African Art
1100–1980 CE
TOPIC 6.2 Purpose and Audience in African Art
Human beliefs and interactions in Africa are instigated by the arts. African arts are active. They motivate behavior, contain and express belief, and validate social organization and human relations.
Use and efficacy are central to the art of Africa. African arts, though often characterized, collected, and exhibited as figural sculptures and masks, are by nature meant to be performed rather than simply viewed.
African arts are often described in terms of the contexts and functions with which they appear to be associated.
Daily Use and Ritual Art
Art is created for both daily use and ritual purposes such as:
- Leadership
- Religious beliefs
- Diagnosis and divination
- Education
- Personal adornment
Creative Purpose
Art forms may be prescribed by a diviner, commissioned by a supplicant, and produced by a specific artist. The art object comes under the custodianship of the person who commissioned it or a member of his or her family.
Performances of objects are accompanied by costumes and music. None of these practices is simple or random. Cultural protocols acknowledge and ensure the efficacy and appropriateness of artistic experience in Africa.
The arts of authority, both achieved, and inherited status and roles legitimate traditional leadership. Leaders’ histories and accomplishments are often entrusted to and lauded by historians, bards, and elders.
Personal identity, social status, and relationships are delineated by aesthetic choices and artistic expression. Common ancestors link leaders, sanction social behavior and choices, and define the order of social life.
Education, incorporation into adulthood, and civic responsibility are processes marked by the creation, manipulation, and interpretation of art objects.
African histories, often sung or recited, are traditionally the responsibility of specialists. African art is sung, danced, and presented in holistic experiences for designated audiences; it is created for specific reasons and to produce expected results.
(6) 174. Portrait mask (Mblo).
Baule peoples from Côte d’Ivoire. Early 20th CE. African.
© Jerry L. Thompson
Learning Objective: African “MVP” mask
Themes:
Portrait
Mask
Commemoration
Status
Ceremony
Stylized bodies
Museum: Private collection
Portrait mask (Mblo) is a wooden mask that has been painted with pigment and measures 14 inches tall. The artist for this mask was Owie Kimou. Every mask is unique despite following some basic guidelines as is similar to Ndops.
Characteristics of Portrait Masks
Portrait masks have oval faces with elongated noses, small open mouths, and downcast eyes with slits. Broad forehead, pronounced eye sockets, column-shaped nose, quiet and peaceful face is also part of the features.
Function
Mblo masks are symbolic portraits to honor a community’s “MVP”. This one was created for Moya Yanso who was a prestigious dancer. The “portraits” are not supposed to be realistic, rather, they are an artistic double.
These masks appear in a public dance known as the Mblo. The choreography features a succession of dances that increase in complexity. This culminates in a tribute to the community’s MVP. Individual is honored by having a ritual dance performed in their honor.
The person who performs this dance wears the mask. These performers are trained in this type of dance, just as a ballerina would be.
The masks were then given as a gift to that MVP after the ceremony.
Content
These masks are the artistic double of the honoree. They are an idealized representation and not a portrait.
- Half slit eyes suggest modesty
- High forehead suggests wisdom
- Heavy incised lines around the cheeks and nose suggest age
- Triangular patches of pigment suggest life
- Color in cheeks suggests health
- Animal horns on the top of the head indicate characteristics from the animal that they want to associate with
Context
There is a rich mask carving tradition in this region. When not in use, these masks were kept out of sight as a sign of humility. Today, indigenous practices are dying out. Since the 1980s the Mblo masquerade performance is no longer practiced.
Used by Permissio
The older woman on left is the great dancer Moya Yanso, the woman who was being honored. The man holding the mask is her stepson who danced this mask for her.
Her mblo mask was commissioned by her husband Kouame Ziarey. It was common for mask to be commissioned by family.
(6) 175. Bundu mask.
Sande Society, Mende peoples (West African forests of Sierra Leone and Liberia). 19th to 20th century CE.
Learning Objective: African girl mask
Themes:
Mask
Ideal woman
Ceremony
Stylized bodies
Sexuality
Fertility
Bundu mask is constructed from wood, cloth, and fiber. The mask is worn over the top of the head and the raffia is meant to fall over the face. Men were responsible for making these masks. When a girl became initiated, the village’s master woodcarver created a special mask just for her. The carving was dependent on a dream the carver would have about the occasion.
When the mask was not in use, it remained hidden.
How the Mask was Used
The mask was worn by a woman and the ceremony was for a woman. Each mask was unique to the girl, and this is the only masquerade performance known where women wore the masks. This illustrates the important role of women in the Mende community.
Used to celebrate initiation of young girls into adulthood, the mask was used when girls arrive back in town after seclusion. Mask is worn by both an older woman and the initiates.
The Dance
Women dance with the mask on. The dance was taught when girls were in seclusion They practice for hours, and sometimes are even forced to stay awake for 48 dancing. By the end, they have transformed into young women, who are tough in even the harshest of conditions
The dance teaches girls about certain spiritual and cultural beliefs and is performed with raffia costume and music.
© William Siegmann Estate, Edward DeCarbo, Executo
The Background Story
The raffia costume represents Sowei, the water spirit. It must disguise the entire body so that a vengeful spirit does not take her. The mask sits on top of the head. It represents ideal female spirits and qualities. Shaped like the chrysalis of a butterfly, the mask symbolized a young woman entering puberty. When young girls are in seclusion, they are referred to as chrysalis.
The Mask in Detail
The eyes are downcast and suggests reserve and humility. There are small eye slits to look out of. The mouth is small indicating she does not gossip. The ears are small too indicating she does not listen to idle gossip. The forehead is high to illustrate a sharp mind. Hair indicates health and purity, while the intricate hairstyle represents a close tie with the women in the community.
