African Art and Culture in Maine
Author(s): Simon Ottenberg
Source: African Arts, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Spring, 2006), pp. 1, 4, 8, 10, 86-89, 96
Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center
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word
first
U
African Art and
Culture inMaine
I
n recentyears Ihave resided inMaine dur
ing thesummer.Maine isone of the least
ethnically diverse states in theUnited
States.Yet, Ihave founda varietyofAfrican
Theremay
activitiesand individualsthere.
be others that I have not discovered, as I
generallymove about thestate's southernre
gion.Maine isbetterknown foritsNew Eng
and
landmaritimeart,itslobstersand fishing,
itsresortsand summercamps thanforany in
terestinAfrica.TheAfricanartisticand cultur
al diaspora-in contemporaryartsand crafts,
inmore or less "traditional" forms,in tourist
objects, and in thepresence ofAfricans and
scholarsofAfricanart-now exist inMaine. If
thesehave reachedMaine, where are theynot
foundnow in theUnited States?TheAmerican
withAfricanartand cultureisgrow
experience
ingat theeverydaygrassrootslevel,alongside
themore elite contributionsofmuseums and
withwhich scholarsare likelyto
universities,
be familiar.
In 2004 1 arrived
in Portland, Maine
the day
Museum of
beforetheannual celebrationof the
Museum ofAfri
the
AfricanCulture (formerly
can TribalArt),which I attended.This small
museum, locatedin threeroomson theground
floorof a residentialhome,has been inopera
tionformore thanseven years. Itwas found
ed, and
is owned
and
directed
by Oscar
0.
Oba, nearOnitsha, in
Mokeme, an Igbo from
southeastern
Nigeria.Mokeme began collecting
Africanart inNigeria in1976.
and interpreting
He came to theUnited States in1979,and since
then has had a varied career, attending universi
tyand operatingimportand exportbusinesses.
In 1998he put thataside to foundhismuseum.
The onlyAfrican-ownedmuseum in the
United
States, as far as I know,
theMuseum
has many
stored
of
AfricanCulture is a nonprofitinstitution.Its
collectionconsistsofmore than1,500objects,
and Mokeme
others
in his
Nigerian hometown.Themuseum's main at
consistofmasks, stools,and otherob
tractions
jectsof Igbobackgroundwhich have been used
inceremonies inNigeria and, unusually fora
museum, a considerablenumberof full-dress
costumes
to go with
the masks.
These
are on
display in thepermanent gallery.A second,
somewhat smallergallery isused forrotating
exhibitionsofpersonal collectionsof individu
Maine and nearbyNew Hampshire,
als from
as well as some other Igbo objects and works
fromotherregionsofWest Africa.While much
Oba and the
of theIgbomaterial comes from
surroundingarea,whichMokeme returnsto
now and then,he has also brought-toMaine
objects from
Awka, Nri, and Igbo-Ukwu (Fig.
1). There are also someWest African tourist
pieces on display.The Igbomasks and figures
Continuedon page4
airini 2001
atrlcan art:
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firstword
page 1
Continuedfrom
vary inquality fromthoseverywell sculpted
bymy standards, to theaverage, and to the
mediocre. They range fromthoseof some age
to the relativelynew. As a whole, theyare
much as we might see artobjects inan actual
Igbomasquerade, ratherthanwhat we view
where only thefinest
inamuseum exhibition,
pieces (byWestern standards) are likely to
be presented.Themuseum collectionthuspro
videsme with thesenseofbeing inAfricamore
thando theusual African exhibitions in the
United States. The museum isdeveloping a
which indudesa small
smalleducationalcenter,
School
Africanartand culturelendinglibrary.
childrenin thePortlandarea appear tobe fre
quentvisitorsto themuseum and are theusers
of thiseducational room.
On August 8,2004,at thesixthanniversary
celebrationin thecourtyardinback of themu
seum,Mokeme masked and dressed inone of
danced
themuseum's costumes,energetically
and drummed foramodest audience of his
white supporters,who assist him in running
themuseum and in raisingfundsforit.Some
of thesehelpers have had African experience
her col
was exhibiting
one of them
themselves;
lectionofAfricanminiaturesin themuseum at
the timeof thecelebration.Themuseum sur
vives throughtheenergyofMokeme and these
helpers,withmodest grants fromlocal busi
nesses and foundationsand thecityofPort
land, as well as throughgiftsof objects by
with a
interestedpersons.Admission is free,
suggesteddonation.
As
far as I know Mokeme
is not in the busi
ness of sellingAfrican art,but ofbeing amu
seum director.The museum's recentname
more on edu
his desire to focus
changereflects
cation about Africa
in general,
rather than en
on thearts,and his is theonly institution
tirely
in northernNew England devoted entirely
toAfricanculture.Not only are therevisiting
school groups at themuseum, butMokeme
talksonAfricancultureand culturaldiversity
grade 12,
through
at schoolsfromkindergarten
at universitiesand colleges inMaine andNew
Hampshire, and at othersites.In early2005he
began showingvideos and filmseveryFriday
at 5:00pm,projectedonto a smallscreeninone
of themuseum's galleries;bothprojectorand
screenwere obtained througha small grant.
