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Interpreting African Sculpture
- By Roese, Herbert
- Published 24 March 2008
- Primitive and Pre-Columbian Art
- Unrated
Roese, Herbert
Herbert E. Roese born in 1935, originally trained as a mechanical engineer. After a two-year foundation course, he studied full-time at the Technical University of Cologne, gaining the degree of Dipl.Ing.. Between 1959 and 1973 he was active as an engineer in Cape Town, Chicago, London and Stuttgart. During this period he persued his interest in archaeology, especially prehistory like a visit to see the cave paintings at Lascaux/France before they were closed to the public. While in Africa, he visited such places as Louis Leakey's palaeolithic site at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, as well as the cave paintings in the Matopas Hills in Zimbabwe. During the years in London he visited many prehistoric sites in Britain and Denmark. By then, the time was ripe for a change and he took up an undergraduate course at the Archaeology Department of the University of Wales Cardiff, finishing with a B.Sc.(Hons) in 1975. Thereafter, he continued as a postgraduate student at UCC researching for his doctoral thesis. In 1979 he gained his Ph.D. in Archaeology on the fieldmonuments of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Wales and wrote a number of papers for archaeological journals. Throughout his career he also had a keen interest in the sculptural arts and crafts of Africa, as well as in the contemporary visual arts in Wales.
A few years ago the English translation of an unusual French-language book from Africa was published. It is a theoretical work on African dance, the first of its kind written by an African. Alphonse Tiérou is a Francophile of the Quenon people in Cote d'Ivoir (Ivory Coast). Even though the publication deals with the laws of African dance, it is of considerable interest to the study of African sculpture, especially the figurine. Its importance lies in the fact that, for the first time, a study of this kind reveals the close link between African sculpture and traditional African dance.
Although the mask has always been recognised as being part of certain African dancing, figurines have never been regarded as being associated with it. An exception to this rule is F.Willett's remark (1975:215 reprint), when discussing the 'Aesthetics in African Sculpture': "A sculpture is also expected to show coolness or composure;....in dance by the withdrawn, expressionless face of the dancer". Tiérou's contribution to the subject is that, for the first time an African, trained in both African and Western dance forms, explains - in terms understandable to non-Africans - that traditional African dance possesses precise rules and codified movements. They are "the living expression of its philosophy and living memory of its evolution and cultural wealth over the centuries" (Tiérou, 1992:xi). The author does not only talk about African concepts of beauty and how they differ from western ones, but he goes into great detail when explaining the structure of traditional African dance, its basic movements and techniques. Such dances have been practiced for centuries, from Zulu war dances in South Africa to sensual dances in the Republic of Congo, to the acrobatic dances of Mali.
In Tiérou’s own words: "Dance in Africa is a privileged means of communication and is part of everyday life". This is where the two disciplines meet. Both in African dance and in figurine sculpture the curve and the round are basic criteria of beauty. To an African "The parts of the human body which constitute the true standards with which to evaluate the charm and beauty of a human being are, apart from the face, the neck, the breasts, the stomach, the legs and the buttocks" (ibid:36). A long neck, especially one adorned with rings, was regarded as particularly beautiful. Breasts signify age. Hence, hardly developed breast represent a young girl, fully developed breasts a marriageable woman in her prime, while extended breasts represent the mature woman who has had her children. An emphasized stomach indicates either pregnancy or well-being, either physically or in terms of status. As Tiérou explains: "The attention given to the stomach in African sculpture is…an expression of formal beauty" (ibid:37). The muscularity and chubbiness of legs was more important than their length; bowed legs were actually preferred. Another sign of beauty were developed buttocks, although their predominance on figurines has probably to do with a technicality. In the most basic stance of an African dancer the torso is inclined forward by up to 45 degrees. If a carving was to lean at such an angle it would probably be unstable. Leaning forward, however, does push the buttocks outward. By maintaining the upright stance of the figurine and emphasizing the buttocks, the idea of a forward lean is created.
Hairstyles, too, have always played an important part in African artistic expression. Artistic, because they were certainly never functional. On the contrary, they were often a hindrance to the extent of being responsible for the African habit of using headrests. Neither were the decorations of the latter functional, as they were technically not required. In some areas of the African continent, where sculpture was rare or non-existent, hairstyle art flourished particularly well, for example in Uganda among the Acholi people (Mack, 1995:139). As a rule, therefore, the head required by necessity a lot more space in carving than the other parts of the body.
Without this knowledge, even eminent writers on African art have come to uninformed conclusions, e.g.: "For whatever reason, a figure may often have an over-large head and elongated neck, a torso as erect as a column, distinctly protruding buttocks, very short legs and strikingly large feet" (Schmalenbach, 1988:20). African criteria of beauty also invalidate comments like: "The form of figural art in Africa is mainly determined…by its religious, cultic, ritual and magical function" (ibid:13). Any statement on the continent’s sculptural art is incomplete without the inclusion of beauty in the African sense.
Tiérou reveals that there are certain movements in traditional African dance which are found in every region of the continent. In the absence of written records from African sources, and without uniformity of nomenclature across the continent, Tiérou had to make a choice of naming these movements. He chose the terms of the sacred language of the ‘Grand Masks of the West’ (a society of elders watching over the cultural heritage of West Africa). The choice was approved of by the International Conference on African Dance, held in October 1988 in Yamoussoko, western Cote d’Ivoir. This gave it considerable authority.