The rings around the neck have some significance. The prominent rolls at the back of the neck shows that the figure has enough body fat to give birth to healthy children. These rings could also symbolize concentric waves from which the Sowei breaks through the surface.
The color black symbolized water, coolness, humanity, mystery.
In Context
The Mende People are an ethnic group of mostly agriculturalists. They are divided into two groups of those who have been initiated and those who haven’t.
Initiation rites for girls in the Sande Society involved being removed from their everyday lives and taken to a secluded place in the forest. The act of going to the jungle symbolized secrecy and fertility. Seclusion could last several weeks to several months
While in the forest, girls were anointed with white clay and animal fat to make themselves dry, pasty, unattractive. Girls were taught how to be good wives and good mothers. They were instructed in domestic skills, sex, farming, dancing, medicine by the women of the Sande Society.
While secluded, the main ritual girls underwent is female genital mutilation were the labia and clitoris were removed. This was supposed to increase fertility. It was also thought to instill proper sexual behavior which was considered that sex should not be pleasurable for the woman, rather it was a duty. It was thought to make a young woman clean, test her strength and foreshadow the pain of childbirth. It was also considered a bondage experience between the girls, who had all gone through the same pain and healing process.
At the end of the ceremony, their white clay is ritually washed off their body. The young women emerge with a new name and new clothing.
The community has been reluctant to share details of ceremony with scholars, particularly Western scholars.
(6) 177. Lukasa (memory board).
Mbudye Society of the Luba peoples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 19th to 20th century. CE. African.
Photo © Heini Schneebeli/The Bridgeman Art Library
Learning Objective: African record of history
Themes:
Interpretation of history
Status
Utilitarian
Animals
(Lukasa (memory board) is an additive sculpture with a wood backing that is carved, with beads, and metal attachments. It is designed to be a unique marker.
How the Memory Board is Used
It is held in the left hand and used to “read” history with by touching the surface with right finger. Only members of highest scholarly group (Mbudye Society) have the skills and knowledge to read it. Like aNavigation Chart, it is individual to the reader. Each reader makes their own
Used as a mnemonic device (PEMDAS – Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. This in and of itself doesn’t mean anything but it reminds people of the order of operations)
The three yellow dots don’t “symbolize” anything, but the combination might trigger something in the reader’s mind to recall a historical fact. Think of it as a “cheat sheet” or a “hard drive” that backs everything up.
On Closer Reflection
The back of Lukasa (memory board) was designed to look like a crocodile’s back. This was animal who the people considered was able to live in multiple worlds. It reveals the Luba people’s ability to be adaptable and timeless.
The overall shape is designed to look like a tortoise and the head would be screwed on to peg. This create was a symbol of Luba royalty through strength and perseverance.
This presents a concept mnemonic map of Luba history. It’s a cultural story of Luba, chronicling their history, diagram of territories and chiefdoms.
Each memory board is unique. The beads combine in various ways to make a code.
In general, it is set up like this:
- One colored bead is an individual
- Large beads surrounded by small beads – king and court
- Line of beads – journey or migration or expansion
Context
Mbudye (Mm BOO dee ay) was established in the 1700s to preserve and disseminate Luba knowledge. The council of men and women were charged with sustaining and interpreting the political and historical history of the Luba. The Mbudye is the highest level. To reach this one must pass through many stages of test as they master successive levels of knowledge.
The community is preliterate. As a result, all histories and traditions are oral. To prevent their loss, lukasa boards are used.
(6) 179. Reliquary figure (byeri).
Fang peoples from southern Cameroon. 19th to 20th century. African.
Learning Objective: African reliquary
Themes:
Reliquary
Guardian
Duality
Ancestors
Power
Stylized bodies
Funerary
Museum: Brooklyn Museum
Reliquary figure (byeri) is made of wood and stands just under 2 feet tall at 23 inches. The artists who made these traveled widely all over Cameroon.
The artwork is comprised of very basic shapes including cylinders and circles. The figure has and elongated torso, large, rounded head, closed mouth, and musculature. The face is highly stylized. The figure is not naturalistic, but this is intentionally so. The purpose was to present certain spiritual and abstract ideas.
The oiled wooden surface is rubbed with palm oil to clean it , as well as darken the wood. This creates a rich surface, which was interpreted as evoking a spiritual power.
The Purpose
Reliquary figure (byeri) sat atop a skull basket (nsek-bieri) that contained ancestral bones. As a guardian of ancestral remains it helps to promote ancestor worship in this community. It also protects women and uninitiated men from the relics as they have tremendous power.
Works of this type were brought out to educate young men about their ancestors and explain their lineages. They were displayed only during certain ritual circumstances, unless they are guarding the bones.
Terminology
- Totem: able to access ancestral power and protective forces and be an intermediary between the living and the dead
- Talisman: intended to ward off evil with supernatural properties
- Therefore, his pose is seated and protective
Content
- The figurine is a male ancestral guardian figure
- He could balance opposites / encapsulates dualities
- Bring together the living and the dead
- Sense of calm (expressionless) vs. sense of power (coiled up energy and vitality)
- Image of child (oversized head, short arms, and legs) vs. image of adult (muscular)
- Belly button: able to move from one realm to the next (just as an umbilical cord connects a fetus to its mother’s womb through the belly button)
Historical Context
Communities practiced ancestor worship widely. Contents of the nsek-bieri were sacred and incredibly powerful. These were bones of ancestors, along with other potent substances like beads or medicine. Each family maintained their own box.
Nsek-bieris remain aboveground. As this community was migratory, moving bones was a necessity and it helped communities maintain worship and cohesiveness.
Nsek-bieris were maintained by elder men in the community
Byeri tradition dates to pre-colonial times, but the French colonial officials banned it in the early 20th century.
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African Art
1100–1980 CE