Fifteen to twentypeople generally show up
forthese screenings.The visuals aremainly
Nigeria,Senegal,andMali. Mokeme also
from
sessions.The
occasionallyholds story-telling
Museum
establishedthe
museum has recently
ofAfricanCultureEndowmentFund, through
Continuedon page 8
1. Nmuo Ikanga (spirit-community pride)
Oba area, not far fromOnitsha, 1940s
OSCAR
MOKEME
Wood, cloth,shells,3m (10')
Maine
Museum ofAfricanCulture,Portland,
masks with four
Containing twomaiden spirit
coiled snakes, these figuresrepresentthefour
Igbomarketdays. Themasquerade celebrates
thevalues ofwomenand respectforthem.Itap
at festivalsand at funerals,
pears on invitation
displayingtheprideof thevillagethatowns it.
african
U C LA
arts
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Allen F. Roberts
Mary Nooter Roberts
Doran H. Ross
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dialogue editor
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Christa Clarke
exhibition review editor,
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film/videoeditor
Robert Cancel
essay editor
_photo
Christraud M. Geary
consulting editors
Rowland Ablodun
Mary Jo Arnoldi
Judith Bettelheim
Suzanne Preston Blier
Elisabeth L. Cameron
Robert Cancel
Christa Clarke
Henry John Drewal
Christraud M. Geary
Michael D. Harris
William Hart
Salah M. Hassan
Manuel A. Jordan P6rez
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Christine Mullen Kreamer
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Frederick Lamp
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art director
Gregory A. Cherry
operations manager
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-,
*.r
*/|
-,
L
_, q
*
'j
-
__
Top:2. Angele EtoundiEssamba, Cameroun.
La Battante(TheVictor)1996
99cm x 68.6cm (39"x 27)
Photograph,
Many of Essamba's
photographs are of faces or
the
figures ofAfrican women. This one celebrates
beautyofan elegantlyliberated
African
woman,
^ gD=
** on a birdcage. The symbolism
offreedom
sitting
to fly is evident. Note the elegant
use of line and contrast.
headtie and the
Bottom: 3. Naglaa Ezzat, Egypt
Bashtake Palace, 2001
Graphite and paper, 76.2cm x 101.6cm
(30' x 40")
.
;
Wv*
le
^.? ;_
;\;
FA scene of quiet and contemplation. A young be
insimple cloth contrasts with the
jeweled woman
roughstone structure
beside and behindhere.
The angle of her body complements
stone steps, forming a "V."
that of the
Since 1976he has practicedwhat he calls "tra
ditionalpluralisticIgbo transcultural
psycho
therapyand healing rituals."For healing he
employsone Igbo shrinein themuseum fordi
agnosis and anotherfordeveloping cures.He
treatsbarrennessaswell as otherhealthprob
lems for both African-Americans
and whites,
but does not charge forhis services;rather,
he
suggestsdonations to themuseum's endow
ment.Themuseum exhibiteda healingshrineat
theInternational
ConferenceonAfricanHealing
Wisdom inWashington,DC on July6-9, 2005.
The rathersimplequalityof the
Museum of
AfricanCulture,locatedon a side street,
sharply
contrasts
with thePortland
Museum ofArt, two
blocksaway,justoffofamain citystreet,
whose
major buildingadditionwas designedbyHenri
Nicolls
Cobb
of the I.M. Pei architectural
group
and constructedin1983. Ithouses a finecollec
tionofNew England artists,including
Wmslow
Homer,aswell as theJoan
WhitneyPayson col
amodest collectionofmodem European
lection,
andAmerican art.Thismuseum has initiated
enterprising
exhibitionsonmodem American
and European
artists, one containing
African
art:"Affinities
ofForm,"an exhibitionofAfri
can, Oceanic,
and Native
American
art drawn
firstword Continuedfrom
page4
theMaine
Community
Foundation,
to educate
thepublic on issues of diversityand African
culture. Mokeme
would
like to publish
a cata
logue of selectedpieces inhis collection.
Mokeme's dedication to art and perfor
mance
is so great
that not too long ago he be
gan paying school feesforsome primaryand
secondary studentsatOba on condition that
were willing to takepart inmasquerades,
they
which
are dying out as a result of social change
and evangelism.And througha $15,000grant
fromtheMaine Arts Commission he created
The Black Artists Forum ofMaine, through
which he is attempting to interestblack art
istsinMaine andNew Hampshire indrawing
fromAfrican art,as well as providing them
with a base at themuseum forcommunication
and interaction.i
Mokeme is also an Igbo healer (dibia)with
thepriesthood title,acquired in 1982,ofUgo
Orji theFirst,theOzo Dimani ofAboriji-Oba.
