Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Umbrellas & Parasols In Ghanaian Festivals & In Social Aid & Pleasure Club (New Orleans Louisiana) Processions

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about the New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SAPC) custom of holding and twirling umbrellas (parasols) during their parades.

Part II presents information about umbrellas in traditional Ghanaian festivals. This post also showcases videos of umbrella in Ghanaian festivals and videos of members of New Orleans' Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs holding umbrellas/parasols or feathered fans during jazz funeral parades and second line parades.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/why-umbrellas-parasols-are-carried-by.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents information about the Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SAPC) and provides information about the history of umbrellas (parasols).

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and folkloric purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT UMBRELLAS AT GHANAIAN FESTIVALS
Excerpt #1 
From 
https://favoriten-festival.de/en/programm/looking-for-beginnings "LOOKING FOR BEGINNINGS" , by Rita Mawuena Benissan & Princela Biyaa [no date given, retrieved on Sept. 18, 2023
"In Ghana, the royal umbrellas are used in the chieftaincy. The royals – king, queen mother and chief – stand and dance under the umbrella surrounded by their entourage. The umbrellas are to provide shade and protect the person from the weather and sun, but they also serve as an indicator of that person. The fabrication of the umbrella represents the person and the community walking under the umbrella. The use of color and size establishes a power dynamic with the different types of umbrellas.

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Excerpt #2
From
"https://captimes.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/q-a-artist-rita-mawuena-benissan-captures-her-ghanaian-heritage-under-one-big-umbrella/article_587beec4-effa-5d1b-b668-af4edf75e283.html "Q&A: Artist Rita Mawuena Benissan captures her Ghanaian heritage under one big umbrella"; By Lindsay Christians, Jun 13, 2021
"Rita Mawuena Benissan takes a “big tent” view of family and culture. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say “big umbrella.”

Benissan, 26, is a photographer, a cultural curator at the Noldor Artist Residency in Accra, Ghana, and a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin’s Master of Fine Arts program.

She was born in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, to Ghanaian parents, came to Michigan as a baby and was raised in a Ghanaian American household by her aunt and uncle, whom she also calls Mom and Dad. When she moved to Madison in 2018, Benissan found another Ghanaian community of honorary aunts, uncles and cousins.

When a member of that community came to Benissan’s Master of Fine Arts show at Arts + Literature Laboratory this past spring, she was struck by the massive umbrellas Benissan had designed. Made of what Benissan called “faux velvet” and bamboo, the umbrellas were inspired by those used by chiefs and queens in Ghanaian festivals.

“My friends who grew up in Ghana or visited Ghana ... they were like, ‘Oh, my God, we finally see these here. We’re so used to seeing them from far away!’” Benissan recalled. The umbrellas, used at funerals and celebrations, are “always high up in the sky, and it’s very crowded.

“Being able to actually see the umbrellas face to face, see the surface and how they’re made, the texture, even the size — it’s just a whole different experience.”

These are essential tenets of Benissan’s art practice: connecting to a royal African history, personally and culturally, and making that history immediate and accessible. Benissan spoke with The Cap Times about discovering her own Black aesthetic and her dreams for Si Hene, a growing Instagram archive that could one day be a physical museum.

The royal umbrella came to me because throughout my life, my parents would say, ‘You have royalty in your family.’ I would know the history about it, but I didn’t have any real photos. My grandfather was a traditional chief, but there’s not much information about him.

One thing that I noticed in Madison was the Ghanaian Association, they always have an African Festival, and they have the royal umbrellas. I was like, this is a very interesting object. It was a bridge for me to connect my textiles and printmaking, but also being able to use photographs to capture the essence of the umbrella and the person that was under it.

That was what brought me to actually go to Ghana, in 2019.”…
-snip-
Click https://www.instagram.com/si.hene/ for Rita Mawuena Benissan's Instagram account on Ghanaian culture.

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VIDEO EXAMPLES OF UMBRELLAS/PARASOLS IN GHANAIAN FESTIVALS

Video #1: Adae Festival - Kumasi - Ghana



jaderoo2, Mar 28, 2016

Within a six-week cycle, Adae has two celebration days, once on a Sunday (Akwasidae) and again on a Wednesday (Awukudae). The Adae cycle is repeated nine times in a year. In observance of the Akan calendar, the ninth Adae Festival, called the Adae Kese Festival ("big Adae"), coincides with celebration of the New Year. It is therefore celebrated to thank the gods and the ancestors for the new harvest. The festivals within Adae are not interchangeable, having been fixed from ancient times.

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Video #2: Highlights of Asafotufiami Festival at Ada



GhanaWeb TV, Aug 6, 2017

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Video #3: Yam Festival, Volta Region, Ghana



James Dalrymple, Jan 6, 2019

The Yam Festival, known in the local Ewe dialect as Te Za, is a harvest festival in the Asogli State, Volta Region of Ghana. The festival takes place in September of each year and is presided over by the paramount chief and president of the National House of Chiefs, King Togbe Afede XIV. With music, dancing, feasting and local crafts, the festival celebrates family, farmers, culture and unity.

This film was shot with the Sony FS5 and Sony A7R3 cameras in Ghana by James Dalrymple.

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Video #4: Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene Visit Okyehene First Time In History Pt1



ANANSE TV GH, Premiered Aug 7, 2019

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VIDEO EXAMPLES OF MEMBERS OF NEW ORLEANS' SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE CLUBS CARRYING PARASOLS
Video #1: You better second line! Jazz funeral in New Orleans for Juanita Brooks



 kookydave, Oct 20, 2009

Come pay your respects like we do down here in Nawlin's. Experience a real New Orleans second line jazz funeral for the lovely and talented Juanita Brooks.

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Video #2: 2010 Lady Buck Jumpers Second Line



Come See About Me, Dec 18, 2010

The Lady Buck Jumpers strut their stuff through Uptown, New Orleans to the sounds of the Rebirth Brass Band.

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Video #3: Uncle Lionel Baptiste Jazz Funeral



onenawlins, Jul 24, 2012

....One City, One Love, OneNawlins!!!!!.......Uncle Lionel Batiste Jazz Funeral. Batiste was the assistant band leader, vocalist and bass drummer of the Treme Brass Band for decades. Uncle Batiste died July 8, 2012 from a short battle with cancer.

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Video #4: Fats Domino Memorial - Second Line - 11/1/17 - 9th Ward New Orleans



Louisiana Live, Nov 7, 2017

Fats Domino Second Line
- 11/1/17
- 9th Ward New Orleans
- shot & edited by Keith Wilkes
-snip-
Here's some information about Fats Domino from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino
"Antoine "Fats" Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) was an American pianist and singer-songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records.[2] Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits.[3] His humility and shyness may be one reason his contribution to the genre has been overlooked.[4]

During his career, Domino had 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold.[5] His musical style was based on traditional rhythm and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums.[5]

His 1949 release "The Fat Man" is widely regarded as the first million-selling rock and roll record. His two most famous songs are "Ain't That A Shame" and "Blueberry Hill"."...

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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