Freud, the Baule, Ashante, and Bambara.

Within the past year I have shared apartment space with several African Tribal art objects, which while beautiful to look at also carried a story or had significant meaning in some form related to family unity or maternity. It really makes a difference just relating to the concepts behind the art. It doesn’t happen overnight, but over time exposure to non-western philosophy offers a different interpretation of our day to day meanderings.

In Freud’s model of the psyche, the Id (instinctive unconscious), the Ego (organized, conscious), and the Superego (moralizing, not entirely unconscious) form an interactive framework which work together in the mind.

“One of the fundamental functions of the Ego is Reality Testing – reaching into the real world to see if what is believed to be the case actually proves out – but this does not bear full fruit until the Ego has become Autonomous… substantially set free from inner conflicts between the Id and Superego.”[1]

To attain optimum creativity on an individual basis the Ego therefore has to be free from the restrictions, and guidelines (parental, religious, societal) imposed by the Superego. As the following will show the Baule, Ashante, and Bambara tribes/cultures use ‘role playing’ to embrace the role of the Superego and to subvert the role of the Ego. A strong Ego (contrary to common belief), is a good thing,

“Ego strength is the power, determination and ability to engage reality for whatever we find it to be – to accept what is as existing and to then use our cognitive-behavioral, emotional and relational skills to deal with such. Ego strength also refers to the inner personal strength by which we tolerate stress and frustration and to deal with reality without falling back to infantile defense mechanisms.”^[2]

It can be argued however that in a close knit society where the role of the woman is less expansive that it is today, and the family unit more important, role-playing through reinforcement of an integrated value system incorporating a belief system based on spiritual interaction is a realistic option. The interpretation is that the tribal focus is not “to be the best that one could be” but rather from a holistic perspective “to be the best component of a community” that respects more fundamental concepts, such as child bearing, family unity, and trust. From this viewpoint it would seem that there is a place for the tempering effect of the Superego in the right social environment.

Baule Spirit Statue (Blolo Bla)

In the Baule culture it is believed that prior to being born, each person has a spouse in the spirit world. The male spirit husband is called ‘blolo bian’ and the female spirit wife is called ‘blolo bla’. Both figures form a pair and are used in the family household together. It is held that ofttimes when things go wrong the responsibility lies with the spirit spouses, which become angry or jealous and disturb the lives of their living partners. On these occasions a diviner recommends that an altar be established where the spirit may receive offerings and be appeased[3].

“The carved figure of the ‘spirit spouse’ should be beautiful in order to please the spirit and attract it to the shrine. The erect bearing of the figures indicates a morally upright person; the open eyes and high forehead suggest intelligence and lucidity. The hands held obediently at the sides and the modest stance of the feet give the figure a respectful attitude that shows good character. Physical perfection is shown in the healthy body, the strong neck able to bear heavy loads on the head, and the muscular calves of the hard worker. The pointed breasts and rounded buttocks of the female signify maturity and sexual attractiveness, and thus the promise of children. “

Ashante Fertility Doll (Akua’ba)

The legend of the origination of the Akua’ba doll comes from the story of a woman named “Akua” who could not get pregnant and went to a local diviner or priest and commissioned the carving of a small wooden doll. She carried and cared for the doll as if it were her own child, feeding it, bathing it and so on. Soon the people in
the village started calling it “Akua” “ba” – meaning “Akua’s child”, since “ba” meant child. She soon became pregnant and her daughter grew up with the doll.

The legend and tradition still live on today… [4]

Bambara Maternity Figures

Bambara sculptures are primarily used during the annual ceremonies of the Guan society. During these ceremonies, a group of up to seven figures, measuring from 80 to 130 cm in height, are removed from their sanctuaries by the elder members of the society. The sculptures are washed, re-oiled and sacrifices are offered to them at their shrines. These figures – some of which date from between the 14th and 16th centuries – usually display a typical crested coiffure, often adorned with a talisman.