According to Tiérou, there are ten basic dance movements. Three of them have proved to be particularly relevant to the interpretation of African figurines, namely: the DOOPLÉ, the SOUMPLÉ, and the KOUITCHIN (Tiérou, 1992:53,56,65). The most natural, most authentic and oldest of these movements is the DOOPLÉ. The dancer stands leaning forward at an appropriate angle of 135 degrees (or 45 degrees from the vertical). His/her knees are bent and kept apart. The dancer’s feet are placed parallel and flat on the ground but apart by a foot’s length. The arms either hang down at the side of the body, or are held slightly in front, or they are clearly raised. The hands remain open, the gaze is fixed straight ahead.
This simple explanation unravels three hitherto perplexing questions for non-Africans:
1. why do so many figurines seem to be holding their stomachs and
2. why do they all look ahead without expression and
3. why do they stand with their knees bent?
Although the mask has always been recognised as being part of certain African dancing, figurines have never been regarded as being associated with it. An exception to this rule is F.Willett's remark (1975:215 reprint), when discussing the 'Aesthetics in African Sculpture': "A sculpture is also expected to show coolness or composure;....in dance by the withdrawn, expressionless face of the dancer". Tiérou's contribution to the subject is that, for the first time an African, trained in both African and Western dance forms, explains - in terms understandable to non-Africans - that traditional African dance possesses precise rules and codified movements. They are "the living expression of its philosophy and living memory of its evolution and cultural wealth over the centuries" (Tiérou, 1992:xi). The author does not only talk about African concepts of beauty and how they differ from western ones, but he goes into great detail when explaining the structure of traditional African dance, its basic movements and techniques. Such dances have been practiced for centuries, from Zulu war dances in South Africa to sensual dances in the Republic of Congo, to the acrobatic dances of Mali.
In Tiérou’s own words: "Dance in Africa is a privileged means of communication and is part of everyday life". This is where the two disciplines meet. Both in African dance and in figurine sculpture the curve and the round are basic criteria of beauty. To an African "The parts of the human body which constitute the true standards with which to evaluate the charm and beauty of a human being are, apart from the face, the neck, the breasts, the stomach, the legs and the buttocks" (ibid:36). A long neck, especially one adorned with rings, was regarded as particularly beautiful. Breasts signify age. Hence, hardly developed breast represent a young girl, fully developed breasts a marriageable woman in her prime, while extended breasts represent the mature woman who has had her children. An emphasized stomach indicates either pregnancy or well-being, either physically or in terms of status. As Tiérou explains: "The attention given to the stomach in African sculpture is…an expression of formal beauty" (ibid:37). The muscularity and chubbiness of legs was more important than their length; bowed legs were actually preferred. Another sign of beauty were developed buttocks, although their predominance on figurines has probably to do with a technicality. In the most basic stance of an African dancer the torso is inclined forward by up to 45 degrees. If a carving was to lean at such an angle it would probably be unstable. Leaning forward, however, does push the buttocks outward. By maintaining the upright stance of the figurine and emphasizing the buttocks, the idea of a forward lean is created.
Hairstyles, too, have always played an important part in African artistic expression. Artistic, because they were certainly never functional. On the contrary, they were often a hindrance to the extent of being responsible for the African habit of using headrests. Neither were the decorations of the latter functional, as they were technically not required. In some areas of the African continent, where sculpture was rare or non-existent, hairstyle art flourished particularly well, for example in Uganda among the Acholi people (Mack, 1995:139). As a rule, therefore, the head required by necessity a lot more space in carving than the other parts of the body.
Without this knowledge, even eminent writers on African art have come to uninformed conclusions, e.g.: "For whatever reason, a figure may often have an over-large head and elongated neck, a torso as erect as a column, distinctly protruding buttocks, very short legs and strikingly large feet" (Schmalenbach, 1988:20). African criteria of beauty also invalidate comments like: "The form of figural art in Africa is mainly determined…by its religious, cultic, ritual and magical function" (ibid:13). Any statement on the continent’s sculptural art is incomplete without the inclusion of beauty in the African sense.
Tiérou reveals that there are certain movements in traditional African dance which are found in every region of the continent. In the absence of written records from African sources, and without uniformity of nomenclature across the continent, Tiérou had to make a choice of naming these movements. He chose the terms of the sacred language of the ‘Grand Masks of the West’ (a society of elders watching over the cultural heritage of West Africa). The choice was approved of by the International Conference on African Dance, held in October 1988 in Yamoussoko, western Cote d’Ivoir. This gave it considerable authority.
According to Tiérou, there are ten basic dance movements. Three of them have proved to be particularly relevant to the interpretation of African figurines, namely: the DOOPLÉ, the SOUMPLÉ, and the KOUITCHIN (Tiérou, 1992:53,56,65). The most natural, most authentic and oldest of these movements is the DOOPLÉ. The dancer stands leaning forward at an appropriate angle of 135 degrees (or 45 degrees from the vertical). His/her knees are bent and kept apart. The dancer’s feet are placed parallel and flat on the ground but apart by a foot’s length. The arms either hang down at the side of the body, or are held slightly in front, or they are clearly raised. The hands remain open, the gaze is fixed straight ahead.
This simple explanation unravels three hitherto perplexing questions for non-Africans:
1. why do so many figurines seem to be holding their stomachs and
2. why do they all look ahead without expression and
3. why do they stand with their knees bent?