Power, politics and glory

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NAME: ASHONG ANSUADE EBENEZER DEPRTMENT: DEPARTMENT OF INTERGRATED RURAL ART AND INDUSTRY GLOBAL ART QUESTION: ART IS ESSENTIAL TO RULERS AND STATES ACHIEVE GLORY AND POWER AND TOWARDS ACHIEVING THEIR POLITICAL AGENDA. DISCUSS TABLE OF CONTENT

	ABSTRACT AND INTRODUCTION
	ART AND BACKGROUND HISTORY
	POLITICS AND ITS HISTORY
	POWER, ITS BASES AND TYPES
	GLORY
	ART AND ITS ESSENTIALS IN POWR, POLITICS AND GLORY
	METHODOLOGY
	CONCLUTION
	RECOMMENDATIONS
	REFERENCES

ABSTRACT and INTRRODUCTION

This research talks about the essentials of art to rulers and states in achieving power and glory. It is intended to educate individuals on the basic used of art in the attaining power, glory and political ambitions. The research makes use of the various art forms and their importance to the rulers and states. The research gives a gist of the history of art, power, politics and glory. It also provides information on some rulers and the art work they use in their various rulings.  ART The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined or not has been a matter of controversy. Due to this, art has been defined by deferent philosopher based on their perception and the perspective from which it is viewed. The following are definitions that have been in circulation (includes references);  Brain quote (www.brainquote.com) defines art as the skill, dexterity, or the power of performing certain actions, acquired by experience, study, or observations. The skill or dexterity or power includes; painting, architecture, magic, among many others.  Your dictionary (www.yourdictionary.com) also defines art as the human ability to make things that is the creativity of a man to distinguish from the world of nature; skill; craftsmanship; and any specific skill.  Answers (www.answers.com) define art as the human effort to imitate, supplement, alter or counteract the work of nature. Deducing from the following definitions, it can be said the art can be grouped into various forms, or art may come in various forms as stated below; • Visual art: These are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as, visual in nature, such as, ceramics, paintings, drawings, sculpture, printmaking, among others • Performing art: These refer to those art forms that differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artists’ own body, presence and face as a medium and the later uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical object. Performing art include the dance, music, drama, spoken words, opera and circus art. HISTORY OF ART The western narrative begins with prehistoric art such as Stonehenge, before discussing the ancient world. The later begins with Mesopotamia, then progresses to the art of ancient Egypt, which then transitions to classical antiquity. Classical art include both Greek and roman works. The high intellectual culture of the medieval period was Islamic, but the era also included early Christian art, byzantine art, gothic art, Anglo-Saxon art and Viking art. The medieval era ended with the renaissance, followed by the baroque and rococo. Sometimes another period, Mannerism, is inserted between Renaissance and Baroque, which is a visual hybrid. The 18th and 19th centuries included Neoclassicism, Romantic art, Academic art, and Realism in art. Art historians disagree when Modern art began, but it was either in the mid-18th century with the artist Francisco Goya, the mid-19th century with the industrial revolution or the late 19th century with the advent of Impressionism. The art movements of the late 19th through the early 21st centuries are too numerous to detail here, but can be broadly divided into two categories: Modernism and Contemporary art. The latter is sometimes referred to with another term, which has a subtly different connotation, postmodern art. The history of art in the Americas begins in pre-Columbian times with Indigenous cultures. Art historians have focused particularly closely on Mesoamerica during this early era, because a series of stratified cultures arose there that erected grand architecture and produced objects of fine workmanship that are comparable to the arts of western Europe. The art-making tradition of Mesoamerican people begins with the Olmec around 1400 BCE, during the Preclassic era. These people are best-known for making colossal heads but also carved jade, erected monumental architecture, made small-scale sculpture, and designed mosaic floors. Two of the well-studied sites artistically are San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan and La Venta. After the Olmec culture declined, the Maya civilization became prominent in the region. Sometimes a transitional Epi-Olmec period is described, which is a hybrid of Olmec and Maya. A particularly well-studied Epi-Olmec site is La Mojarra, which includes hieroglyphic carvings that have been partially deciphered. The oldest surviving art forms include small sculptures and paintings on rocks and in caves. There are very few known examples of art that date earlier than 40,000 years ago, the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period. People often rubbed smaller rocks against larger rocks and boulders to paint pictures of their everyday life, such as hunting wild game. A mammoth sculpture found in a German cave was dated to approximately 35,000 years ago. One of the most famous examples, the so-called Venus of Willendorf (which is now being called "Woman from Willendorf" in contemporary art history texts) is a sculpture from the Paleolithic era, which depicts a woman with exaggerated female attributes. This sculpture, carved from stone, is remarkable in its roundness instead of a flat or low-relief depiction. Early Aegean art, although it dates from a much later period, shares some of the same abstract figurative elements. Ancient art began when ancient civilizations developed a form of written language. The great traditions in art have a foundation in the art of one of the six great ancient civilizations: Ancient Egypt, Iran (Persia), Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, India, or China. Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in their art. Because of their size and duration these civilizations, their art work have survived and transmitted to other cultures and later times. They have also provided us with the first records of how artists worked. Ancient Roman art depicted gods as idealized humans, shown with characteristic distinguishing features.  POLITICS This is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. Politics is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs. It also refers to behavior within civil governments. However, politics have been observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers to the regulation of public affairs within a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy. HISTORY OF POLITICS The word “politics” comes from the Greek word “politika”, modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of the city", the name of his book on governing and governments, which was rendered in English mid-15 century as Latinized "Polettiques". Thus it became "politics" in Middle English c. 1520s (according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary). The singular “politic” first attested in English 1430 and comes from Middle French “politique”, in turn from Latin “politicus”, which is the latinisation of the Greek “politikos”, meaning amongst others "of, for, or relating to citizens", "civil", "civic", "belonging to the state", in turn from “polites”(citizen) and that from “polis”,(city). The history of politics is reflected in the origin and development of the institutions of government. According to Aristotle, States are classified into monarchies, aristocracies, democracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies. Due to an increase in knowledge of the history of politics, this classification has been abandoned. Generally speaking, no form of government could be considered the best if the best is considered to be the one that is most appropriate under the circumstances. All States are varieties of a single type, the sovereign State. All the Great Powers of the modern world rule on the principle of sovereignty. Sovereign power may be vested on an individual as in an autocratic government or it may be vested on a group as in a constitutional government. Constitutions are written documents that specify and limit the powers of the different branches of government. Although a Constitution is a written document, there is also an unwritten Constitution. The unwritten constitution is continually being written by the Legislative branch of government, this is just one of those cases in which the nature of the circumstances determines the form of government that is most appropriate. Nevertheless, the written constitution is essential. England did set the fashion of written constitutions during the Civil War but after the Restoration abandoned them to be taken up later by the American Colonies after their emancipation and then France after the Revolution and the rest of Europe including the European colonies. Constitutions and or laws of a particular society are formed based on the following:  PAST RECORDS: From the early middle Ages in Europe there come what are called folk-laws and they appear exactly at the time when the patriarchal is becoming the State. They are due almost universally to one cause: the desire of the king to know the custom of his subjects. These are not legislation in the sense of law-making but statements or declarations of custom. They are drawn from knowledge of the custom of the people. Unwritten custom changes imperceptibly but not the written. It is always possible to point to the exact text and show what it says. Nevertheless, the written text can change by addition with every new edition.  LAW COURTS: By taking some general rule which seemed to be common to all the communities and ignoring the differences, English common law was modeled after such a practice so that the law became common in all the districts of the kingdom. The reason why in the rest of Europe, there was no common law till centuries later is because the State in those countries did not get hold of the administration of justice when England did. One of the shrewdest moves by which the English judges pushed their plan of making a common law was by limiting the verdict of the jury in every case to questions of fact. At first the jury used to give answers both on law and fact; and being a purely local body, they followed local custom. A famous division came to pass: the province of the judge and the province of the jury.  FICTIONS: Records and Law Courts were valuable in helping the people adapt to law-making but like Fictions, they were slow and imperfect. Though slowly, Fictions work because it is a well known fact that people will accept a change in the form of a fiction while they would resist it to the end if the fact is out in the open. A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions. Parties often choose or follow an expressed ideology or vision bolstered by a written platform with specific goals, forming a coalition among disparate interests.  