Sahara at the Museo delle Culture

In its final weeks at the Museo delle Culture in Lugano, Switzerland is an entrancing exhibition dedicated to the Swiss photographer Peter W. Häberlin (1912 - 1953) and is the seventh project of the “Esovisioni” exhibition cycle. This cycle is a long-term project of the Museo delle Culture with the objective to define a sort of “map” describing how the West has viewed (and judged) the Other. 

During their research, the museum staff unearthed the traces of Häberlin’s life through the diaries and accounts of his friends, travelling companions and remaining relatives. After two years of intense collaboration with the Swiss Foundation of Photography in Winterthur, the exhibition presents a rich selection of first prints, which were developed from the negatives conserved at the aforementioned Foundation.

Häberlin made his trans-Saharan reportage between 1949 and 1952: a vast series of photographs from four journeys, through which he followed the ancient caravan routes from Algiers, crossing the Saharan desert until he reached the North of Cameroon. Shortly after returning from his last trip, Häberlin died in a tragic accident in 1953, in the midst of his preparations for a new voyage to Mexico. 

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Information and images courtesy of the Museo delle Culture, Lugano

L'Afrique au Quotidien : The Meynet Collection

In the year 2000, the Musée des Confluences in Lyon received an important donation of African objects on behalf of Michel and Denise Meynet, collectors driven by a passion to acquire objects which speak volumes about their cultures of origin. L'Afrique au quotidien, currently being presented by the MdC, invites visitors to experience the quality, diversity, and richness of an assemblage formed over the period of a decade. One of the foremost characteristics of the Meynet Collection is its focus on utilitarian objects––pieces which would normally be destroyed or discarded after a period of use. Animated by the desire to comprehend and exalt these objects, the Meynets have done their utmost to provide important documentation for most of the objects on display. L'Afrique au quotidien will be on view through March 3.

Incised gourd

Ethiopia

Headrest

Ethiopia

 

Beaded apron

Cameroon

Stool

Ghana

Images courtesy of the Musée des Confluences/P. Ageneau

Tribal Art: A Paris Exhibition That Wears Many Hats

Items from the “Voyage in My Head” exhibition at Maison Rouge in Paris. From left: a warrior’s headdress from Papua-New Guinea, and a bird headdress from Cameroon.

For true hat lovers, the hottest place in June, most years, is Ladies’ Day at Ascot, London’s high society horse racing venue, when the spectators’ area is awash in hats of every color, shape and description. This year, however, Ascot comes second to the Maison Rouge Museum in Paris.

Through Sept. 26, the museum, a stone’s throw from the Bastille Opera House, is showing “Voyage Dans Ma Tête” (“Voyage in My Head”), an extraordinary exhibition of ethnic and tribal head-wear collected by the museum’s founder and president, Antoine de Galbert.

Over the past 15 years Mr. de Galbert has scoured the world, searching out unique and rare examples of the tribal hatter’s skills. The result is more than 400 decorative pieces, assembled from feathers, bones, beads, pearls, crocodile scales, monkey skulls and human hair, all collected from the four corners of the globe.

“My first purchase was a Papuan headdress of Cassowary feathers,” Mr. de Galbert said recently. “It was too small to be worn by a human, it belonged to a statue.” That piece is in the show, alongside tribal tiaras, crowns, hoods and helmets from Amazonia to India by way of Africa, Asia and the Pacific islands: headgear for every ritual, from religion to seduction to war.

Mr. de Galbert created the Maison Rouge in 2004, transforming a 27,000-square-foot former industrial space into a hyper-modern, minimalist set of exhibition rooms surrounding an art library and cafe. The style is cutting-edge contemporary, with a penchant for shows, like this one, that escape from the glass vitrine into the domain of installation art.

La Maison Rouge, 10 Boulevard de la Bastille; (33-1) 40-01-08-81; lamaisonrouge.org. Admission is 7 euros, or $8.64, at $1.23 to the euro.

Source: The NY Times
By: Claudia Barbieri

Ottawa Racers to Earn African Art

Medals hand-crafted in Africa will be awarded to runners who finish the two-kilometre family race at the upcoming Ottawa Race Weekend.

"It's all natural and it's really unique," said Carleton University student Taylor Wardle on Tuesday. She and her twin sister Breck watched some of the 3,000 medals being crafted by women in the seven villages of Cameroon's hot, mountainous Lebialem Valley.

"They're all handmade and they've all been slaved on so long," added Taylor, who was in the African nation to help run education projects with the North Bay, Ont.-based non-profit group International Children's Awareness Canada.

