“Say let it be spared from eyes for a ware cannot survive eyes:” Personification of pots among Oromo of Wallagga,Ethiopia

Abstract

In most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the traditional manner of pottery-making persists, with pottery production connected to a series of other daily activities. The Wallagga region of the southwestern Ethiopian highlands, in particular, sees traditional pottery widely practiced and exclusively in the domain of women. In this society, pottery-making and the use of pottery vessels are informed and constrained by deeply-rooted metaphoric meanings connected to the technological practices. Pots are metaphorically associated with persons and the stages they pass through: youth, adulthood, old age, and death. More specifically, a wet pot metaphorically represents a baby, pots in use are associated with adults and damaged pots are linked to a deceased person.

Keywords

Ethiopia Oromo pottery-making personification of pot Wallagga

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