WEBVTT

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- With the stools,
the stool is also a symbol of status,

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is a symbol of hereditary
and I'll explain that.

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The stool again is also a symbol of power.
Different types of stools, they

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carve them in different ways
that speak, they use symbols.

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Now, the stool,
see when you sit down,

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now you sit down you expect
the chair to hold you,

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so a stool is a form of power, strength
and so, the king,

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not, see we have stools in
the house and in the homes,

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but they are different
from the special stools,

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(laughs)
that is used in traditional ceremonies.

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And for example among
the chiefs and the kings

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you find that among the
all the Asante kings

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that have passed on,
they all have their stool

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that they sat on while they were kings.
Now in the olden days,

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when a king died, the Asante King,
when he died it was a

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very very serious issue.
(laughs)

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And so they would take his stool.
So the stool embodies the

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spirit of the dead king.
So by smearing blood on it,

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it's a symbol of preserving
the life of that king

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so all the kings, their
spirits are preserved.

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So the belief is that in the stool,
the spirit of that king is still there.

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So when they go to, if there is a ceremony
and they pour libation,

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well they expect the spirit
of the king in that stool,

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to be there, to be present
because Asante's don't believe

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that there is a heaven, no.
They believe that the

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spiritual world is around us.
So when they pour libation,

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they know that the spirits
are present with them.

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And a very very strong belief.
So these, each of the Asante

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kings, their stools are there,
and during certain ceremonies

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they bring all the stools out.
- [Elyan] I think my

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last question for you,
'cause you've given us

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a lot of information is,
what do you think of when you

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think of African Brilliance?
- Okay, I thought brilliance immediately,

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I thought of drumming, you know,
and African drumming and dancing and yeah.

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But I think the Brilliance also conveys
it's like an umbrella that

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brings everything together.
So the goldweights, because for example,

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the goldweights, it takes a lot of skill
for the gold-smiths to come up

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with all those pieces of art.
They would not see it as art.

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No, they will see it as their
craft, their craftsmanship.

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But they would not quite see
it as art form, and art, no.

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But to them is their skill
and they are very proud of it.

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In fact they guard it as a secret.
But gold and the stools

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very, very important
and they are important mostly

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to the kings, the chiefs
and even some heads of

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households do have stools.
So if there is a meeting of the family

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well then they bring the stool, yeah.
And then the head of the

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family will sit on it.
And when they die, the

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person that inherits them
inherits that stool,

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so it becomes like a--
- [Elyan] Like a throne.

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- Sorry
- Almost like a throne?

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- Yes, yeah, but is also
becomes like a symbol,

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the spirit of the family,
everybody is rallied around it.

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So it becomes like the soul of the family.