Friday, February 16, 2007
FRIDAY FANTASY 27
The Nuba are a proud and creative people. They love celebrations and have many of them. As you can see, at the time of this photo they had not been "Westernized" and continued to enjoy their own culture and way of life. As I am NOT someone who considers "roughing it" a fun activity, or "living off the land" something I would enjoy, I simply hold to my fantasies of spending time encamped with the Nuba.
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2 comments:
Thanks for sharing the photo of the Nuba. But that lifestyle is no more. The Sudanese governments (circa 1950 and to the present) have decimated the culture and what's left of the tribes are now fully clothed and pray in Christian churches and Islamic mosques.
The picture you published here was probably one of those taken by Hitler's photographer Leni Riefenstahl during one of her seven trips to the Nuba Mountains sometime between 1962-1977. After that time no one was allowed to visit the Nuba, photograph, nor speak privately with them.
It has been reported that these remnants of the Kush who lived in several small tribes were decimated by pro-Arab governments. While I prize the picture and have copied it, I mourn for the people.
afriqueer
afriqueer, thanks for your enlightened comments. The photo is indeed one of Riefenstahls. I had heard that the tribal numbers were dwindling because of the "genocide", but didn't know they had been wiped out completely.
Lori Riefenstahl, rumored to be Hitlers mistress by some, published "Last Of The Nuba" which I have been trying to locate for my collection. I don't want to support the ideal of her communist background, but there aren't many other works that feature photgraphs of the Nuba.
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