The medals, designed by Cameroonian artisan Bantu Freeman, are made of carefully sanded coconut shells, bamboo shoots and agejiga (ajuga) seeds.

The organizers of the May 29 race decided to buy 3,000 of them to support the Women's Jewelry Project and help its workers earn wages to pay for food, medical care, school fees and clothing for their families.

"We thought, 'Well, we have to purchase medals anyway…Why don't we do something good at the same time?'" said Jim Robinson, general manager of Run Ottawa, the group organizing the race weekend.

According to Run Ottawa, the medals have generated $10,000 for the local economy within the Lebialem Valley, which has a population of about 10,000.

Edward Smith, president of International Children's Awareness Canada, which runs health and education projects in the Lebialem Valley, first bought a batch of medals for a small race in North Bay. He saw an opportunity to expand at the Ottawa Race Weekend.

The Wardle twins said racers who receive the medals should be proud.

"They should feel like they're being part of something," said Taylor.

"Making a difference," Breck added.

About 36,000 people are expected to take part in the Ottawa Race Weekend, which runs May 29-30. Events include a marathon, half-marathon, 10-kilometre, five-kilometre and two-kilometre race. As of Tuesday, the two-kilometre race was the only event that was still open for registration, as all the other events are full.

Source: www.cbc.ca

Zemanek-Münster Tribal Arts Auction Preview: Lot 258

Reliquary Guardian Figure. Fang-Beti, Mabea, Southern Cameroon.

Wood, matt reddish brown patina, traces of black paint, seated posture, the stylized hands touch each other, mirror glass eyes with metal framing, metal foils on the shoulders and in the area of the abdomen, as well as on the face (scarifications), slightly dam., cracks (head, upper part of the body), missing parts (both foot tips), on base; on the buttocks, we can identify the remainder of sawn wood, indicating that the figure was part of a "byeri" ensemble. Originally, she sat as a guardian on a high, drum-shaped bark container, or on a basket, which contained relics of the founder of a clan, but frequently also skulls and bones of other men and women, who had distinguished themselves in the clan community. All "byeri" ancestor figures originally were decorated with a headdress of feathers "aseng", which is proved by the drilled holes in the coiffure of present figure. Possibly the valuable feathers were kept, when selling the figure. Only special initiated men were allowed to view the contents of these containers, which were brought outdoors on specific occasions to receive offerings. The extraordinary outlines of these figures were clearly visible in the twilight of the shacks, where they were kept. Moreover, the shine of the bright mirror glass eyes, as well as the reflections of the brass foils created a threatening impression. To obtain the metal foils, the Fang used european brass plates, called "Neptuns". There are various proposals concerning the meaning of the reliquary figures, they are considered as memorial figures, portraits of the deceased, sometimes they are connected with a kind of reincarnation cult. The Fang only migrated about 300 years ago to their present settlements, either expelling or assimilating the local residents. The term Fang implies a population consisting of numerous subgroups, living in the south-western Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and in the north-western Gabon. A clear assignment of their works of art is quite difficult. When regarding head and neck, the present figure could be attributed to the Mabea. While the fitting with metal sheet in the shoulder area, as well as the mirror glass eyes with metal framing and the geometrical-cubistic conception of the fgure as a whole refers to the Ngumba, Southern Cameroon.

Height: 49 cm, 19th century.

Estimate: 80,000 - 150,000 €

Zemanek-Münster Tribal Arts Auction Preview: Lot 252

Head crest "tu ngünga." Bamum, Cameroon.

Wood, reddish brown shiny patina with traces of black paint, the structure of the face consisting of arching brows, merging into a slender nose, completed by a protruding square mouth below, the remaining components increasing the expressive effect: conical protruding eyeballs and "balloon-like" inflated cheeks, accompanied by flap-like projections, crowned by a coiffure in two bulbous lobes with burled structure, slightly dam., minor missing parts (neck, chin, cheeks), on block-like base; possibly once belonging to the war society "nsorro", which performed masquerades on the occasion of funeral ceremonies. The head crest was completed by a female partner. Nowadays "nsorro" is danced for entertainment, on festive occasions in Fumban and in the Bamum palace. The crest can be attributed to the artist "Ndam nji Mare" from the village of Makoutam. There are several head crests coming from the Malantuen area showing such striking similar features, that all of them can be attributed to "nji mare". One of them came to the Musée de l' Homme in Paris in 1934. As a highlight of the museum it was even published on a postcard. A further crest once belonged to the painter Maurice de Vlaminck and was exhibited in 2008 in the Rietberg Museum in Zurich.

Height: 50 cm, 19/20th Century

Estimate: 20,000 - 40,000 €