8
l
_
l
1
_
NAGLAA
EZZAT
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art: *sri.u 2906
atlcmen
MIMI
WOLFORD
MONICUE
HOUELLER
fromtheRaymond and LauraWielgus collec
tionat IndianaUniversity,in1996.Themajor
ityof theAfricanobjectsin itwere "traditional"
twentieth-century
pieces. The symboliccon
trastbetween thetwomuseums isevident.The
substantial,
well-establishedPortlandArtMu
seum and the struggling,smallAfrican one
tied to theentrepreneurship
ofan enthusiastic
Africanand a smallgroup ofnon-Africanfol
lowersdeterminedtobringAfricanartand cul
turetoMaine, symbolizethewealth and power
of theUnited States incontrastto thestruggles
ofAfrica and itsordinarycitizens to survive
and toachieve.
The InstituteofContemporaryArt (ICA),
at theMaine College ofArt (MECA) near the
PortlandMuseum ofArt, has had two con
temporary
African art exhibitions.One was
"Beyond Decorum: thePhotography of Ike
Ude," by theNigerian artistlivinginNew York
Continuedon page 86
Clockwisefromtop left:
4. Sira Sissoko, Mali
Danse des Signes Bambara
Bambara Signs),2004
(Dance
of the
paper and natural dyes, 43.2cm
Handmade
35.6cm (17ix 14')
x
Sissoko learned tomake paper at a Bamako work
shop. She employs natural colors derived from
henna, mud, onionskin and cinnamon, and here
uses Bamana
symbols to represent the powers of
water, ofmasks and circumcision, among others
elements.
5. Monique
le Houeller
inAbidjan, born inHue, Vietnam
Resides
Blue Door, c. 2000
Bronze and mixed media, h 58.2cm (23)
The work pays homage
to the Toureg, with their
blue robes. It is not a Toureg door, but symbolizes
the openness
of their nomadic life.Doors, or their
are important inAfrican life. Compli
absence,
ments ofWilliam Karg, Contemporary African Art
Gallery, New York City.
6. Roselyne
Zimbabwe
Marikasi
No Time toGrieve, c. 2000
Oil on canvas, 91.4cm x 91.4cm
ROSELYNE
MARIKASI
Marikasi's paintings employ much
harsh strokes. Due toAIDS there
grieve before another funeral. The
suggest dignity and cooperation
major health crisis.
10
afpican
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arpt
(36 x 36")
blue and small,
is barely time to
human images
in the face of a
sirino
2606
first word
KEVIN
WALSH
inplastic-coatedtelephone
wire
createdrecently
artistinDur
byElliott
Mkhize, a contemporary
ban (Fig.5). Perhaps a centuryago, thewoven
pedestalplatewas designed forsecularmarkets
farremovedfromsoutheast
Africa,demonstrat
ing thatimported
wire has longbeen an artistic
While exten
medium inZulu tradinghistory.
siveculturalinteraction
seemsmore visiblehere
thanelsewhere in thecontinent,we were re
mar
minded in thisgallery thatinternational
keting isnot new to sub-Saharancultures.
TheGlobal Spherebarelysuggestedthedy
evident
namicpopular culturethatiscurrently
inpost-apartheidSouthAfrica.Nevertheless,
creativeenergyresonatedthroughouttheexhi
and
bition'spresentationof fluid,interlocking,
Mentally,the
developingspheresofhuman life.
viewer returnedfullcirclethroughthespheres,
to thepowerfuland disquietingcontemporary
sculptures in the introductorygallery.Here
againwas thewall textreminderthatthesig
nificanceof anywork of artconstantlyvaries,
inrelationtoeach individual
who contemplates
it.In an exhibitionofAfrican art, itwas espe
toencounteremphaseson the
ciallyrefreshing
of
fluxofcontinualchangeand on thecentrality
unique personhood.
"Asking forEyes" will be on exhibitionat
the
William D. Cannon ArtGallery from
April
23-July9, 2006,and additionalvenues are also
City, held in 2000 under the supervision of
Mark H.C. Bessire,
theInstitute'sthendirector,
and theother,presented in2002,was "Trans
lation/Seduction/Displacement," an exhibi
work
tionofpost-conceptualand photographic
by SouthAfricanartists,curatedbyLauri Firs
tenbergand JohnPefferin2001.
