v.o.a./African art

[matt udie]

DATE=6/10/96
TYPE=CURRENT AFFAIRS FEATURE
NUMBER=3-25245
TITLE=AFRICAN ART EXHIBIT (LONG)
BYLINE=MARTIN BUSH
TELEPHONE=264-2148
DATELINE=NEW YORK
EDITOR=FREUND/ SWANEY

CONTENT= (INSERTS IN AUDIO SERVICES)

INTRO: THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IN NEW YORK HAS JUST OPENED (6-6)
WHAT IT CALLS "THE FIRST MAJOR SURVEY OF THE ARTISTIC TRADITIONS
OF THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT." VOA'S MARTIN BUSH WENT TO THE
EXHIBITION AND FILES THIS REPORT.

TEXT: ON VIEW AT THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IS ONE OF THE MOST
EXTENSIVE COLLECTIONS OF AFRICAN ART EVER DISPLAYED IN NEW YORK.
ALTHOUGH SOME TEXTILES ARE SHOWN IN THE EXHIBIT, MOST OF ITS 500
ITEMS ARE SCUPTURAL: CEREMONIAL OBJECTS, RITUAL TOOLS, CARVINGS.

THE OLDEST ITEM ON DISPLAY IS A QUARTZITE TOOL MORE THAN ONE
MILLION AND ONE HALF YEARS OLD, FOUND IN THE OLDUVAI GORGE IN
TANZANIA. THE NEWEST IS A PAIR OF PLASTIC EAR PLUGS MADE IN 1954
IN SOUTH AFRICA.

CURATOR TOM PHILLIPS SAYS IN THE PAST SOME PEOPLE IN THE WEST
HAVE SHOWN LITTLE REGARD FOR AFRICAN ART, LOOKING UPON IT AS
"MERE ETHNOGRAPHY," ARTIFACTS OF HUMAN CULTURE. THAT KIND OF
ATTITUDE, HE BELIEVES, IS CHANGING, AND HE POINTS TO THE NEW
EXHIBITION AT THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM.

TAPE: CUT ONE -- TOM PHILLIPS :50

"THE ONLY THESIS IT HOLDS, THE ONLY KIND OF AXE IT TRIES TO GRIND
IS THAT IT IS A PRAISE SONG FOR AFRICA. IT'S A STATEMENT WE
WANT TO MAKE RIGHT NOW ABOUT THE GLORY OF AFRICAN ART. FROM THE
TOP TO THE BOTTOM, FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST, MAGNIFICENT THINGS
HAVE BEEN MADE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF MAN'S HISTORY, RIGHT FROM
ITS VERY, VERY BEGINNING IN AFRICA. ///BEGIN OPT/// AT LEAST WE
CAN SAY, AND SAY UNEQUIVOCALLY, AFRICAN ART IS ON A LEVEL WITH
THE GREATEST PRODUCTION OF WESTERN ART. AND THAT'S HOW WE OUGHT
TO TALK ABOUT IT AND THAT'S HOW WE OUGHT TO THINK ABOUT IT. AND
THAT'S HOW WE OUGHT TO GET RID OF CERTAIN STRANGE LABELS THAT
STILL HANG AROUND ON THE FRINGES OF DISCUSSION OF AFRICAN ART:
WORDS LIKE 'PRIMITIVE' OR EVEN 'TRIBAL' SOUND A BIT OLD FASHIONED
THESE DAYS." ///END OPT///

TEXT: OBJECTS FROM EACH OF SEVEN AFRICAN GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS ARE
GROUPED TOGETHER IN INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OF THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM.
FROM EGYPT, THERE IS A KNEELING KING CARVED FROM GREEN SLATE,
ABOUT 43-HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

RWANDA AND BURUNDI ARE REPRESENTED BY FIVE MINIATURE GOLD AND
BROWN STRAW BASKETS, TOPPED BY CONICAL COVERS. WOVEN AND SEWN
FROM GRASS OF THE REGION, THE GRACEFULLY SHAPED BASKETS ARE FROM
THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

