Image of the Week: The Drum Circle
© Durga Yael Bernhard
On February 3rd, 1981, the Michael C. Rockefeller Collection of the Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A treasure trove of primitive and tribal art from some of the most exotic places on earth, this spacious wing features sculptures, masks, weavings, and fetishes.
I was there that day, quite by accident. My grandmother's flight was delayed, and I needed to kill some time in the city before going with my father to pick her up at the airport. The Met was like a home away from home for me, so off I went to the familiar museum.
Little did I know my life was about to change. When I walked into that sparkling new wing full of primitive art, the effect was cathartic. I returned the next day with a new sketchbook, spent the day in the museum, filled the entire sketchbook, and posted the drawings around the circumference of my bedroom ceiling – hoping and praying that these bold and earthy, powerfully authentic forms would seep into my unconscious.
Did they ever! Thirty-eight years later, with both my grandmother and father, of blessed memory, long gone – I still feel the repercussions of that day – and that collection – emerging in my art. I became especially interested in African art, and was also led to try African dance and drumming, both of which I continue to practice and teach, respectively, to this day.
One of the effects of the Rockefeller collection is that it brought tribal art from distant parts of the globe together, highlighting both their differences and their similarities. I found these contrived juxtapositions intriguing, and started combining different ethnic influences in my own way, too. The Drum Circle, a small gouache painting inspired while teaching a drum class in 1999 in Woodstock, NY, is a good example. The class took place in the home of a friend, in a room with an especially beautiful Turkish rug. I gazed at this rug while immersed in the repetitive waves of polyrhythms. The designs made such an intriguing medley of colors and shapes, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Around the edge, the black & white African "mud cloths" that I used as drum covers (and which I had purchased for their striking patterns as well) had fallen to the floor, creating a dynamic combination.
Thus a dialogue between West Africa and Turkey, between black & white and color, began. Look how they talk to each other! Like a visual polyrhythm – I love it. Offsetting this interplay of patterns are the solid shapes of drums seen from above, and the hands playing them. I might have called this "Drum Mandala" instead.
As with most of my images, The Drum Circle is available as a card or poster.
I'll be drumming on New Year's Day – a great way to start the new year. May 2020 be the beginning of a decade filled with rhythm and dance!
With good wishes to all –
D Yael Bernhard