During thesummerof20041 twiceattended
an exhibition,"Out ofBounds;Women Artists
from
Africa,"at theartgalleryof thesmall,pri
vateWestbrookCollege insuburbanPortland,
part of theUniversity ofNew England. The
gallery,which never had held anAfrican ex
hibitionbefore,isquitemodem-three floors
with a good-sized roomon each-designed
byThomasLarson, awell-knownBoston archi
tect."Out ofBounds" exhibitedtheartof twen
tywomen artists,and was curated byMimi
Wolford ofWashington,DC. She foundedand
directs theMbari InstituteforContemporary
AfricanArtl in thatcityand places occasional
exhibitions
Africanartat vari
ofcontemporary
ous sites in theUnited States.Her mother, the
lateJeanKennedy,was theauthorofan impor
Africanart
tantearlysurveyof contemporary
(Kennedy 1992).The Kennedys, andWolford
being considered.The exhibitionwas initiat
ed and coordinatedby arthistorianTeriSowell
whose students
at San Diego StateUniversity,
ofAfrican artwere given theopportunity to
enroll inherCuratorial Practices seminar,in
Nineteen
order todevelop a unique exhibition.
as a girl, lived in Lagos during the time of the
undergraduateand graduate studentsvolun
teeredtomanage all aspectsof theexhibition's
developmentof theOshogbo artistsandwere
installation among theirpatrons,holding salons forthem
development,research,
fundraising,
inLagos and at timesexhibitingtheir
work at
and graphicdesign,marketing,education,and
venues in theUnited States.Wolford inherited
outreach,includingthepublication
community
herparents' substantialcollectionofNigerian
109-pagecatalogue,
of thehandsome illustrated
with 6 essays, 117 illustrationsincolor,collec
contemporaryart.
While Wolford's exhibitionofAfricanwo
tionlist,and bibliography.
men's art reflectedher experiencewith Nige
The catalogue is available for$20.00 plus
rianart-four of the twentyartistswere from
or
[email protected],
U
there-ithad a broad sweep.Most of theartists
call 760-737-2903.
lived in theUnited States, or had spent time
here.They varied inage fromyoung tosenior,
areasofAfrica.In
comingfrom
widely different
Top: 8. Woven wire plate on pedestal
artisticexperience theyranged fromthewell
Zulu people,Natal,SouthAfrica,nineteenth
established to those takingpart in theirfirst
century
Silver wire, copper wire; 10.2cm x 20.3cm x
American exhibition.(However,neitherSokari
20.3cm (4' x 8' x 8')
Douglas Camp norMagdalene Odundo, two
Prynnsberg
Collection
Africanwomen art
prominentcontemporary
ists,both ofwhom have spentperiods in the
Bottom: 9. Contemporary wire basket with horn
bill and insect designs
United States,were included).
Elliot Mkhize. Zulu people, Natal, South Africa
Wolfordwrites in theexhibitionbrochure:
Colored telephone wire. 17.8cm x 20.3cm x
"This isnot an exhibitionof thevictimized; it
20.3cm (7T x 8" x 8")
showcasesa groupofextremely
strong
women,
in 1996
Purchased
illustratingtheirconcerns onmany topics."
Well known intheUnited States isNike Davies
Olaniyi),who was repre
Okundaye (formerly
sented by clothwork and some interesting
earlyembroiderypieces thatI had never seen
before.One large,starch-resist
cloth,Osun Fes
was typicalofmuch ofherwork, depict
tival,
ingnumerous figuresand events, so thatthe
viewer's
KEVIN
WALSH
Continuedfrom
page 10
eye wandered
about
to take it all in.
Ada Udechukwu, who freelyinterpretsfrom
Igbo uli style,was representedbyworks in
ink,graphiteand a collage.Her art isunusual
Africanartistsforitsvery
amongcontemporary
personal and introspectivequalities. Angele
EtoundiEssamba from
Cameroun,who trained
inart inParis and theNetherlands,presented
black-and-whitephotographs of human fig
ures; forexample,La Battante(TheVictor),an
imageof awoman calmly sittingon topof an
86
afpIcan
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arts :
spring
2001
emptycage, glorying inher freedom(Fig. 2).
Naglaa Ezzat fromEgypt displayed large,de
tailedgraphitedrawingsofwomen invarious
poses. I particularlylikedherBashtakePalace,
which depictedan Egyptianwoman sittingina
contemplating
mood on thestepsofa palace in
old Cairo (Fig.3).The interesting
work
abstract
of Sira Sissoko from
Mali, who trainedat the
National InstituteofArts inBamako, employs
double sheetsofhand-madepapers andmuted
naturalbackgroundcolorsderived fromhenna,
mud, onionskin, and cinnamon. I foundher
Danse desSignsBambaratobe striking,
perhaps
since itremindedme of Igbo ulimotifs, inem
ployingBamana-like symbolsinsmall strokes
on background squares of dark,medium, or
lightbrown (Fig. 4). Her art is sparse, neat,
and precise.Monique Le Houeller,who resides
inAbidjan thoughborn inHue, Vietnam,has
adopted Africa as her home and has traveled
widely inAfrica.Her work, largelyinmetal,
referredto theSahel environment.BlueDoor,
a bluish, double-door standingpiece, has di
rectreferenceto theToureg (Fig.5).The paint
erRoselyneMarikasi, fromZimbabwe, who
trained in thatcountrybut now lives in the
United States, isone of a number of artistsin
theexhibitionwhose pieces commented on
AIDS. In her No Time toGrieve,men, with
women in thebackground,are loweringa cas
ket intotheground; the titlerefersto thehigh
AIDS inAfrica (Fig.
frequencyofdeaths from
6). While
there were
too many
artists
tomen
tion themall, theexhibition as a whole was
stronglyexpressive ofAfrican lifefromwo
men's viewpoints,with an awareness ofAf
rica's problems, and theneed foradequate
solutions. Ithas yet toappear elsewhere: It is
worth showingagain.
