Acholi rattle
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1998.9.2
Country:
Uganda , [Sudan]
Region:
Masindi District Kibanda County Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement [Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Acholi?
Maker:
Martin Peter Sisto
Date Made:
By 1997
Materials:
Tin Metal ? , Aluminium Metal ? , Glass
Process:
Recycled , Hammered , Perforated , Incised , Inscribed
Dimensions:
L = 240, W base = 88, Ht = 14.7, W perforations = 3 mm [RTS 12/9/2005].
Weight:
139.4 g
Local Name:
ajar
Other Owners:
Made by Martin Peter Sistro in the blacksmith's workshop of the Kiryandongo refugee settlement; obtained by Tania Kaiser 1997; sold to PRM on 19th January 1998
Field Collector:
Tania Kaiser
PRM Source:
Tania Kaiser
Acquired:
Purchased 19 January 1998
Collected Date:
1997
Description:
Box rattle made from two piece of a recycled U.S.
Aid tin welded together.
It has a rectangular body with flat upper surface and short upright sides, folded over at the corners to create a shallow box, with sides that splay outwards at the base.
This rests on top of a second, flat piece of metal, that extends outwards from the body as a flat ledge and which forms the base of the box.
This ledge is of double thickness, as it is formed from the edges of the base being folded up and over the splaying wall footings to form a tight seal.
The design of the original tin has been utilised as decoration on the instrument, with blue 'USA' letters positioned at the centre of the upper surface (Pantone 288C), flanked by parallel red lines (Pantone 186C).
This surface has been also decorated with a maltese-style cross, impressed into the centre, with its interior covered with a series of lozenge-shaped perforations.
The rest of the surface on either side has also been perforated, but the holes are more evenly spaced.
The sides of the object bear traces of further lettering, but this is not used to decorative effect and is partly obscured by the folded edges of the tin; the letters read: '[R]EFINED VEGETABLE OIL', with only the tops of the letters being visible on one side, and only their bases on the other.
The rattle underside has the letters 'NOT TO BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED' running across the top, parallel to one edge, with a shield motif headed 'US AID' with 2 hands gripped in a handshake, a row of blue stars, and a row of vertical red stripes forming the base of the shield.
Below this, along the bottom edge, is the upper part of additional letters [?4 LITRES 271...].
The base has also been decorated by the craftsman, but this has been added 'upside down' in relation to the printed lettering.
It consists of an impressed heart shape, at the centre of the base, filled with numerous perforations, with 2 rectangular blocks of similar perforations flanking it on either side.
There is also a shallowly incised inscription near one corner, that reads 'TANIA', the name of the collector.
Inside the box are a series of glass pieces, that rattle when the instrument is shaken.
The object is complete and intact, and apart from a few small patches of rust, in good condition.
The metal is a bright silvery colour (approximately Pantone 877C).
It has a weight of 139.4 grams and is 240 mm long, 88 mm wide and 14.7 mm high; the perforations have a width of 3 mm.
Made by Martin Peter Sistro, who was born around 1975, in the blacksmith's workshop of the Kiryandongo refugee settlement; obtained by Tania Kaiser during fieldwork in the camp between October 1996 and March 1997, or June and November 1997. It was purchased by the Pitt Rivers Museum on 19th January 1998.
This instrument is known in Acholi as ajar, and would traditionally have been made from natural materials such as reeds; however they have been manufactured from recycled tin in the Southern Sudan and neighbouring areas since at least the early 1980's. Kaiser comments that music and dance are common and important to the community in the refugee camp, in both religious and secular contexts. The sound this instrument makes has been likened to hail falling on a metal roof. This example was published in T. Kaiser, 2000, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, fig. 38, p. 46. It has also been displayed in the exhibition 'Transformations - The Art of Recycling', held at the Pitt Rivers Museum from 25th March 2000 to Easter 2002.
For details of Kaiser's work in Uganda, see: T. Kaiser, 1999, Living in Limbo: Insecurity and the Settlement of Sudanese Refugees in Northern Uganda (Unpublished PhD); T. Kaiser, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, 44-47; T. Kaiser, 2000, UNHCR's Withdrawal from Kiryandongo: Anatomy of a Handover , New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper No. 32, 1, 3.
Rachael Sparks 12/9/2005.
Made by Martin Peter Sistro, who was born around 1975, in the blacksmith's workshop of the Kiryandongo refugee settlement; obtained by Tania Kaiser during fieldwork in the camp between October 1996 and March 1997, or June and November 1997. It was purchased by the Pitt Rivers Museum on 19th January 1998.
This instrument is known in Acholi as ajar, and would traditionally have been made from natural materials such as reeds; however they have been manufactured from recycled tin in the Southern Sudan and neighbouring areas since at least the early 1980's. Kaiser comments that music and dance are common and important to the community in the refugee camp, in both religious and secular contexts. The sound this instrument makes has been likened to hail falling on a metal roof. This example was published in T. Kaiser, 2000, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, fig. 38, p. 46. It has also been displayed in the exhibition 'Transformations - The Art of Recycling', held at the Pitt Rivers Museum from 25th March 2000 to Easter 2002.