POWER Power is defined as the measure of an entity's ability to control its environment, including the behavior of other entities. The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure. In the corporate environment, power is often expressed as upward or downward. With downward power, a company's superior influence subordinates. When a company exerts upward power, it is the subordinates who influence the decisions of the leader (Greiner & Schein, 1988). Often, the study of power in a society is referred to as politics. The use of power need not involve coercion (force or the threat of force). At one extreme, it more closely resembles what everyday English-speakers call "influence", although some authors make a distinction between power and influence – the means by which power is used. BASSES OF POWER Social psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram Raven, in a now-classic study (1959), developed a schema of sources of power by which to analyses how power plays work (or fail to work) in a specific relationship. According to French and Raven, power must be distinguished from influence in the following way: power is that state of affairs which holds in a given relationship, A-B, such that a given influence attempt by A over B makes A's desired change in B more likely. Conceived this way, power is fundamentally relative – it depends on the specific understandings A and B each apply to their relationship, and, interestingly, requires B's recognition of a quality in A which would motivate B to change in the way A intends. A must draw on the 'base' or combination of bases of power appropriate to the relationship, to effect the desired outcome. Drawing on the wrong power base can have unintended effects, including a reduction in A's own power. French and Raven argue that there are five significant categories of such qualities, while not excluding other minor categories. These categories include the following; i. Positional power: Also called "legitimate power", it is the power of an individual because of the relative position and duties of the holder of the position within an organization. Legitimate power is formal authority delegated to the holder of the position. It is usually accompanied by various attributes of power such as uniforms, offices etc. This is the most obvious and also the most important kind of power. ii. Referent power: Referent power is the power or ability of individuals to attract others and build loyalty. It's based on the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder. A person may be admired because of specific personal trait, and this admiration creates the opportunity for interpersonal influence. Here the person under power desires to identify with these personal qualities, and gains satisfaction from being an accepted follower. Nationalism and patriotism count towards an intangible sort of referent power. For example, soldiers fight in wars to defend the honor of the country. This is the second least obvious power, but the most effective. Advertisers have long used the referent power of sports figures for products endorsements, for example. The charismatic appeal of the sports star supposedly leads to an acceptance of the endorsement, although the individual may have little real credibility outside the sports arena. iii. Expert power: Expert power is an individual's power deriving from the skills or expertise of the person and the organization's needs for those skills and expertise. Unlike the others, this type of power is usually highly specific and limited to the particular area in which the expert is trained and qualified. iv. Reward power: Reward power depends on the ability of the power wielder to confer valued material rewards; it refers to the degree to which the individual can give others a reward of some kind such as benefits, time off, desired gifts, promotions or increases in pay or responsibility. This power is obvious but also ineffective if abused. People who abuse reward power can become pushy or became reprimanded for being too forthcoming or 'moving things too quickly'. v. Coercive power: Coercive power is the application of negative influences. It includes the ability to demote or to withhold other rewards. The desire for valued rewards or the fear of having them withheld that ensures the obedience of those under power. Coercive power tends to be the most obvious but least effective form of power as it builds resentment and resistance from the people who experience it. TYPES OF POWER; a. Economic power b. Energy superpower c. Food power: This is the use of agriculture as a means of political control whereby one nation or group of nations offers or withholds commodities from another nation or group of nations in order to manipulate behavior. d. Hard power: This is a term used in international relations. Hard power is a theory that describes using military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. e. National power: This is defined as the sum of all resources available to a nation in the pursuit of national objectives. f. Political power: This is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. g. Smart power: This is a term in international relations defined by Joseph Nye as "the ability to combine hard and soft power into a winning strategy. h. Soft power: This is the ability to obtain what one wants through co-option and attraction.  GLORY Glory is defined by the “word web” dictionary as a high state of honor. It is also defined online as meaning the following; o Praises, honor, or distinction extended by common consent, o Worshipful praise, honor and thanksgiving, o Something that secures praises or renown, o A distinguished quality or assert, o Great beauty and splendor that is something marked by beauty or resplendence, o A state of great gratification or exaltation, o A height of prosperity or achievement, etc. ART AND ITS ESSENTIALS IN POWR, POLITICS AND GLORY

