New Book: African Art in Detail

From the Harvard University Press comes a book written by Chris Spring entitled African Art in Detail. The book opens with the question: What is African art? The answer is a brilliantly colorful and detailed look at the myriad materials and genres, forms and meanings, cultural contexts and expressions that comprise artistic traditions across this vast and varied continent. Viewing artworks in their contexts—ancient and modern, urban and rural, western and eastern, decorative and functional—the book is nothing less than a virtual tour of African culture.

Masks, textiles, royal art, sculpture, ceramics, tools and weapons—in each instance, the book features examples that reveal the most significant aspects of workmanship, materials, and design in objects of wood, stone, ivory, clay, metalwork, featherwork, leather, basketwork, and cloth. Photographs of each piece alongside close-ups of fine details afford new views of these works and allow for intriguing comparisons between seemingly unrelated objects and media. The featured details evoke the hand and eye of the most accomplished craftspeople across Africa, past and present. In sum, these photographs, along with Christopher Spring’s enlightening commentary, offer an experience of African art that is at once broad and deep, richly informed and intimately felt. They are, at the same time, a kaleidoscopic view of art from pre­history to gestures prefiguring the future.

The book, which can be purchased for $22.95 is available in hardcover and was published in February 2010.

Recent Acquisitions: Gertrude Hance Collection

We recently added some very unique new acquisitions to our website. Several of these were profiled in the March, 2009 Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles (E.A.C.) Newsletter "Tribal Soul, Modern Eye” such as the Zulu Prestige Vessel below, but we wanted to mention a few more of the highlights, including those from the Gertrude Hance collection.

Gertrude Rachel Hance served for many years as a Presbyterian missionary to the Zulu peoples in Natal, South Africa. Ms. Hance was born in 1844 in the small town of Brookdale, Pennsylvania. She travelled to South Africa with the American Zulu Mission when she was only 26 years old and remained until 1899. If you are interested in learning more about her travels and experience as an intrepid American missionary, Hance published a book in 1916 called The Zulu Yesterday and Today: Twenty-Nine Years in South Africa. The book is out of print but can be found at select libraries or online at AbeBooks.

Ms. Hance was an extraordinary woman and we have several select objects from her fine collection of material culture from the region such as these beautiful baskets and snuff containers illustrated below.

Stay tuned as we will be adding and exhibiting additional pieces from this collection over the coming months.

"Sicebile: Swaziland’s Cultural Adornment and Artefacts" by Gordon Malangabi Crawford

Gordon Malangabi Crawford has recently published a book called “Sicebile: Swaziland’s Cultural Adornment and Artefacts.”

Mr. Crawford (who also goes by his Swazi name of Malangabi) has more than twenty years of research experience in Southern Africa studying material culture. His research for this book on the Swazi people alone has been more than six years in the making. The Swazi are descendents of the pastoralist Nguni tribe from Swaziland and South Africa, specifically along the border of Zululand. They are renowned in the region for a rich tradition of tribal arts.

This book is the first ever written on traditional tribal art and material culture from Swaziland. The book contains rich information on and pictures of tribal art objects ranging from beadwork to dolls, combs and mirrors to snuff containers. It opens up the hereunto-unknown material world of the Swazi.

The editor notes "This book provides a window into what is a little-known and fast dying art. The author's obvious dedication and commitment to a world and people he knows and loves, and the thoroughness of his research has resulted in a book which serves a very necessary purpose, and should prove indispensable to all those interested in our colourful and chequered cultural and historical past."

The book is not yet widely available but can be found in select bookstores in Swaziland and South Africa. The books is also available on eBay. Mr. Crawford is still looking for a US distributor for the book.

Here are some additional examples of the images contained in the book:

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com