The concept of "Art" was alien to traditional Africans and "Art for art's sake" was rare in Africa. Spirits inhabited everything in African life; the rivers that provided fish, the fields that produced the crops, and the forests that housed the game animals to eat. Likewise, masks and sculptures were parts of rituals such as fertility and initiation ceremonies, as well as special royal court and agriculture celebrations.
A performer might dance at the end of a dignitary's funeral with a wooden mask and costume created with oil paint, feathers and fabric, with the hope that the newly departed spirit will find their way to the land of ancestors. The living will appeal to the deceased spirit world from time to time for intercession and assistance with burdens and concerns. Where the Africans saw their older masks as "sacred" carrying great spiritual weight, the early 20th century cubists such as Picasso and Juan Gris appreciated these masks for beauty.
In 1907 the French artist and sculptor Andre Derain invited Picasso to visit the Museum of Ethnography in Paris, now known as the Musee de l'Homme. Picasso's reaction to the African masks and sculptures took him by surprise and he proceeded to study and sketch these artifacts. The artifacts impacted Picasso's bold, geometric patterns of his cubist period. French society was also obsessed with these African objects that influenced the artistic avant garde right up to the 1960s.
MASKS:
Masks have the ability to turn a performer into a supernatural creature and take on the personification of a spirit. At times the performers' masks are inseparable from the music, rhythms, and chanting. The full masquerade complete with costume and dance brings sacred ritual elements to life. Masks become occupied by spirits during the ceremony only. After the ceremony, they are only wooden devices to be used by the tribe.
The "Male Gemsbok Horns" - "Chiwara" (oryx/large antelope mask) shown below on the left, is zoomorphic. This helmet mask was made by the Bambara people in west Africa and was ceremonial and represents the spirit that taught humans the fundamentals of agriculture. The Bambara honor Chiwara through art and dance.
According to legend, Chiwara used his antlers and a pointed stick to dig into the earth, making it possible for humans to cultivate the land. Humans watched Chiwara and then tilled their own soil. Chiwara used his hoofs to cover the seeds, and humans, observing closely, became experts at planting seeds. These masks were passed from person to person, it is a high honor to wear a Chiwara mask and to dance at a ceremony. 2.
The dancers wear these polychrome motifs on their heads. The ears are missing from this Chiwara helmet mask and the horns are roughly hewn, but accentuated by the hand carving. This oryx mask was either from Senegal or next door Mali. Frequently antelope masks created by the Bambara Tribe within the Segou Region encourage young men to achieve prowess in farming and courting. The mask was purchased in Senegal by a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
The next mask is from the Chokwe Tribe, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa). It was purchased at Yanzum Village Art; Atlanta. This mask has chiseled serrated teeth, dark slit eyes and tiny ears. It represents symbols of power and wealth. Masks such as this one, would only be worn by a chief or a chief's son, allowed to collect substantial gifts during the dances, or was used as part of an initiation ceremony where a boy becomes a man. The mask bears holes that would have held the missing original feathers and fibers that were weaved into a beard at the mask's edges. This mask is late 19th Century.
The third mask in the right row is a carved African decorative contemporary mask. It has never been used in a ritual occasion therefore lacks spiritual significance to the authentic collector. This mask was most likely from Angola and was created to appeal to the Euro-North American art-market. It is fun and funky, the carved hair consists of a textured coiffure with a scarification (facial scar) in the center of her forehead. This mask appears to be a "female pwo mask" like the ones from the Chokwe tribe. The study of antique masks have pioneered contemporary-modernist masks that are meant to be hanging sculptures on the wall instead of the sacred objects of tribal organizations.
HEADREST:
Both the Shona (now part of Zimbabwe) and Luba Tribes are from south central Africa. The wondering herders of the African grasslands do not have many possessions, so portable items of furniture such as headrests are very precious. Headrests, traditionally used to support a sleeping person's neck, were especially useful for preserving elaborate hairstyles and keeping them from being damaged during sleep. Headrests are no longer used every night, but the Shona people believe that if a man sleeps with his neck on a headrest, it will encourage vivid dreams and help the dreamer to make contact with his ancestors. Each Shona man has his own headrest which he keeps for his entire life. Sometimes headrests are buried with their owner, and sometimes they are handed down to a son.1.
Headrests are usually carved from a single tree trunk. The circles lines, and triangles pattern carved on Shona headrests are very similar to the scarification marks of Shona women. Luba carvers sometimes carve two kneeling figures supporting the headrest.1.
EndNote and References:
A performer might dance at the end of a dignitary's funeral with a wooden mask and costume created with oil paint, feathers and fabric, with the hope that the newly departed spirit will find their way to the land of ancestors. The living will appeal to the deceased spirit world from time to time for intercession and assistance with burdens and concerns. Where the Africans saw their older masks as "sacred" carrying great spiritual weight, the early 20th century cubists such as Picasso and Juan Gris appreciated these masks for beauty.