(HOW ART IS USED BY RULERS AND STATES TO ACHIEVE GLORY AND POWER AND POLITICAL AGENDA)

In years past and now, art has played a very important role and has hence become essential for everyone including rulers and states to achieve glory and power. Various art forms are used by these individuals in accomplishing their agenda. These art forms used may come in the form of verbal, visual or even performing arts. These art forms and their various types play very essential roles in the achievement of power and glory. This can be seen in both the contemporary and indigenous aspects of life. Some art types and forms and the way they are used by rulers, states and power seekers in achieving glory and power are stated below; Visual art refers to those art forms that can be seen and touched; these include painting, posters, drawings, sculptures, billboards, etc. In Ghana, the ceremonial sword, Afena / Ako Afena Akan from the Asante people of Ghana. The blade is made out of the forged iron and has opening designs along. The handle with pommel is made of wood and covered with "gold dust" and is decorated with geometric motifs. Among the Akan swords of different shapes and complexity serve ceremonial, ritual and political purposes. European visitors commented upon swords as early as the mid-1600's. They are primarily ceremonial and parade swords for they have neither point nor cutting edge. Swords (afena or afenatene) are prominently displayed at royal courts as regalia of the king reflecting his power and authority. Sword bearers precede the king or rest at his feet when he sits in state. During occasions when the king is carried in his litter they rest their sword hilts against the litter. Swords are used to swear oaths to the king and state, and to identify messengers as they carry the king's word while on the king's business. Some swords (akrafena) were to keep the king's soul pure and used for him to swear oaths. Other gilded wooden-handled swords are of this type and if used to swear oaths were known as "nsuafena." When used as badges of office for messengers or envoys they were called "asomfofena." Swords of the nsuafena type are also used by priests during rituals and placed in shrines as objects of veneration. Fig: 1

Fig1a) ASANTE CEREMONIAL SWORD b) EDGE OF THE SWORD c) THE HANDLE Fig: 2

Fig: 2) OTUMFUO OSEI TUTU II SWEARING IN WITH THE ASANTE CEREMONIAL SWORD Swords that were originally meant for military purposes have assumed certain political and ritual functions in parts of Ghana. They carry symbols that evoke specific messages. In Ghana, the sword is a symbol of the President’s authority. The state sword was created and first used when Ghana became a republic in 1960. It is made of gold. The President of Ghana swears the oath of office with the state sword - known as Afena-nta. The sword has a double blade, which represents peace between states. The state sword represents the non-partisan position of the office the presidency. The symbols on it represent the values of Ghanaians. On one side, the Nyame-tumi, which is a square, circle and triangle, symbolize the presence of God in our national society. Fig: 3

Fig: 3 a) State ceremonial sword (b) PREZ. J .A. KUFFOUR and (c) PREZ. J.A.E. MILLS SWEARING IN

The Ghanaian Mace was created as a ceremonial club. With a heavy head at the end of a handle, clubs could deliver powerful blows in combat so came to be associated with power.

