Tree of Life Sculptures

Tree of Life sculptures have been made by the Makonde people as visual representations of Ujamaa — a Swahili word meaning “extended family.” Working principally in present-day Tanzania and Mozambique, Makonde artists carve interlocking figures from a single piece of wood to suggest how communal bonds and shared values hold life together. As a matrilineal society, the Makonde trace family genealogies through females. Therefore, women are typically depicted as the central subject within Tree of Life totems. Figures can represent important people in the community or ancestors or recount tribal legends.

This Tree of Life was gifted to Saint Vincent by Anna and Tadeusz Kozminski, whose collection of art and artifacts from Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia now form part of the Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections.

Makonde Artist, Tanzania (late 20th century), Tree of Life, n.d., ebony, 12 ½ x 5 ½ x 5 inches, Gift of Anna and Tadeusz Kozminski, Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections.