The Third ("garish") Mask

Hi John

First, thank you for generating this essay. It's fun to read, and full of things to think about.

I like the "garish" third piece very much, and think that such items are as important ethnographically as the "authentic, old" ones. The incorporation of foreign materials and items is very much a part of ethnographic tribal art, and always has been.

I know a lot more about textiles than I do about sculpture (which I love a lot desptie my ignorance), and could go on all day with examples of tribal textiles incorporating goods that the makers got from trade. One example is the so-called Kente cloth made by the Ashanti. Many of the old ones are woven from silk yarn obtained by disassembling silk textiles from Asia that came to Africa by way of European traders.

The human family lives in a pretty small village, and we need to remind ourselves of that from time to time.

Regards

Steve Price

Dear Mr. Monroe,

thank you for the nice article.
I liked how you introduced in the topic.
Also the fact that you included urban/popular culture masks, show me that art in Afrika is not dead, it simply got somthing new through all this syncretic influences. It´s a pitty that many collector think in cases of not worth collcting those younger objects. The Ibo are really interesting topic and it´s a joy to collect Cross-River art.

Best regards

David Zemanek

thoughts on collecting motivation, etc.

Hi fellow forumites,
John, Thank you for this essay on the Mmwo genre! The effort put forth in sharing your experiences with Igbo masks is really appreciated. Our hope for the forum is that it be participant driven, so this kind of contribution is what it is all about.

I enjoyed your essay and I think that it raises a number of thought provoking points as well as articulating the simple satisfaction of being a collector. I suppose that all of us can empathize with the pleasure you have obviously experienced since starting out with your first piece, and that purchase then leading you and your wife on to the exploration of cultural context, and of course the gradual refinement of your “eye” as you cultivate an ever increasing ability to discern quality and collect in accord with that heightened awareness and understanding. Collecting or even merely researching a given piece and its cultural context can be a very rewarding pass time on a number of levels and your essay aptly demonstrates that.

I found your treatment of the issue regarding motivation for collecting and indeed what in turn may be worthy of collection thoughtful and interesting and I hope others in our community will weigh in on this matter as well. I think one of the wonderful things about this field is the very open and individually defined incentives that drive one to collect and study tribal art. Aesthetic or ethnographic orientations of the collector aside, the beauty of it is that, within reason, there are no right or wrong reasons for collecting or studying tribal art.

Now, having said that, I do personally feel that what ever a tribal art connoisseur’s motivation may be... Unless the item in question is from a genuine cultural context or as you succinctly put it, has “tribal use”, which is to say – has been utilized in a manner consistent with tradition in the community of origin, then it is not “authentic” tribal art, but rather a replica or décor object.

Indeed objects that fall into the replica or décor piece category may be “beautiful”, skillfully crafted, etc., but they are not “genuine tribal art” - at least not perhaps as I would guess that most of us would understand or define the term.

Even though you mentioned that this sort of strict categorization about “authentic and fake” makes you uncomfortable… I somehow rather doubt that we are in disagreement either – unless of course I am misunderstanding the general tone of what you wrote or indeed the impetus for you and Mrs. Monroe moving the 1st piece from the living room to the attic. That is a great anecdote, I might add, and again something that I think nearly any collector will be able to relate to.

Also, I felt you raised an important and very valid point in your essay when you mentioned that :

Generally, in Africa, the category of "art object" as we know it doesn't exist, or only began existing recently. Traditional objects tended to be made (and still tend to be made, in many cases) to serve a particular purpose, whether magical, utilitarian, or as props in a larger spectacle that integrates sculpture with music, dance, and drama (like the Mmwo masks I'm talking about here). The best-loved objects, which also tend to be the most beautiful, are the ones that show signs of having been used.

Indeed, the conception of these objects as “art” may be completely alien to the traditional cultural contexts that produce them, and this tangent bears consideration I think. Our experience, as collectors or admirers, of these objects is naturally a result of our own specific cultural biases. Since most collecting is done by citizens of contemporary techno-industrialized societies, the manner in which we perceive and relate to these objects is, arguably, in large part or entirely artificial. In other words our relation to the objects is based on our own projections and attributions of subjective cultural, aesthetic or monetary values. Some would then perhaps argue that for any collector, these items will never be more than “décor objects” or curios. While I can see how some might reach such a conclusion, I none the less think that would be a rather extreme and unfair appraisal of the situation. My reasoning is that even if we as collectors may never fully appreciate the way an indigenous “cultural insider” conceives of a given object, we cannot entirely discount a collector’s ability to appreciate these objects, albeit vicariously, from an ethnological perspective – the why, how and when a given object was used can certainly be as valid a measure of an object’s intrinsic “worth” as pure aesthetics in the eyes of collectors.

I don’t mean to get side tracked entirely by a hair splitting, rarified discussion on the subject of “what constitutes an ‘art’ object” or what qualifies one to be able to “appreciate” the same. Perhaps, for the moment at least, we can just take it as a given that for modern collectors the “art quality”, subjectively attributed or other wise, as well as “ethnographic quality” of a given object are valid grounds for appreciation or collection – that is after all the practical reality. In any case, I appreciate that you raised this point, it is quite relavent in our consideration of "the bigger picture" where tribal art in general is concerned.

Getting back to the matter at hand then… I think it would be interesting to hear from other forumites on the point I was getting at above which is that tribal art is, in my opinion, defined by originating from a context of utilization within an indigenous/traditional cultural setting. To me, this is just fundamental. Anything else, regardless of its artistic merit, is essentially a product of the handicraft or in the broadest sense, the furnishing industry. Perhaps by some definition it is even a work of art … but is it “tribal art”? I would not define it as such. None the less, let me just say that I think it’s fine and well if by someone else’s definition, a made for market piece does constitute tribal art. I feel that such divergence in opinion is natural and should in no way be construed as enmity in any sense. Indeed the forum is meant to be a place for dialogue where all shades of opinion on these matters can be discussed amicably and accommodated with mutual respect.