Today, many government bodies and institutions have ceremonial maces, which are considered symbols of authority. Ghana’s Mace is used in sitting of Parliament. The mace is the symbol of the authority ceremonially given to the Speaker of Parliament. It stands upright before the Clerk’s Table during Parliamentary sittings. The Mace is tilted towards the Chair during the Consideration Stage of a Bill, which shows the more informal nature of those proceedings when the rules of debate are relaxed. The Mace is replaced by the State Sword; the symbol of authority of the State, when Ghana’s elected President delivers his address on the State of the Nation to Parliament. Fig: 4

Fig: 4) THE GHANAIAN MACE

The stele of Naram-Sin (2254-2218 B.C.) depicts the victory of Naram-Sin over his enemies, the Luibbi. The palette of King Narmer (3000-2920 B.C.) depicts the victory of King Narmer over Lower Egypt, finally unifying the land. 

On the stele the grandson of Sargon is leading his army up a mountain. His enemies are shown running away falling, dying, and begging for their lives. Naram-sin is depicted larger and higher up on the mountain than anyone else. That shows that he is the most important and most powerful person in the picture. He is also standing on two bodies of the slain enemy. He is wearing a crown with horns, which symbolizes that he is God as well as king. This is the first time this happens in Mesopotamian art. And three stars seem to be shining down on him and his victory. Showing Naram-Sin on the top of the mountain, shows that he is close to the heavens. His army is in an orderly fashion showing the great control he has over them as well as their obedience to him. The enemy’s army is fleeing in disarray. The artist followed many old rules when creating this piece. He depicted the scene with composite views of the people. Fig: 5

Fig: 5) STALE OF NARAM-SIN In almost every part of the world, there are various posters and bill boards that are used for advertisement. These posters and bill boards include those once used by the ordinary persons and also rulers of state. These bill boards are used in depicting the power of the various leaders. This can be seen as most bill boards tend to project the ability of the person or ruler being talked of. An example is the bill board of the famous chief priest, NANA KWEKU BONSAN, which can be seen almost in all part of a town in Accra, Ghana-west Africa. These bill boards advertises what he can do and those things he has done, this tends to help him achieve power and glory since other may tend to fear and praise his works.

Fig: 6)

Fig: 6) NANA KWEKU BONSAM The tattoos of Tomika Te Mutu of Coromandel a nineteenth century Maori tribal chief were seen as extra shell around the body that reinforced it and protected it. These tattoos go a long way to show how powerful he is. Apart from serving as identification, the tattoos were also effective in war as it distracted and confused opponents. Traditional Maori tattooing is done with chisel which gouge deep grooves in the skin just as seen in Maori wood carving. The chiseled whorls on his face emphasize the scowl, piecing vision, hot breath fierce mouth. Once a tattooed person died the head of the Maori chiefs were preserved by steaming, smoking and oiling them. Fig: 7)

Fig: 7) TATTOO OF TOMIKA TE MUTU Agahu is both the name of a dance and of one the many secular music associations (clubs) of the Ewe people of Ghana, Togo, and Dahomey. (Gadzok, Takada, and Atsiagbeko are other such clubs). Each club has it own distinctive drumming and dancing, as well as its own repertoire of songs. A popular social dance of West Africa, Agahu was created by the Egun speaking people from the town of Ketonu in what is now Benin. From there it spread to the Badagry area of Nigeria where migrant Ewe fisherman heard, adapted, and eventually took it to Ghana. In dancing the Agahu, two circles are formed; the men stay stationary with their arms out and then bend with a knee forward for the women to sit on. They progress around the circle until they arrive at their original partner. This dance is performed to show the said people’s victory during war. Indeed, every political regime uses the arts for propaganda purposes, consciously deploys the arts to try to shape the consciousness of their populations. And every resistance movement does the same, often gigantically yet excruciatingly dull. Political power has shaped the discipline of art history to an incalculable extent and that the survivors from eras past are whatever the authority permitted to persist. From the other end, running for office or the government involves a host of aesthetic activities prosecuted with varying degrees of effectiveness and Shepard Fairey’s Obama-Hope poster is a form of art that captures something of the essence of Obama’s intervention in American politics, both its potential to inspire and the sneaking suspicion that underneath was emptiness. Fig: 8 Fig: 8) OBAMA’S HOPE POSTER

