Regents of the University of California

Segunda Bienal de la Habana

Author(s): John Povey
Source: African Arts, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May, 1987), pp. 82-84
Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3336484
Accessed: 02-08-2016 23:30 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Regents of the University of California, UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies

Center are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to African Arts

This content downloaded from 192.188.48.69 on Tue, 02 Aug 2016 23:30:24 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 The exhibit is didactic and rich in textual in-
formation. Each section includes a general
statement that relates the images to the major
themes of the show. Large-type quotations
drawn from the writings of explorers and an-
thropologists are distributed around the gal-
lery Every photograph is accompanied by a
descriptive label that gives dates, identifies
the photographic technique, and provides in-
formation on the subject. All of the text and
photographs in the exhibit are reproduced in
a handsome catalogue distributed by Harvard
University Press (see review, p. 12).
One of the more interesting trends in recent
anthropology has been a movement to
reexamine "classic" ethnographies. Rather
than read these works for what they tell us
about the subjects their authors intended to
study, one analyzes the texts in order to un-
IBEJIS
Twin Figures of the Yoruba
Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles
November 1, 1986-May 31, 1987
This exhibition is marked by the exuberant
presence of over 125 ibeji twin figures from the
Yoruba of Nigeria. The Yoruba have the high-
est twinning rate in the world (45.1 per 1,000
births vs. 11 per 1,000 births in the U.S.). The
high rate of infant mortality for twins ac-
counts for the ubiquity of these small wooden
carvings in Yorubaland.
It is believed that twins bring good fortune
to those who honor them, the reverse to those
who neglect them. When a twin dies an ibeji is
commissioned as a surrogate, a repository for
his spirit. The mother treats the carving just as
she does the living twin; it is ritually bathed,
fed the favorite food of beans and palm oil,
and carried on her back. At night it is carefully
wrapped and put to bed. The carving may be
AIA
AJ.,
' ,ii k' Nr:
. l'
IBEJIS AT THE JAN BAUM GALLERY
82
This content downloaded from 192.188.48.69 on Tue, 02 Aug 2016 23:30:24 UTC
cover something of the ethnographers' own
assumptions, intentions, and preconcep-
tions. This exhibition does for anthropological
photography what such studies have done for
ethnography Once displayed to reveal some
putatively disinterested scientific "reality"
about non-Western culture, these images are
now exhibited to shed light on our own some-
times skewed or ethnocentric vision of the
Other. "From Site to Sight" is an important
and timely exhibition that brings to the public
some elements of the anthropological en-
deavor's turn toward reflexivity, introspec-
tion, and self-criticism.
Beginning in 1988, the exhibition is sched-
uled to travel for two years with the Smithso-
nian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
Christopher B. Steiner
Harvard University
anointed with palm oil mixed with camwood
powder. This care results in the rich patina
seen on many ibeji.
The figures are carved in a frontal stance,
with hands placed on the sides of the thighs.
Most have carefully carved ears and scarifica-
tion and stand on a round base. Female fig-
ures are portrayed with breasts. Apart from
these common characteristics, the ibejis in the
Baum Gallery's display present seemingly
endless variation in detail and a wide range of
sculptural quality
The show contains examples of the recog-
nized local styles. Those from the Abeokuta
area of southwestern Yorubaland are distin-
guished by an upswept crescent-shaped
hairstyle, heavy protruding eyelids, and
prominent lips. Males wear carved trousers or
loincloths with a knot at the back. On some
the thumb and forefinger form an O. Ibejis
with an Oyo provenance have wide almond-
shaped eyes with carefully carved lashes,
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
rounded shoulders sloping into heavy upper
arms, radial abdominal scarification, and a
ridged, round base. Ibejis from nearby Ibadan
are quite abstract, almost cubist in form.
Examples carved in the Ilorin and Igbomina
areas of northern Yorubaland frequently wear
the Islamic triangular amulet, tira. Ila Oran-
gun, capital of the Igbomina region, is particu-
larly recognized for its high-quality carving.
Its long slender figures have tall hairdos and
large, lashed eyes. Some have smiling faces.
Figures from the Oshogbo region, pleas-
antly smooth and, to the Western eye, well
proportioned, are also especially sought after.
Their eyes are large and elliptical and also
have carved lashes. Males wear hoods with
ear flaps; females are given a tall coiffure.