An earlierexhibition,
which Imissed, again
curatedbyMimiWolford,"TheColors ofAfri
ca-Contemporary Perspectives,"occurredat
thesame gallerybetweenNovember 16,2001,
and January5, 2002. Consisting of seventy
works by thirty-six
artistsfromeighteen
African
countries,itincludedwell-known artistssuch
as IbrahimEl Salahi,AmirNour, El Loko,Bruce
Onobrakpeya,TwinsSeven-Seven,SaneWadu,
Wosene Kosrof,SofiaKifle,andWilliam Kent
ridge,as well asmany youngerartists.Itwas
designed toshow therichvarietyof stylesand
talentsinAfricancontemporaryart.
Several years ago therewas an exhibition
of the art of thewell-known
South African
art
istWilliam Kentridge atBowdoin College in
Brunswick,Maine, and in 1999 atColby Col
lege,Waterville, therewas a travelingexhi
bitionabout theAfricanAmericanartistDavid
Driskell,entitled"NarrativesofAfrican-Amer
icanArt and Identity:The David C. Driskell
Collection." In 2003 there
was an exhibitionof
the photographs
at various
sites inMaine
enti
tled"SebastiaoSalgado:Migrations-Human
ityinTransition,"organized by thePortland
Museum ofArt. The InstituteofContempo
raryArt at theMaine College ofArt exhibit
ed Salgado'sAfricanphotographs.
Cindy Foley,
theICA'sAfricaneducationdirector,
working
with an after-school
program,ProjectSafe and
Smart, consistingmainly ofAfrican refugee
students,showed themSalgado's imagesof ref
sarill
2606
ugee lifeinAfrica. She discussed with them
different
perspectiveson refugees,
but thechil
dren's experiencesoftendifferedfromthose
expressedin thephotographs,
openingup their
memories ofAfrica, and sometimes acting
as a catharsis-art in the service of therapy.
Aimee Bessire, of theschool's arthistoryde
partment,asked thestudentshow they
would
portray their lives inAfrica and inMaine.
Foley gave themblack-and-whitethrow-away
cameras todocument theirpresent lives,out
ofwhich selected photographswere shown
in theentry toMECA at the timeof theSal
gado exhibition.
Thereare a numberofAfricanperformance
groups in southernMaine, including The
Nile Girls and theAcholi Boys,both fromthe
Sudan; a Congolese girls dance group;God
freyBanda, an mbira performerfromZim
babwe; and thedancer BrigitteNdaya from
Cameroun. In early 2005 The Nile, a restau
rant inPortland servingSomali andMiddle
Eastern food,was startedby a Somali. Ref
ugees fromthatcountrywere settled inPort
land someyearsago, a good numberofwhom
have moved north toLewiston, where the
living is less costly.At Hancock, Maine, on
coastalUS Highway 1, severalhours northof
Portland,a smallgallery,
Arts andAfricana, is
runbyChriss Covert. She and her husband,
Gray Parrot,haveGambian connections,visit
ing thereat times.He learned toplay thekora
fromaGambian master, sings inMandinka,
and occasionallyperforms
atMaine events,and
also has a weekly
African music
at a
program
CONTEMPORARY
ArRICANART
|iNEART [ROMALL
A[RiCANREqiONS
330 West
108th Street
New York, New York 10025
phone (212) 662-8799
www.contempafricanart.com
communityradio stationWERU-FM. Covert,
who has had hergallerysince2002, isopen on
Fridaysand Saturdays in thesummer.Itscon
tentsare not unusual foran African tourist
gallery except forthe largeselectionofAfri
can cloths,which she obtains on visits to the
Gambia, Senegal, andMali, through
African
dealers in theUnited States, or fromprivate
individuals.What isunusual is thatmost of
her cloth sales are toquilters in theeastern
United States at quiltingconventionsand ex
hibitions.Much of thiscloth is thencut into
patches touse inhand-producedquilts,an in
triguingdiaspora element-Africa linkedtoa
traditional
Americancraftskill,
which itself
de
rived fromEurope.
Another small touristgallery,Deepest Af
ricaImports,runby JackiePelletier,isonDeer
northalong theMaine coast.