///BEGIN OPT/// FROM ANGOLA, COMES A SMALL STATUE OF A SLENDER
PRINCE MADE OF REDDISH-COLORED WOOD, HIDE AND HAIR. IN THIS
WORK OF ART DATING FROM THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY, THE FIGURE WEARS
A ROYAL HEADDRESS. THE PRINCE, AN AVID HUNTER, HOLDS A FLINTLOCK
RIFLE IN HIS LEFT HAND AND A POWDER HORN IN HIS RIGHT HAND.
///END OPT///

NEARBY IS A BUST OF A QUEEN OF THE YORUBA PEOPLE OF NIGERIA. HER
RED TERRA COTTA HEAD TOPPED BY A CROWN WAS PROBABLY FASHIONED IN
THE 12TH OR 13TH CENTURY AND WAS EXCAVATED IN 1957.

///BEGIN OPT/// TWO TUNISIAN OBJECTS ARE PART OF A 17TH CENTURY
NECKLACE MADE OF GOLD FILIGREE AND RED ENAMEL. IT HAS TUBULAR
CONTAINERS ATTACHED TOP AND BOTTOM TO FOUR ROUND FILIGREED
OBJECTS. INSIDE THE CONTAINERS ARE TEXTS FROM THE HEBREW TORAH,
THE REPOSITORY OF HEBREW LAW. ///END OPT///

CURATOR TOM PHILLIPS SAYS IN AN EXHIBIT LIKE THIS ONE, COVERING
THE VAST CONTINENT OF AFRICA, NEITHER HE NOR ANYONE ELSE COULD
PUT TOGETHER AN AUTHORITATIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE SURVEY OF AFRICAN
ART.

TAPE: CUT TWO -- TOM PHILLIPS :34

"THE DEFINITIVE THING THAT WE CAN SHOW IS THE AGE OF AFRICA, ITS
WEALTH ACROSS AN ENORMOUS GAP OF TIME AND RIGHT BACK ONE AND ONE
HALF MILLION YEARS AGO. THE OTHER DEFINITE STATEMENT WE CAN
CLEARLY MAKE IS THE ENORMOUS RANGE OF MATERIALS USED IN AFRICAN
ART AND THE ENORMOUS FORMAL RANGE OF INVENTION. SO THOSE THINGS
WE CAN SAY. BUT WHAT WE CAN'T SAY IS: THIS IS AFRICAN ART FOR
ALL TIME. NO, IT ISN'T. THIS IS ONE PERSON'S VIEW LARGELY, ONE
PERSON'S ESTHETIC VIEW OF HOW WE MIGHT LOOK AT AFRICAN ART IN
1996. IN 1999, IT'LL BE ANOTHER STORY."

TEXT: NEW YORK TIMES ART CRITIC HOLLAND COTTER HAS EXPRESSED
SOME RESERVATIONS ABOUT THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM'S EXHIBITION OF
AFRICAN ART, CRITICIZING ITS BROAD SCOPE. BUT, HE ADDS: THE
EXHIBIT "OFFERS JOLTING BEAUTY AND INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION AT
EVERY STEP."

///REST OPT///

AND MR. COTTER CONTINUES: "'AFRICA: THE ART OF A CONTINENT' IS
SO BURSTING WITH IDEAS, ITS LEVEL OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND INVENTION
IS SO HIGH, WITH NO IMAGINATIVE LIMITATIONS IN SIGHT, THAT ANYONE
WHO FEELS A STAKE IN ART, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE, WILL WANT TO
SUSPEND JUDGEMENT, HEAD TO THE GUGGENHEIM AND JUST WADE IN."
(SIGNED)

NEB/NY/MAB/LSF/VO'HS

10-Jun-96 3:31 PM EDT (1931 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America