Numerous representatives of the various
local styles can be seen in the exhibition, but
one ibeji pair is anomalous. Ibejis of royal
families have removable elaborately beaded
cloaks. This couple wears sewn-on beaded
hoods and shirts that cannot be taken off for
ritual feedings and washings.
Though they have not always been appre-
ciated for their sculptural richness, ibejis today
are cherished by collectors. The exhibit at the
Jan Baum Gallery provides a unique opportu-
nity for the professional and the layman to
experience the power and charm of this facet
of African art.
Justine L. Kreher
Beverly Hills, California
SEGUNDA BIENAL DE LA HABANA
Havana, Cuba
November 24-30, 1986
In late November the Cuban government
sponsored a second biennial of art. The first,
in 1984, drew only Latin American artists. The
second, organized by the Centro Wifredo
Lam, was more ambitious. The intention was
to bring together artists in all fields from
numerous countries in the Third World.
Given politics, it was inevitable that there
would be some selectivity either in invitation
or acceptance; equally, given politics, the oc-
casion indicated a dramatic national commit-
ment that non-socialist countries rarely at-
tempt to match. The entire city of Havana
seemed to be at the service of the occasion.
Among the inevitable tedious displays of
Czech and Russian social history, there were
numerous galleries and theaters that pre-
sented works from a wide spectrum of artists
and from regions rarely airailable to an Ameri-
can audience. The number of exhibitions and
performances was astounding. Several were
of special interest to readers of African Arts.
The major event was the display at the
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the result of a
competition that had attracted submissions
from around the world. The press package
proclaimed that 2,451 works from 690 artists
living in 58 countries had been received. The
results were varied. The inner courtyard of
the impressive building provided space for
the larger projects - those familiar monu-
ments of modern art, meaningless conglom-
erations of shabby second-hand material or

Oil
i ,. !iit~~~~~i. ........... ";.. ? " '
installations of indeterminate structure and
intention. These were flavored with the fash-
ionable proclamations of political grievance
that were more vigorously contentious than
visually convincing.
Upstairs the galleries were hung with pic-
tures from many countries, including fifteen
from the African continent. Some of the Afri-
can artists were quite familiar; others were
less well known. My stays in Togo had not
alerted me to the work of Do Mesrine, but
Ghana was represented by the established
painter Saka Acquaye. The Tanzanian pre-
sentation included the inevitable Makonde
carvings and paintings that indicated that the
influence of Tingatinga long survives him. If
there is repetition in the borrowing, at least
the source is so innovative and delightful that
it remains fully enjoyable even at one remove.
Amir Nour of Sudan contributed new work:
heavy geometric bronzes. Zambia was repre-
sented by Henry Tayali's prints. Ethiopia
submitted work by Worku Goshu. Zimbabwe
offered only two Shona carvings and included
the work of Helen Lieros.
Certainly the most original contributions
came from those embattled states, Angola
and Mozambique. Afonso Massongui pro-
duced haunting, simplified forms in cast
metal, while Antonio Ole, working with
acrylics, received one of the several first prizes
for his painting Animal herido. Mozambique
offered brightly colored works by Bertina
Lopes that were near caricature and strong in
impact. Another prizewinner was Alberto
Chissano for his sculpture D6nde voy a dejar
mis orlocos elegantes. Its highly stylized form
was somewhat reminiscent of the stone birds
of Great Zimbabwe. The quantity was all but
overwhelming, particularly in view of the
wide range of quality and styles, which pre-
cluded ready generalizations. Examined in
juxtaposition with the presentations from
more exotic and differentiated cultures, the
works by Latin American artists seemed visi-
bly European.
Outside the main exhibition there were
three important specialized shows of African
material. Casa de Africa hosted a retrospec-
tive of the work of Malangatana Ngwenya of
Mozambique. Though much is in Europe,
This content downloaded from 192.188.48.69 on Tue, 02 Aug 2016 23:30:24 UTC
Fakeye, Emokpae, Enwonwu, Ogundele,
Onobrakpeya, and Wangboje. In a sense these
are the classical artists of modern Nigeria,
once pioneers and now the established fig-
ures. This is understandable because the
works were derived from the collection of the
Nigerian National Gallery of Modern Art,
which intends to establish a comprehensive
history that emphasizes the importance of art-
istic continuity. Other countries - Zimbabwe
and Tanzania for example - display some of
their artists in their national museums, but
this is the first attempt in Africa to provide a
specific location for such modern art.