Island, further
This
summer
resort area
is where
took a short course
in fiber design
in
thesummerof 2004.Deepest Africa Imports
Africa
specializes inobjects fromsouthern
not somuch clothas beads, dolls, jewelry,and
othertouristitems.The galleryowner lived in
South Africa
A
I
A
the Hay
stackMountain School of Crafts Center is
located.Here,Wok Marcia Kure, a Nigerian
contemporaryartist residing in theUnited
States,
fax
for a time and has contacts
there
tosupplyher store.
Inadditiontomuseums and galleries,
Maine
also boasts academic resourcesinAfrican art.
Dr.Aime~eBessire,a graduateofHarvard's Af
ricanarthistoryprogramunderSuzanne Blier,
who carried out twoyears' researchamong
theSukuma of northwesternTanzania, is an
assistant professorand chair of theArt His
toryDepartment at theMaine College ofArt
(MECA) inPortland,where shemostly teaches
African art related courses. In the 2005-06
academic year shewill also teach twocourses
atBates College inLewiston,Maine. Her most
recentresearchhas been inAfricanphotogra
phy,performancetraditionsin thediaspora,
and in thestudy of objects employed forre
ligious communication inSukuma tradition.
She recently
articlein
published an interesting
AfricanArts on Sukuma art performance, in
which mostlywood figuresare employed in
ritualcontests(Bessire2005).She isplanning a
projecton thestudyof power objects in three
afmiricanarts
87
This content downloaded from 139.140.98.92 on Fri, 20 Sep 2013 10:36:13 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Wm. DcleeDeII Moseley
\0
'0
ecializinjin
fine
friAafart
from
Africa,
Austratia,
Native
America
anaf7e
Arctic
TRIBAL ARTS n_
s
F
A
Q appointment:
- _
615.790.3095
pby
[email protected]
ememail:
MAliling address:
6
Cilleey:
Now trading
exclusively
on the
World Wide Web at
www.tribalworks.com
s:o
Abonnst
Artofjthe
Maternity,Baule,
C.l., wood, 18.5"
Sanibel Island,
Florida
239-482-7025
Also on theWeb at
www.Native-JewelryLink.com
www.Native-PotteryLink.com
www.ZuniLink.com
African societies, one ofwhich may be the
Igbo,working with Oscar Mokeme. She has
been an active advisor
on the board
of his mu
seum and inassistingMokeme inpreparing
grant proposals. She works tobring togeth
ermembers of theSomalian community in
Maine through
MECA's Creative Communi
tyPartnerships.
The arthistorianDr. JulieL.McGee teach
es in theArt History and Africana Studies
program atBowdoin College, specializing in
AfricanAmerican and SouthAfrican studies.
Trained at BrynMawr inNorthern (Dutch)
Mannerist painting, she thentaughtat Bow
doin,
later working
in New
Orleans
in a non
profitorganizationwith public school teachers
in theDelta River Region, and teaching a
course at Tulane University.In theSouth she
discovered a love forAfricanAmerican and
African art,but feltthat the scholarship on
African artwithinAfricanAmerican arthis
torywas poor. A summer program inC6te
d'Ivoirewith PhilipM. Peek and Jerry
Vogel
furtherstimulatedherAfrican interestsand
shehas been involvedwith thecontemporary
arts of South Africa
for some
taught in the CBB Cape
Town
five years.
program,
She
a joint
Maine
off-campusstudy center runby three
colleges-Colby, Bowdoin, and Bates-and
sponsored by theMellon Foundation, a pro
jectwhich closed in2005.
Out of thisexperience she codirectedand
coproduced,with theSouthAfricanVuyileC.
Voyiya, a 50-minuteDVD, TheLuggage isStill
Labeled:BlacknessinSouthAfrican
Art (2003).The
filmconcerns theculturalpolitics and socio
economicconstraintsforpost-apartheidblack
SouthAfricanartists,indicatingthatthestruc
turalconditionsof a social and politicalnature
existingduringapartheidhave notbeen dissi
pated.White controlof themajor galleriesstill
continues,fewblack art teachersexistat uni
versitiesand colleges,black artistsare viewed
as a separateand specialcategory,
a stepdown
from
white artists,and a rangeof institutional
controlsinhibitthedevelopmentof thework
ofblack artists;their
marginalizationstillcon
tinues.The DVD has createdsome controver
sy,as some others feel that thesituationhas
improvedconsiderablyforblack artistssince
apartheid's end and thatsome of themhave
succeeded at thenational and international
level.Of course, artists in theWest are also
subjectto institutional
control,thedomination
ofcurators,artcritics,
dealers,and theviews of
scholars at art schools.But SouthAfrica has
had itshistoryofapartheidand racismand the
period thathas followedhas not removedall
theseelements,as isalso thecase inotherareas
ofSouthAfrican life.Lacking expertisehere,
I am not in a position
to fully evaluate
the ar
guments,but itisclear thatthereare stillprob
lems forblack artists growing out of past
apartheidexperience.