In 1907 the French artist and sculptor Andre Derain invited Picasso to visit the Museum of Ethnography in Paris, now known as the Musee de l'Homme. Picasso's reaction to the African masks and sculptures took him by surprise and he proceeded to study and sketch these artifacts. The artifacts impacted Picasso's bold, geometric patterns of his cubist period. French society was also obsessed with these African objects that influenced the artistic avant garde right up to the 1960s.
MASKS:
Masks have the ability to turn a performer into a supernatural creature and take on the personification of a spirit. At times the performers' masks are inseparable from the music, rhythms, and chanting. The full masquerade complete with costume and dance brings sacred ritual elements to life. Masks become occupied by spirits during the ceremony only. After the ceremony, they are only wooden devices to be used by the tribe.
The "Male Gemsbok Horns" - "Chiwara" (oryx/large antelope mask) shown below on the left, is zoomorphic. This helmet mask was made by the Bambara people in west Africa and was ceremonial and represents the spirit that taught humans the fundamentals of agriculture. The Bambara honor Chiwara through art and dance.
According to legend, Chiwara used his antlers and a pointed stick to dig into the earth, making it possible for humans to cultivate the land. Humans watched Chiwara and then tilled their own soil. Chiwara used his hoofs to cover the seeds, and humans, observing closely, became experts at planting seeds. These masks were passed from person to person, it is a high honor to wear a Chiwara mask and to dance at a ceremony. 2.
The dancers wear these polychrome motifs on their heads. The ears are missing from this Chiwara helmet mask and the horns are roughly hewn, but accentuated by the hand carving. This oryx mask was either from Senegal or next door Mali. Frequently antelope masks created by the Bambara Tribe within the Segou Region encourage young men to achieve prowess in farming and courting. The mask was purchased in Senegal by a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
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| On the left is a Chiwara helmet mask from western Africa, on the right is a Dan-Mask from the Ivory Coast, both of these were purchased from a U. S. State Department Sale. The second mask on the right is from the Chokwe Tribe, Zaire, and the last mask is a carved African decorative contemporary mask produced for the art-market. |
The top mask on the right is a African Dan-Mask. In this case, African masks are generally made of a single piece of wood, although the Ivory Coast (Cote d' Ivoire in west Africa) produced masks with a jointed lower jaw. This mask has a large forehead, open oval eyes and protruding puffed-out lips that has a jointed lower jaw. The Dan created "Comic masks" with a polished human face that mimics and ridicules certain personalities in the village, such as: the careless man/woman who neglects their responsibilities within the village.
The next mask is from the Chokwe Tribe, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa). It was purchased at Yanzum Village Art; Atlanta. This mask has chiseled serrated teeth, dark slit eyes and tiny ears. It represents symbols of power and wealth. Masks such as this one, would only be worn by a chief or a chief's son, allowed to collect substantial gifts during the dances, or was used as part of an initiation ceremony where a boy becomes a man. The mask bears holes that would have held the missing original feathers and fibers that were weaved into a beard at the mask's edges. This mask is late 19th Century.
The third mask in the right row is a carved African decorative contemporary mask. It has never been used in a ritual occasion therefore lacks spiritual significance to the authentic collector. This mask was most likely from Angola and was created to appeal to the Euro-North American art-market. It is fun and funky, the carved hair consists of a textured coiffure with a scarification (facial scar) in the center of her forehead. This mask appears to be a "female pwo mask" like the ones from the Chokwe tribe. The study of antique masks have pioneered contemporary-modernist masks that are meant to be hanging sculptures on the wall instead of the sacred objects of tribal organizations.
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| Headrest - from the Luba Tribe carvers (Zaire) Now the southern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Both the Shona (now part of Zimbabwe) and Luba Tribes are from south central Africa. The wondering herders of the African grasslands do not have many possessions, so portable items of furniture such as headrests are very precious. Headrests, traditionally used to support a sleeping person's neck, were especially useful for preserving elaborate hairstyles and keeping them from being damaged during sleep. Headrests are no longer used every night, but the Shona people believe that if a man sleeps with his neck on a headrest, it will encourage vivid dreams and help the dreamer to make contact with his ancestors. Each Shona man has his own headrest which he keeps for his entire life. Sometimes headrests are buried with their owner, and sometimes they are handed down to a son.1.
Headrests are usually carved from a single tree trunk. The circles lines, and triangles pattern carved on Shona headrests are very similar to the scarification marks of Shona women. Luba carvers sometimes carve two kneeling figures supporting the headrest.1.
EndNote and References:
- 1. Jane Bingham, African Art and Culture, (Chicago, IL, Raintree Press, 2004).
- 2. Molefi Kete Asante, Encyclopedia Britannica, Chiwara Bambara Religion, internet site.
- Laure Meyer, Black Africa, (Paris, France, Editions Pierre Terrail, 2003).
- Marilyn Stokstad, Art History - Revised Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Education, Inc. 2005) Art in Africa in the Modern Era.
- Jonathan Jones, The new Musee de l'Homme is so much more than a racist cabinet of curiosities, (The Guardian Newspaper, Oct. 14, 2015) Internet Article.
- Judith Miller, Tribal Art, (New York, NY, DK Publishing, Inc. 2006).
- Mark Jones, Fake? The Art of Deception, (Berkeley/Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1990).
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