Magic is another form of art that is very essential to rulers of the contemporary and indigenous communities. Rulers of various traditional aspects of the world use magic in the form of sorcery to invoke fear into their subordinates. A tipi cal example can be seen among the West Africans who virtually use magic for their day to day activities. Magic can be used by rulers to determine the outcome of a war or battle that they intend to fight. This they believe as messages from the gods or ancestors. This 'altar of peace' was erected in the Campus Martius. The Campus Martius, or the Field of Mars, was, in ancient Roman times a floodplain of the Tiber River and the site of the altar of Mars. It was originally used as an area for military exercise, but by the first century CE was covered with public buildings. It was founded by the Senate in 13 BCE in honor of Augustus' safe return from his campaigns in Spain and Gaul and dedicated in 9 BCE. Both the foundation and the dedication of the Ara Pacis were celebrated annually in a procession to the altar and a sacrifice. The Ara Pacis consisted of a raised sacrificial altar surrounded by walls with two door ways along an east-to-west axis. The main entrance was on the west side from the Campus Martius. Fig: 10

Fig: 11) ALTER OF PEACE Augustus the first king of Rome impressively utilized public monuments (a form of art) throughout his rule as an accessible means of communication to convey his political agenda and construct an image of his character to the people of Rome. Since Augustus came into power at such a young age, he artfully capitalized on the opportunity to associate his reign with a sense of immortal divinity. Sculptures such as the “Burst of Augustus wearing the corona” exemplify the calculated attempt to create an aura of ‘eternal youth’ that surrounded his empire and further secured his authority. These portraits were composed with intentional aims to link Augustus’ leadership with that of a sacred, divine higher power and ability to return to youthful beauty with the face of time. When Augustus came to power, he realized he needed to find a way to secure his position with the roman public and the influential people surrounding him. Augustus decided to create a subtler persona for himself through art and architecture during his 45 year reign as emperor. This subtle portrayal communicated his authority, but also legitimized it through establishing Augustus’ destiny as ruler, his right to avenge his ancestors’ wrongful fates, and reign as a peaceful time in Rome. Fig: 11

Fig: 11) BURST OF AUGUSTUS METHODOLOGY The research was taken based on the use questionnaires, which were given to some art students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Some of the information were also obtained through interview which takes into consideration some chiefs whose names would be stated in the references to be given below. Some of the researches were also obtained from the internet and the rest from books and articles that are based on this topic.

CONCLUSION

With these mentioned reasons above, one can now see the essence of art to rulers and states in achieving glory and power and to establish their political agenda. Art works such as architecture, pottery, and painting among others have made life very easy for rulers as they can carry whatever information they need to communicate to the public through these works of art. The power of art lies in the way the art work is used as in the case of Augustus, his portraits portrays his reign and power and he is said to be one of the most prominent rulers who used art effectively and efficiently during his reign as emperor. RECOMMENDATIONS With the information given above and the importance attached to the various information, it can then be said that art is playing an integral role in the day to day activities of a state. I therefore think art should be given special attention and that the various forms of art should be improved upon since the world is a global village and subjected to changes within every pass moment. Art should be taught in the various institutions so that the up and summing generations can know its importance to them and the society as a whole. REFERENCES: Art http://www.ghana.gov.gh/anniversary/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=25&Itemid=91&limitstart=5 http://www.google.com.gh/images?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=584&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=otumfuo+swearing+in&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq= Power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(philosophy) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_power Politics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewe_people Glory http://www.africadirect.com/productsdesc.php?ID=55591 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glory Pictures and Other information http://www.ghana.gov.gh/anniversary/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=25&Itemid=91&limitstart=5 http://www.google.com.gh/images?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=584&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=otumfuo+swearing+in&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=