Exhibit Celebrates African Art
Adey Oyenuga
One of the more impressive pieces of jewelry is a gleaming
brass ornament - more than a foot in diameter - that circles
the ankle like a golden disc. It was made by the Ibo of Nigeria.
"Until the 1920s, it was fashionable for Ibo girls and women
of status to wear these,'' Herreman explains. "This made it
awkward to walk, and so this manner of walking with the legs
wide apart remained a status symbol long after people stopped
wearing such anklets.''
Wednesday February 14 12:01 PM ET
Exhibit Celebrates African Art
By KATHERINE ROTH, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Sometimes a spoon is more than just a
spoon.
In the first major U.S. exhibit in 20 years devoted to utilitarian
African objects, ``African Forms,'' on view at the Museum for
African Art, celebrates Africa's immense diversity and boundless
creativity.
``When you look at all these variations of something as basic
as a spoon, it's really incredible,'' says curator Frank Herreman,
director of exhibitions at the museum. ``It's a very useful tool,
but what can you do with it? How can you make a difference?
How can you make it more prestigious? There's no end to the
creativity.''
With 400 objects representing 156 ethnic groups from 34
countries across the continent, the show paints a rich portrait
of the important role of aesthetics in even the most mundane
objects. Many of the most exquisite objects were used by
royalty or prominent chiefs to show their prestige, or were
used for special occasions like weddings or initiations.
The wide array of objects were status symbols during the 19th
and 20th centuries in everywhere from Algeria to Zanzibar.
Walking through the exhibit is something like the African
equivalent of a visit to Tiffany's or a stroll down Madison
Avenue.
There is a collapsible hat of bright, red parrot feathers; a pair
of elegant wooden sandals and selections of ivory hairpins and
beaded belts; woven baskets and exquisitely carved kitchen
utensils; as well as fancy pipes, headrests, mats, tent poles,
ankle bracelets, wraparound skirts, locks and ladders.
``I always like these objects. ... They show that aesthetics are
always present, even for the most basic everyday items, for
people who can afford it,'' Herreman says. ``It's just like any
culture.''
Even the most basic items are decorated with different patterns
in wide-ranging materials and colors.
The exhibit is divided into sections on adornment, textiles,
furniture and architectural elements, containers, weapons and
shields, musical instruments and devotional objects.
``It's really about all kinds of objects that have aesthetic qualities
but that are useful,'' Herreman says.
The show opens with a gallery featuring one item from each
section, each item made from a different material and
accompanied by a brief description of how the object is made.
``We want to focus a little bit on technique, so we show a little
about beadwork, wood and ivory, basketry and textiles just to
give a general introduction,'' Herreman says. ``The exhibition
itself is really about the objects themselves and their functions
within traditional culture.''
A spoon display features about 30 types, including Ivory Coast
spoons with cone-shaped handles that double as grinders, and
tiny ivory and bone Zulu spoons with long handles from South
Africa. There are wooden ladles from Gabon with curvaceous
feminine handles, a striking wood spoon with a geometrical
handle from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a brass
scooper from Ghana.
Another gallery holds an impressive collection of stools and
chairs. Traditional African furniture, which consists mainly of
stools and headrests, is unusual in that it is nearly always
owned and used by one person. The association is sometimes
so intimate that furniture is destroyed after the owner's death.
Featured are ornately carved stools used exclusively for chiefs
or royalty, and stools from the Bongo of Sudan, where stools
were traditionally reserved for women and deemed too
effeminate for use by men. Although most are of wood, there's
even one elegant work in ceramic.
Textiles include a huge Kente cloth from Ghana and stunning
Kuba fabrics from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among
highlights are two 20-foot-long strips of embroidered raffia,
believed to be elaborate skirts.
The show also features a large collection of containers, including
woven baskets with leather trim that were used in wedding
ceremonies in Madagascar and Burkina Faso. There are fine
works in ivory, including a rare 18th-century, foot-long box
made as a container for Kola nuts to be given to a Benin chief.
One of the more impressive pieces of jewelry is a gleaming
brass ornament - more than a foot in diameter - that circles
the ankle like a golden disc. It was made by the Ibo of Nigeria.
"Until the 1920s, it was fashionable for Ibo girls and women
of status to wear these,'' Herreman explains. "This made it
awkward to walk, and so this manner of walking with the legs
wide apart remained a status symbol long after people stopped
wearing such anklets.''
The show is accompanied by a hefty 350-page catalog called
``African Forms,'' written by Marc Ginzburg. It includes a
smaller addendum edited by Herreman, featuring interviews
with a half dozen of the world's top Africanists.
After closing in New York Aug. 8, the show is set to travel
nationally and internationally. An itinerary has not yet been set.
On the Net: www.africanart.org on the Web.