For details of Kaiser's work in Uganda, see: T. Kaiser, 1999, Living in Limbo: Insecurity and the Settlement of Sudanese Refugees in Northern Uganda (Unpublished PhD); T. Kaiser, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J. Coote, C. Morton and J. Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, 44-47; T. Kaiser, 2000, UNHCR's Withdrawal from Kiryandongo: Anatomy of a Handover , New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper No. 32, 1, 3.
Rachael Sparks 12/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Day book entry -
20/1[/98].
D[onation].
MdA.
[donor] TANIA KAISER.
1998.9.
AFRICA, UGANDA, MASINIDI DISTRICT, KIRYANDONGO REFUGEE SETTLEMENT.
Collection of objects collected by donor.
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, UGANDA, MASINDI DISTRICT; SUDANESE ACHOLI? Percussion instrument made from U.S. Aid tin. Coll. by Tania Kaiser, 1997. 1998.9.2 [plastic label with metal eyelet, tied to object; RTS 12/9/2005].
RDF 1998.9 - Acquisition Record, dated 19/1/1998, for 'collection of material from Uganda'. Memo dated 21/1/1998 from Jeremy Coote to Julia Cousins, dated 23/1/1998 regarding enclosed invoice for £150 from Tania Kaiser for 'collection of artefacts from Northern Uganda'. This object appears on an attached list as item 2: "Ajar. Percussion instrument. Made by Martin Peter Sisto". It is further annotated: "(USA) Glass inside". Purchased by the PRM for £6. There is also a typed document on file, titled "Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Masindi District, Uganda. Background to objects collected from a predominantly Sudanese Acholi community in 1997 by Tania Kaiser". The refugee settlement is described as being 14 kms from Kiryandongo town, near Bweyale and Nyakadot. The population is predominantly Acholi, but other groups represented there include Latuko, Madi, Bari and some Zande. There is a small market within the settlement itself, but many people go to the market at nearby Bweyale. Musical instruments such as adungu, lokeme, bul and ajar ( a stringed instrument, a thumb piano, drum and a percussion instrument respectively) are regularly made using natural materials, "music and dance are both common and important within the community, regardless of whether the context is 'traditional' or modern, religious or secular" [RTS 15/12/2003].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, UGANDA, MASINDI DISTRICT; SUDANESE ACHOLI? Percussion instrument made from U.S. Aid tin. Coll. by Tania Kaiser, 1997. 1998.9.2 [plastic label with metal eyelet, tied to object; RTS 12/9/2005].
RDF 1998.9 - Acquisition Record, dated 19/1/1998, for 'collection of material from Uganda'. Memo dated 21/1/1998 from Jeremy Coote to Julia Cousins, dated 23/1/1998 regarding enclosed invoice for £150 from Tania Kaiser for 'collection of artefacts from Northern Uganda'. This object appears on an attached list as item 2: "Ajar. Percussion instrument. Made by Martin Peter Sisto". It is further annotated: "(USA) Glass inside". Purchased by the PRM for £6. There is also a typed document on file, titled "Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Masindi District, Uganda. Background to objects collected from a predominantly Sudanese Acholi community in 1997 by Tania Kaiser". The refugee settlement is described as being 14 kms from Kiryandongo town, near Bweyale and Nyakadot. The population is predominantly Acholi, but other groups represented there include Latuko, Madi, Bari and some Zande. There is a small market within the settlement itself, but many people go to the market at nearby Bweyale. Musical instruments such as adungu, lokeme, bul and ajar ( a stringed instrument, a thumb piano, drum and a percussion instrument respectively) are regularly made using natural materials, "music and dance are both common and important within the community, regardless of whether the context is 'traditional' or modern, religious or secular" [RTS 15/12/2003].
Display History:
Displayed in the exhibition 'Transformations - The Art of Recycling', Pitt Rivers Museum, 25th March 2000 to Easter 2002 [LP 7/6/2000].
Publication History:
Illustrated in: T.
Kaiser, 2000, "Making Do and Making Beautiful: Recycling in an African Refugee Settlement", in: J.
Coote, C.
Morton and J.
Nicholson (eds), Transformations, the Art of Recyclying, fig.
38, p.
46.
There we are given the additional information that Martin Peter Sistro was born around 1975, and the comment 'Such instruments are known to ethnomusicilogists as raft rattles and were formerly made of reeds.
Versions made of recycled tin have been produced in the Southern Sudan and neighbouring areas since at least the early 1980's.
When shaken they make a sound like hail falling on a metal roof' [LP 21/6/2000; RTS 4/11/2004].
