interleaf K: Interformances of a Kongo nail figure / Allen F. Roberts -- Portfolio III: Personal adornment -- Iron on the anvils of change / Candice Goucher -- Interleaf L: "Voyage iron," from Europe to Africa / Colleen E. Kriger -- Interleaf M: Thresholds : Sub-Saharan blacksmiths in Morocco / Henry J. Drewal -- Interleaf N: Forging faith : Ethiopian iron crosses / Raymond Silverman -- Sounding forms / Manuel Jordan -- Interleaf O: Ritual activation with sound : Chamba of the Middle Benue, Nigeria / Marla C. Berns -- Forged in the marketplace : migrant blacksmith identities in Bamako / Isaie Dougnon (translated by Allen F. Roberts) -- Portfolio IV: Bamako market.