The  seated or standing maternity figure called Guandousou –is known in the West as the ‘Bambara Queen’ [5]

By undermining these social constructs society effectively feeds into the argument of “Ego strength”. In an environment where medical advances and state of the art technology are common, one may take the scientific route as the first option. In the tribal arena it is entirely possible that the speed of cultural degradation, thus far, outstrips the supply of technical infrastructure. The individual in such cases is left without the social network offered by the larger male or female ‘society’ and the fabric of the tribal society is rendered meaningless by the loss of ‘Superego’ based value systems, supported by tribal  rituals.

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[1] http://www.trans4mind.com/mind-development/ego-autonomy.html

[2] http://www.trans4mind.com/mind-development/ego-autonomy.html

[3] http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/artsandmedia/artmuseum/africanart/Exhibition.html

[4] http://www.randafricanart.com/Asante_akuaba_doll.html

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_art

African Art Investments – Premium components.

Understanding the African Mask Premium

Let’s be clear from the get-go… the last thing anyone wants to do is spend their money and have it quietly depreciate in the living room corner.  In a recessionary period this is the best time to actually purchase tribal masks, statues, et al. Buy low, sell at your convenience is an investing adage that applies well to the art world.

It is clear that there are opportunities in the world of African art, where buying the right piece will be the equivalent of a minor investment which may reward you with an appreciable return if done correctly. There are many ways to look at the premiums which add to the price of African art, African masks, and tribal art …. (for the less blasé among us that last sentence was the equivalent of an internet commercial, and I had to get my keywords in).

The following charts give a visual aid pertaining to the field of African masks, and demonstrate the difficulty in pricing great pieces.

These charts are not exhaustive — simply meaning that there are many ways to price a piece;  sometimes you fall in love with a piece (or several for that matter), so the premiums become moot and one is willing to take a future loss whether the piece possesses investment potential or not.

The last chart shows a graphic of the relative pricing involved with different types of African masks. Again some authors use different terminology and may use “tourist art” instead of  “airport art” for example.  What is interesting in this chart is that the best long term investment potential lies in the movement of Contemporary to Authentic, or simply holding Authentic pieces. It is always worth remembering however that the greater reward potential comes with greater risk.

Quality Rating Scale[1]

The quality rating scale presented by Dr. Seiber is as follows:

1. Authentic tribal pieces usually used in tribal ceremonies. The highest rating for authenticity and quality – usually with some age but even newer pieces if authentic and embodying a spiritual dimension.

2. “B Grade Authentic” – Same as 1 except diminished some by condition, newness, or style and quality of the artist’s effort.

3. Decorative newer pieces – still good quality, but sometimes copies. Most often a continuum of an established and traditional tribal piece but with an incorrect patina. Decorative value.

4. African arts made to be sold to foreigners – Europeans, Americans, and others. Not necessarily tribal, could be folk or contemporary.

5. “Airport” or tourist art (souvenirs). Lowest grade and made in great quantities.

In the final analysis, take your time… and purchase a tribal mask you feel comfortable with as an investment, but above all things, purchase African art you thoroughly enjoy.

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[1] http://www.howardnowes.com/articles/articles.cfm?article=13

Five Things one should know Series: Part 1

This is the first in the series of “Five things one should know”  in relation to an African tribe. Contrary to the title I sneak in a sixth item on the sly… that’s right, just knowing the name of the tribe should count. I’ve found that I can easily remember the name of the tribe and the dominant tribal mask. Beyond that everything gets really fuzzy in a hurry. At times even the country or location is a stretch to remember, but that’s important.

The categories I picked are,

• Dominant mask
• Country/Location
• Something religous/socially interesting
• Something historical
• Something culturally different

 Five Things one should know about the Makonde

 Dominant mask : Mapiko

 

The Mapiko/Lipiko mask is worn tilted over the top of the head and the wearer can see through the space in the mouth. They are relatively realistic and highly stylized, making them very recognizable. The masks may have tufts of human or animal hair, show scarification, and lip plugs. They are used both in initiation rites and in festivals or masquerades. The Makonde are also known for their blackwood (African ebony), “Tree of Life” carvings, incorporating intertwined figures.

 

Country / Location:

East Africa, near the border separating Tanzania and Mozambique.

Religion:

The two major religions in the District are Christianity and Muslim. There are still pockets of the original animist beliefs, and ancestors are revered by many people.

Historic Migration

In the second half of the 19th century the majority of the Makonde migrated from Mozambique to Tanzania, in part to secure their people from the slave trade. The plateau they settled, the Newala plateau, was surrounded by a thick thorny bush called Konde, hence the name ‘people of konde’ or Makonde.

 

Cultural Difference

The Makonde have an established ancestress cult. In Makonde legend the first man sculpted a woman using wood. This woman became real and bore many children. Prior to colonial times the tribes consisted of matrilineal villages, linked by a common female ancestor. This may account for the strong respect for women as life givers and protectors.

 The Creation Myth[1]

“The first Makonde settled along the Ruvuma River.  He was not yet fully a human being.  He was unkempt, starving and desperate.  One night he felt sad and dispirited.  For entertainment her carved an image of himself out of a piece of wood.  When he woke in the morning, the sculpture he carved was alive.  It had become a woman in the flesh.  He found great pleasure in her company to the extent that he bathed himself clean and took good care of his appearance as a man.  But as long as they live along the Ruvuma River, their children caught ill and died.  When they move to the semi-arid plateau they were able to have a long and happy life together”.  –  collected by Pater Adams 1902

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[1] http://www.forafricanart.com/Makonde_ep_36-1.html

How to rank African Art: Part 1

For the collector, ranking African tribal art and even the ranking of African masks (a single subcategory), presents several dilemmas.  A simple example should illustrate the problem. Imagine if Picasso didn’t sign his works, and his style was copied by both talented and lesser talented artists for say a minimum of 100 or so years. What exactly would we have to go on. Well, to remain in the context of tribal African masks, there would be,

1. clear Stylistic characteristics,
2. indications of the Tools and materials used during the period,
3. signs of Use,
4. Provenance or history of the piece,
5. consistent Aging patterns and patination of the surface, and finally,
6. like a fine wine, the Character of the piece should age well.

The mnemonic one could use is STUPAC; Style, Tools, Use, Provenance, Aging, and Character.

To the carver of  authentic tribal masks, stylistic characteristics were very important. The carvers held positions of authority and developed their skill over years of training as an apprentice to a master carver[1].  It is important to remember that the masks were often used as protection against sorcery, bad luck, to appease spirits, and to help maintain the culture and value system of the tribe. Consider the following three Ngil masks from the Fang tribe. Although the masks are very different, they each retain basic stylistic characteristics.

The Fang mask was used for  the ngil ceremony, an inquisitorial search for sorcerers. The first mask[2] is held at the Louvre museum in France. “Typical are large, elongated masks covered with kaolin and featuring a face that was
usually heart-shaped with a long, fine nose. The Ngil society disappeared with the beginning of the colonization of Gabon in the early 1930’s.”[3]

This mask[4] has similar markings and facial scarification  patterns. The hairstyle is similar and the heart shaped elongation of the face, tapering to a small mouth is evident.

This last mask[4] is also a Ngil mask,  showing similar markings, but different facial scarification, and reflecting a higher degree of stylistic implementation than the first two. It is very important for the collector of African tribal art, and African masks to frequent museums and exhibitions to familiarize themselves with what would be considered “benchmark” stylistic characteristics and tribal norms.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fang_mask_Louvre_MH65-104-1.jpg

[3] http://www.randafricanart.com/Fang_ngil.html

[4] http://www.AplusAfricanArt.com

SUPERLATIVE FANG !!!