In actual fact the National Gallery exists as a
concept and a collection rather than as an
edifice. The enterprise began originally with
the inheritance of 60 pieces from the offices of
Nigeria Magazine. Since then, under the direc-
tion of Osague, the Federal Government has
providentially he had retained a selection of purchased a further 250 pieces. In the heady
his painting that could be shown on this occa- oil-rich days, plans were made for a suitable
sion. It was sufficient to detail the develop- building. Alas, there were hinderances - the
ment of his remarkable talent up to the time rapid sequence of governments, the plans for
when, falling afoul of the revolutionary re- the resiting of the capital at Abuja - but the
gime, he was for a period exiled and silenced. concept remains established, and temporary
The extraordinary thing about Malangatana's space in the foyer of the National Theatre in
work is the variety that exists within so spe- Lagos allows some display and reminds one
cific a style. No one can fail to recognize one of
his paintings: those circular faces that writhe
into patterns, the wide-open eyes, aghast as if
at some horror that constantly affronts them.
Yet there is no duplication but rather the reit-
eration of a particular vision that examines the
world through the images imposed on the
canvas. In some complex manner, the vision
of his characters becomes the personal experi-
ence of the painter. The sequence spanned the
period from his early experiments to the year
of his exile. Ironically, only now has the revo-
lutionary government recognized his distinc-
tion, seeing that the respect in which he is
held redounds to their reputation. Malan-
gatana is to spend some time in Sweden,
where there will at last be opportunity to re-
turn to the creative work denied him for
years. The results could be impressive in-
deed.
In another section of Casa de Africa was a
show of contemporary Nigerian art prepared
by F.I. Osague. Many of the names will seem
familiar enough from features in African Arts:
DONDE VOY A DEJAR MIS ORLOCOS ELEGANTES
ALBERTO CHISSANO, MOZAMBIQUE.
ANIMAL HERIDO.
ANTONIO OLE, ANGOLA.
83
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
of its existence. Here at least is the nucleus of a
national collection, and indicatively The Nu-
cleus is the title of the lavish catalogue that is
the present record of the holdings.
Africanists are always uncomfortable when
they move north of the Sahara into the Arabic
Mediterranean coast, but if one accepts the
delineation of continental geography, the art-
ists of the north are part of the African herit-
age. A most remarkable one-man show fea-
tured the work of Nja Mahdaoui, a Tunisian
artist who uses infinitely detailed calligraphy
as a means of creating wondrous designs
richly delineated in gold and red, which are
strikingly contrasted against black
backgrounds. They become both verbal
statement and pure form, a remarkable tour
de force of artistic precision and visual organi-
zation.
There were numerous other presentations
and, as a gesture to scholars, a formal confer-
ence on Caribbean art was convened. It was
attended by Robert Farris Thompson, whose
own research interests began with Caribbean
studies.
All in all, Havana's second biennial of art
was an awesome congregation of art and art-
ists. Its celebratory banners and posters deco-
rated the entire city. Politics may have been an
element in the conception, but the artists
themselves made sure that it did not limit the
opportunity to share with others the univer-
sality of human creativity
John Povey
INTERNATIONAL
WARRI SOCIETY
Warri Boards available at:
The Studio Museum In Harlem; N.Y., N.Y. 10027
144 West 125th Street; (212) 864-4500
For Commercial or Research Information contact:
Robert Obatunde Cullins - IWS:IWMC
P.O. Box 1768 Manhattanville Station
New York, New York 10027. (212) 283-4035
84
This content downloaded from 192.188.48.69 on Tue, 02 Aug 2016 23:30:24 UTC
books Continued from page 19
broad overview of the field... This is a very
exciting time for students of the relation of art
to all the rest of culture, because of good field
work interacting with new theoretical insights
from many disciplines. Anthropologists and
art historians not closely involved may not
realize how rapidly or how profoundly the
field is changing. Often work done as recently
as the 1960's seems surprisingly naive both in
ethnographic information and theoretical in-
terpretation" (p. xii).
It is, indeed, as current as one might rea-
sonably hope, incorporating works published
into the early 1980s. The tremendous amount
of data, and the great number of perspectives
Hatcher wants to introduce, are all extremely
well organized. Key words are italicized and
further annotated in a glossary. Major subject
headings within chapters are repeated in
boldface at the top of every right-hand page;
the chapter title appears at top left. A thirty-
page ethnographic index provides page refer-
ences to discussions in the text, historical and
cultural notes, and two or three central bib-
liographic references, for each of the major
ethnic groups, and local and regional var-
iants, discussed in the book.