McGee is now also completing a manu
scripton thewell-known AfricanAmerican
artistDavid Driskell, and she leftforSouth
Africa on August 1, 2005, towrite a small
monographonGarthErasmus,whose work she
has followed forseveral years. She has pub
lished a numberof articleson contemporary
SouthAfricanart.
The growth inMaine ofAfrican elements
covers
a wide
range of social
levels-includ
ingmuseums and galleries,academia, dance
and singinggroups, touristgalleries,a restau
rant,and most importantlyimmigrantsand
refugeesfromtheHorn ofAfrica. There are
a varietyof collaborationsbetweenAfricans
and others.The African presence and influ
ence at a wide
range of social
levels
is occur
ringeverywhereinAmerica. I see itinSeattle,
where thereare substantial groups of So
malians, Eritreans,and Ethiopians,eachwith
theirculturalcentersand theirown artists.At
one
time a gallery
in downtown
Seattle
exist
P.O. Box 1523
Franklin,TN 37065 USA
427 Main Street
Franklin,TN 37064
ed which specialized incontemporary
Africa
art.A smallAfrican Studies Program exists
at theUniversity ofWashington and thereis
thevery fineKatherineWhite Collection at
theSeattleArtMuseum. We see theprofound
Africanpresence in thespread ofYoruba cul
ture,not only inurban areas such as inNew
York, but in theAmerican South and else
where.We see itinMoyo Okediji's recent
work
on theways that
AfricanAmerican artistshave
drawn fromYoruba art (Okediji 2003). And
frompersonal experience,as a scholar of the
Igbo, I am impressedwith howmany Igbo are
teachingaboutAfricancultureinAmericancol
legesand universities.
IfAfrican art and culture is now widely
represented inAmerica at a broad range of
social levels,we see a profoundchange since
theimmediatepost-independenceperiod. It is
my hope, perhaps idealistic,thatthesevarious
forcesbringingknowledge ofAfricanculture
and itsarts toAmericawill somehow counter
act thevery poor impressionsofAfrica that
exist
today
in the United
States
as a conse
quence of thecontinent'seconomic problems
and itspolitical and military conflicts.The
African presence, even in theAmerican hin
terlandsofMaine and Seattle, enriches the
American experience.Africanartsand culture
arenowwell representedin thefourcornersof
theUnited States-in Florida, southernCali
fornia, Maine,
and Seattle,
as well
as in the
centerof thiscountry.
To theyoungestand nextyoungestgenera
art and culture
tion of scholars of African
country, all of this may
in this
simply be seen as part
of theAfrican diaspora with which theyare
quite
familiar. But when
what
existed
scholar
I compare
in the US when
Iwas
all of it to
a young
in the 1950s and 1960s, there have been
remarkabledevelopments. At those earlier
dates there
was virtuallynomovement ofAf
ricans to theUS, thoughof course therewere
thedescendantsofAfricanslaves,who, by and
Africa.
large,appeared at thetimedistantfrom
The term"diaspora,"so commontodayinschol
arshipwith referencetoAfricansand theirarts
and cultures in theAmericas (and even in the
Middle East and Asia), was primarily em
ployedwith respect toJews.Therewas little
interestinAfrica in theUnited States; itsconti
nentwas seen as theunder the influenceof
88
afpican
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arts
* spring
2006
European countries.
Only among someAfrican
Americanswas thereinterest
inEthiopiaand in
itsemperor,
Haile Selassie, and concernabout
Africaamong someAfrican-Americanintellec
tuals,such asW.E.B. Dubois (1947).But other
African-Americansscholarsfeltthattheprob
lemsof raceand blackpovertyinAmericawere
their
main concern.Therewas some interestin
Liberia,particularly
amongAfricanAmericans,
which dated back to thenineteenthcentury.
Therewas only a littleinterestinAfrican cul
turaland linguistictraitsin theNew World,
thencalled Africanisms, forexample, in the
work ofMelville J.Herskovits (1941) and his
students,and Lorenzo Dow Turner's studyof
theGullah language (1949).Natural history
museums, such as theAmericanMuseum of
NaturalHistory inNew YorkCity and theField
Museum inChicago,held strong
Africancollec
tions, though theyrarelywere presented as
art,ratheras ethnographicobjects.Africanart
was only taughtat a fewuniversities,
andAfri
can languages, so importantfor theunder
standingof thecontinent'sartand culture,
was
evenmore rarelypresentat universities.The
Harmon Foundationwas themajor institution
books
Continuedfrompage 12
on funerary
textilesfromthe
Madagascar high
lands (Betsileo);Sarah Fee's on a broad range
of issues concerningclothproductionand its
use in thesouthwest;
WendyWalker and Edgar
Kreb's on raffiacloths fromthesoutheast;and
Odland
on a form of ikat from the Sakalava
area thatbears an uncannyresemblanceto ikat
fromthePhilippines.Between thesefourarti
cles,we see everythingfromraffiaand bark to
cottonand silk.Indeed,even thelatterismulti
faceted.The biologistRichard S. Peigler,inhis
articleonMalagasy raw silk,demonstratesthat
one particularsilkcloth is itselfa blend ofmul
berrysilk (landikely)
and wild silk (landibe),a
conclusionhe draws fromstunninglydetailed
photographshe tookusing a scannedelectron
icmicroscope (SEM).
