The Sanctuary was one of the most distinctive artworks located in the second floor of this museum. It was built by Helen Evans Ramsaran in 1994, whose work reflects diverse cross-culture traditions. In this artwork, Ramsaran expressed her interest in African ancestral rites by creating a set of sculptural objects that look as if the could be integral to such ceremonies.
In general, the work comprises a ring of bronze tree-like forms. As the picture suggests, there are eight thin bronze rods fixed by a circular base, and all parts of this sculpture was painted by white. Consider the forms as trees, each tree has the different distribution and number of "leaves". But the heights of each trees are approximately equal, and it seems that two "seedlings" are in the top of each tree. In my opinion, eight trees and their leaves symbolically represent a lively forest, and white means a scared and peaceful place. The work's stark, almost skeletal structure is meant to convey a silent energy that offers me a meditative experience. Thus, we can also consider there are eights distinctive heroes protecting this scared forest and standing around this land. And their spines becomes these trees finally (Actually, I thought the forms was more like bones at first).
The Sanctuary is a sculpture between the abstract and representation. It offers some abstract meaning to me. With the light from the ceiling, we can see it represents eight shadows on the base. Image we move the sculpture in the sun, then the shadows would change by the movement of sun. Each of shadow would be longest in a certain time during a day, which represents different appearance in different time. Therefore, this artwork also suggests the passing of time and the law of nature, and we can predict that the African ancestral rites was related to some natural factors.
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