   My dialogue with African art derives from the conviction that artistic creation arises from a common fund of humanity and that in the discovery of aesthetic solutions the making of masterpieces supersedes regions, cultures, and becomes part of the treasures from all places and all times of human creation.
Armand Arman, African Faces, African Figures: The Arman Collection

       The Fang of Gabon, are world renown for their Ngil masks, and their reliquaries; Byeri, (Bieri). While the masks were used in policing activities for the So and Ngil judiciary societies, the Byeri served a deeper more religious function.

 

       The Bwitist cult of the Fang practice ancestor worship. Being a nomadic tribe, the members carried specific bones of ancestors in cylindrical bark boxes, atop which the byeri figures were placed to act as guardians. In the early 1900s, between 1910 and 1930, traditional Fang religion and art were subject to religious persecution by the Church, with the “approval of the French colonial government”  but “despite the burning of the temples, persecution and killings of religious leaders the movement continued to grow.”  (http://www.ayahuasca.pe/index.php?/articles/ibogaine/the_bwiti_religion_and_tabernanthe_iboga.html)

       This I think is the deep and endearing difference between traditional Western and African Tribal art. The functionality of the pieces and their social/religious significance simply add to their esthetics and abstract form, at a level that is patently holistic and entirely appealing.

        When one considers the Byeri for example – while the objects were being destroyed, the essence of what the Fang admire most in people “tranquility, vitality, and the ability to hold opposites in balance”  are intangibles that could not be extinguished from their culture.  (Heilbrunn timeline of art history, The Met.). Although beaten to death by anthropologists, the concept of holding opposites in balance can be intuitively gleaned from the Byeri –

1)       The use of childlike proportions (head), versus the mature development associated with the adult body.

2)       The peaceful, abstract restraint of the facial expression versus the power exhibited through defined, flexed, “Popeye” like muscles.

 These concepts are universal, and we have learnt and seen them in different forms. Everyone has “an inner child”, and even the strongest leader among us will be well served at times, by a serene and calm disposition.

The corner piece!!!

Yesterday I headed to downtown Manhattan to visit what I thought was a struggling estate liquidator, who promised 50% off African Art pieces.

Although the owner absolutely did right by me it seemed that the starting prices were fairly astronomical.

I finally settled on two pieces – the first piece was a “sweetener”,  a doll from the Namji tribe. Needless to say I had no idea where the doll came from and had never seen one before. My first instinct was that the doll was a fetish, a good luck charm or a protector. It turns out that it is actually used by girls to inculcate parental behavior patterns… ie. the children basically treat the doll as a child and are responsible for it’s care.

The second  piece  seemed to have stylistic characteristics very  similar to masks made by the Bembe Tribe from the Republic of the Congo. It didn’t help that the provenance of the  mask was advertised as Ibibio, which is a tribe in the southeast of Nigeria. The mask on the right is a helmet mask, an Echawokaba ; one can immediately see the similarities of the recessed orbitals, the protruding pupils,  and the use of abstract geometric patterns.

The use of a similar color combination, ie the black, white, and red pigments was also encouraging.  I suspect however that the two masks serve very different functions, but it is hard to come across some of these pieces, so a proxy at times is better than nothing.

The funny thing is that I totally missed the mask. It was collecting copious amounts of dust in the corner behind the entrance, behind a length of  ill placed duct tubing.

This however is where I lose my cool… on spotting the piece I behave like it’s the second coming of the Mona Lisa… yup… I hold it tenderly, sniff the wood like the bouquet of a fine wine, gently and lovingly place it on the counter, and then look the seller in her eye and pretend like i’m going to drive a hard bargain…. thankfully the owner was only too ready to clean house and was dropping the price like… well anyway, everyone knows the prom night joke.

At the end of my excursion I came up with my third or fourth (you never know sometimes), Bembe piece, and put some info for a new tribe in the database. Given that I finally paid off  (after four months), and collected a sweet Fang byeri on Wednesday, I’d say it was a really good week.