The hundreds of illustrations are all line
drawings, most produced by Hatcher herself,
of items from the world's great collections, all
well selected as representative of major style
groups. They are positioned close to their tex-
tual discussion, and the location of their orig-
inal is given a concise boldface caption. This
clearly allows a lot of illustrations at low cost;
but the author also claims that the drawings
focus attention on style and they do not "in-
ject an irrelevant esthetic as some color
photographs do" (p. xv). I agree with her; the
aim of the book is the appreciation of art
within the context of the culture that pro-
duced it, and gallery photographs tend to de-
tract from such appreciation. Moreover, she
says, "they have proved to be useful aids in
learning to identify styles," and given the au-
thor's experience and reputation in the field,
we can trust this assertion. The drawings are
good, clear and uncluttered, and true to the
salient stylistic features of the object and the
tradition of which it is representative. Purists
will express dismay at such free-hand repre-
sentation of some of the greatest art treasures
of the "primitive" world; but I applaud the
method, and I believe it will work just as
Hatcher plans it to. All should keep in mind
her purpose, and my recommendation of this
as a reference tool, a handbook.
The University Press of America is estab-
lishing a reputation for making available
cheaply priced (and cheaply produced) books
(of varying quality) on an incredibly wide
range of subjects. This is one of their very best
bargains. It is sharply and clearly produced,
on good-quality stock. Its perfect binding is
quite strong and should stand up well to the
regular use (and abuse) students will give it.
However, an unfortunate result of the appa-
rent desire to produce scholarly books cheaply
is often to rush through the proofreading
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
stage, leaving too many "typographical" er-
rors. (That word is in quotes because we can't
be sure how much blame should rest upon the
author.) Evidence of sloppy proofreading in
this case is found in many obviously careless
errors, not only in the text, but in italicized
key words and boldface captions to illustra-
tions. This is too bad; but it is my only crit-
icism of production, and does not modify my
assertion that this book is good, a terrific bar-
gain, and ought to be purchased by all stu-
dents of art.
Hatcher introduces the anthropological
focus of the book quite competently, giving a
fairly adequate presentation of "wholistic"
anthropology as the recognition of a complex
set of interrelated systems operating at vari-
ous levels simultaneously, many of which find
expression in the art object. As I began read-
ing I sensed that her style was a bit wordy,
rambling, and "dry," and when she stressed
her aim of "simplification" on one page (p. xii)
and the necessity of recognizing "a multiplici-
ty" of patterns affecting cultural forms on the
very next page, I felt some apprehension; but
after the prefatory pages she settles down to a
patient, orderly, step-by-step (but not tedi-
ous) presentation of the various aspects of this
view of art. The structure of the book, in eight
chapters, is built around detailed answers to
several questions frequently asked by stu-
dents about art objects: Where did it come
from? How was it made? Who made it? What
does it mean?, and others.
Art is approached in terms of three compo-
nents: aesthetic, technique of production, and
meaning. This third has five (or six) sub-
categories: representation, identifiable form;
iconography, or specific representation (Sym-
bolic I); interpretation, or iconology, the
broader range of representation (Symbolic II);
metaphor, meaning through analogy to some
set of cultural values; and ambiguity, the valid-
ity of different, even apparently conflicting,
meanings being derived at different levels.
Citing Philip Lewis, she adds the possibility of
a sixth category of meaning, social context.
A strength of her approach, expressed in
the title, emphasized throughout the book, is
exemplified here in her insistence that none of
these components should be viewed as
background to the art form, but rather as inter-
related but separable and identifiable realms
of meaning, right up front, with and within
the object. Anthropology stresses culture as a
system, and Hatcher's approach is always
systemic, stressing avoidance of monocausal
explanations or direct linear progression.
One word came repeatedly to mind as I read
this book: rich. It is a rich book, rich in data and
in insight. It is the product of a well-informed
but obviously patient and orderly scholar,
and apparently a good teacher as well. A lot of
the history of anthropology, and of variant
theoretical and methodological approaches,
often very dry stuff to try to teach to beginning
students, is skillfully interspersed throughout
the book, interwoven with discussions of the
various approaches to art, so that it seems in-
tegral to those approaches.
The thorny subject of aesthetics is saved for