Linton's textilecollection is revealing in
what
it lacks as much
as inwhat
it contains. As
Fee and otherspointout,Lintonnevercollected
European textiles,even thoughtheMalagasy
were using themextensively at the timehe
was there.Some of thosehybridsmay already
be evident in theW.T. Rawleigh Collection of
Malagasy Portraitsdatingbetween 1910-1930
thatChantalRadimilahywrites about. Indeed,
Madagascar has had a longhistoryofEuropean
contact,generatingsome of theearliestcom
prehensiveaccountsof textilesofanywherein
thesub-Saharan regionofAfrica. By the late
nineteenthcentury,theFrenchand Britishhad
greatlyescalated theircloth trade toMada
gascar,as elsewhereinAfrica,leavingan indeli
blemark on localclothproductionand use. In
his essayon change intheweaving ofHighland
Madagascar, Simon Peers informsus thatby
themid-nineteenthcentury,the
Malagasy had
of theirprevious,
already lost three-quarters
ratherdiverse,textile
production.He describes
urini,
2006
afrIcan
in theUnited States concernedwithmodern
African art,particularlyin the1960s,until it
was disbanded in 1967 and itscollectionand
records dispersed (Brown 1966, Kelly and
Stanley 1993:580).Only a very fewAmerican
scholarshad been toAfrica forresearch.
Since thosetimes,therehas been an impres
sive spread of knowledge ofAfrican art and
cultureatmany differentsocial and interest
group levels, spurred on by the increasing
presence of Africans in theUnited States.
Africa isno longer"dark" inour country,
but
it isbeing positively receivedhere by some,
thoughitsconflicts,
dictatorships,and corrup
tion inpost-independence years have rein
forced earlier stereotypes ofAfricans as a
continentofprimitives,incapableofgoverning
themselves.Now, bothpositive and negative
views ofAfricaexistsideby side, I am pleased
tohave been, forsome fifty
years,associated
with theincreasingly
favorableviews ofAfrica
and itsarts and culture in theUnited States.
May Africacontinuetoblossom inAmerica,as
well as elsewhere in theworld.
O
SimonOttenberg
Notes, page 96
theremainsas the"survivalofpocketsof tech
niques and styles."
One of those survivals is the so-called
lamba,a rectangular-shapedclothwoven in
two parts and, depending on the context,
used foreither the livingor thedead. Once
particulartoonlycertain
Madagascar groups,
the lambaand itsname are now recognized
throughout
much of the islandas quintessen
tialMalagasy attire.The coeditorsemphasize
thecultural importanceof the lambaall the
more by including two appendices, one by
Michael Razafiarivony on lamba song and
anotherbyChantal Radimilahy on lambaand
proverbs.
Change inMadagascar textileproduction,
as Peer notes, is aboutmore thanjust thesur
vival of theold and traditional.Some weav
ingexperienced interesting
permutationsas a
resultofEuropean contact.By the latenine
teenthcentury,someMalagasy weavers were
replicating thedesigns on European traded
damask, resultingin a clothwith an entirely
new aesthetic.
Damask-inspiredclothswere so
much thenormby the timeLintonwas there
thathe feltcompelled to collect it,and may
even have thoughtof itas "traditional."
AfterreadingKusimba,Odlund, and Bron
son's volume,with itsemphasis on thecul
turalmix thatunderliesMadagascar textile
production, I came away convincedmore by
theAsian (and European) elements inMala
gasy textilesthanby thesub-SaharanAfrican
ones, suggesting thatmore attentioncould
have been given toarguing forthe latter.
As
well, I feltthat that therecould have been a
more concerted effortto contextualize the
cloths featured in theRawleigh portraitsas
theyrelate,or do not relate,to theLinton col
lection.But overall, I praise theauthors for
theircomprehensive,
and high
well-illustrated,
Ishan mirror
28 inches
A
AE
"The*
A Plaer
of
A
te
10A
_l __
*
Oldest
Word'
A
0
Game"
Robert Oba Cullins (212) 283-4035
Web:
www.warrisociety.com
E-mail:
arts
[email protected]
89
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_.
_.
_.
_.
_.
_.
_.
_.
_.
AfricanPhotoArchives.
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1. The termMbari harks back not only to the famous Igbo
sculpturalshrines,but also toUlli Beier and thefoundingof
theMbari culturalcentersinOshogbo and Ibadan in theearly
1960sand toother like-namedones thatdeveloped inEnugu
and brieflyinGermany at about thesame time,all introduc
Nigerian andAfricanart to thepublic.
ingcontemporary
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