Now finally in hopes of further clarifying my own point of view, which hopefully has not been completely obscured by my penchant for divergent rambling, I just want to mention that last fascinating mask, the 3rd example in John’s essay. Taking into account the information on provenance that was mentioned and irregardless of its modern components, for me, this mask is completely legitimate. It may not have entirely pure traditional form, but it does reflect the transitional ethnographic landscape, so to speak. Indigenous cultures do come into contact with ideas, phenomena and objects from outside their own cultural sphere and the appropriation of outside factors is completely natural and interesting from an ethnographic stand point. As a collector I always relish the opportunity to observe purely traditional as well as transitional forms, but in either case the question of authenticity, for me, is contingent on having been used in a traditional cultural context that is divorced from what we might term as strictly market motivations – i.e. made as a commodity for sale.

John, thanks again for this contribution – not only for sharing insights into your personal collecting journey, and all the other interesting “threads” that could result from this discussion, but also for the tips on visual inspection that can help foster the ability to discern tampering for commercial ends from tribal use.

Steve Brothers

Thanks, first off, for all the praise. I'm pleased that my effort to put some of the knowledge I've gathered "on the line" has met with such a positive response. In my opinion, the world of African Art connoisseurs has a tendency toward high-handed mystification -- on the one hand, laconic dismissals of objects as "fake" without explanation, and on the other often self-serving assertions that "we still know very little about the cultures of the (cue the sound of distant drums) 'Dark Continent.'" I hope the essay goes a little way towards counteracting that notion.

As for the esthetic value of "transitional" pieces, or "contemporary" pieces, or whatever we choose to call them, I am also delighted to see that so many people share my wife's and my high opinion of them. (She was my "girlfriend/partner" rather than wife until recently, actually...so it's a pleasure to talk about her in this new capacity.)

If only more such pieces were available on the market! The masquerade remains a vital form of African creative expression today, even if it has generally lost the religious and judicial meanings it once possessed. This means that masks are still being made, and are still being used -- there's an article in the most recent issue of African Arts, for example, on the Igbo "Adamma" masquerade, a contemporary version of the Mmwo masquerade I discuss. And yet these pieces are not exported. Instead, exporters provide an endless torrent of often tacky copies of "classic" forms.

If there were a means to supply finely-done contemporary pieces, I suspect there would also be a strong demand for them. I am always on the lookout for high-quality Sierra Leonian Odelay masks, Baga Sibondel and Al-Barak headdresses, Bamana Sogo-Bo marionettes, Mami Wata statues, and the like -- but have found nary a one. These are among the most vital contemporary expressions of African creativity, and yet they remain absent from galleries and auction houses. We only stumbled across the third mask in the essay by blind luck.

I am not sure what an opening up of the market would do to Steve Brothers' idea of "tribal use," though -- I could envision a changing situation in which African mask-makers begin producing the same types of works for *both* domestic and foreign markets...or indeed make pieces to be used for a little while (since we Westerners value use) and then replaced with new ones.

A creative act, in my opinion, remains valid even when the object it produces is commodified. If this weren't the case, we would have to dismiss much of Western painting, which at least since the sixteenth century has been subjected to a thorough process of commodification.

The thing that makes "tourist art" less appealing to me is not its commodity status, but rather its dominant sensibility, the way it seems to speak not to what the maker actually finds beautiful, but rather to what the maker thinks will attract the attention of an uncomprehending outsider, often by speaking favorably to that outsider's prejudices. You can see this in the coarseness of so many objects made for export -- "those yahoos want primitive, I'll give them primitive," you can almost hear the carver thinking.

This kind of shortcoming, in my opinion, is not present in "transitional" pieces like the third mask in my essay. The problem, though, is getting more collectors to value what is so good in these works. Many exclusively prefer older pieces -- in part, I suspect, because such pieces speak to a certain nostalgia for the world that existed before the trauma of European Imperialism did so much damage. Old pieces, like the very finest Luba-Shankadi head-rests, often have a kind of tragic aura, seeming to be efflorescences of a culture now irrevocably changed. It is no accident, I think, that the pieces most valued are those that came from some of the groups Europeans oppressed with the greatest savagery -- the Luba, the Fang, the Kongo, the kingdom of Benin.

Well, that's a sobering reflection. But then there's that third mask. There is the Baga Sibondel. There is the spectacular Odelay mask with plastic flowers in the catalogue for "Africa Explores." If need be, I will be content to contemplate these from a distance, admiring the wonders African artists still produce.

John Monroe

Bravo!

John -
I have been thinking for a couple of days about the words I would like to write to tell you what a fantastic job you did on the essay on the Igbo masks and how inspiring it was to me.

After reading Steve Brother's comments, which I also thought were great, anything I say will now sound very elementary.

I don't posess a great talent for putting what is floating around in my mind into words without giving it a lot of thought, but for now I just wanted to tell you bravo for the nice work and the great conversations your article has sparked so far.

I'm going to spend a few more days going over the comments by yourself and Steve Brothers and will repsond with a few of my own thoughts.

Thanks again!

Just a side note to let the moderators of this site know that I, and others, find this site very refreshing and I hope that the site will continue to thrive! I am going to do all I can to contribute in my own way and I hope that more people will do the same.

RAND

__________________
Rand Smith
www.randafricanart.com

Hi Rand

Thank you for your kind words. Enthusiastic collectors like you and John Monroe will be the food from which this site draws life, and your contributions are appreciated very much.

Regards,

Steve Price