- Home
- Primitive and Pre-Columbian Art
- Interpreting African Sculpture
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.
Figure 1 is a typical example of the DOOPLÉ stance. The figurine once adorned the top of a rhythm pounder or dancing staff (a third leg, as Tiérou puts it). It represents a young Senufo girl (e.g. small breasts) from the border area of Cote d’Ivoir and Burkina Faso. She stands with knees bent and kept apart, her feet are separated but parallel. Unmistakably she leans forward, despite the extra emphasis given to her stance by her protruding buttocks. Once one’s attention is drawn to it, it seems fairly obvious that the figurine depicts a dancer.
Fig.1 . Fig.2 .
The second most prominent dance movement noticeable in figurative wood carvings from Africa is the SOUMPLÉ. It is in every respect like the dooplé, except that the knees and feet are kept close together (ibid:56). Figure 2 is a good example. It shows a figurine of the Lobi people who also live in the above mentioned border region. Figures like it are known as bateba effigies which have a status between supernatural beings and humans. The legs are markedly bent at the knees and very close together; the carver has not even bothered to separate them. The arms hang down the side of the body and the hands are open, palms facing downward (see explanation above). Again, the buttocks have been emphasized to indicate the slight leaning forward of the dancer.
The third dance movement in KOUITCHIN. It is characterized by bent knees which are kept together as are the thighs. However, the heels and ankles are held apart by the length of the dancer’s foot, while the big toes touch. Figure 3, a Luba/Hemba figurine from the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, shows the second part of the move, i.e. the in-turned toes. The legs are still in dooplé. Again, in view of what has been said above, it represents a dancer’s stance.
But there are many other dance movements which one can discover in African figurines. A Mende figure in the British Museum shows the person resting its weight on the outside edge of its feet, while the legs appear to be almost straight. The arms hang slightly angled by the side of the body, but the elbows are turned behind the torso (Meauzé, 1968:142). Again, the whole posture represents a typical African dance stance. Pounding the ground with the outside of the foot is apparently a dance movement widespread throughout West Africa.
In the Pierre Guerre Collection in Marseilles is a Fang figure which holds its hands together as if in prayer in the Christian manner. However, as Tiérou explains, hands held together like that by an African dancer symbolizes the completion of a circuit of energy. It too is a movement frequently used in traditional African dance and is associated with the soumplé (ibid:197).
A much illustrated Dan figurine of a woman carrying a child which is kept in the Musée des Arts Africaines et Océaniens in Paris, shows feet and legs in prominent dooplé stance. Arms and hands are in a half-raised position suggesting wings or feathers, a movement also much used by African dancers (ibid:54)
Two figures, which display the major criteria of African beauty, are an example of Babembe origin from the Republic of Congo, and of Izie origin from Nigeria. The lines of both figures are all curve, their necks are long and their limbs voluptuous (Segy,1975:212/273; Tiérou,1992:78). The palms of their hands in both examples face upwards.
Again, illuminating explanations like these contradict the established western view that: "in Africa…wood figures often manage to stand more securely if their legs are bent at the knee. For a real person such a position would be anything but secure" (Schmalenbach, 1988:22). Or: "animated facial expressions are just as unthinkable here as tension in the muscles of the body" (ibid:18). They are examples of complete misunderstanding of the nature of African culture. Facial expressions are not important to African dancers and mime is unknown to them. According to Tiérou, the richness of gestures is self explanatory in African society, while sign language of the faces is non-existent. What is more, they are superfluous in genuinely traditional African dance, similar to the mudras dances of the Hindus. Gestures, on the other hand, express the condition of the soul fully. All African dancers as well as their spectators know their meanings. Hand and arm gestures are a frequent feature of wooden carvings from Africa.
Interpreting African sculptural art is thus not as straightforward as seems to be believed by many western authors on the subject. However, some have recognized the western shortcoming. For example, Willett (1971:150) already recognized some 29 years ago that many writers, trained in art history, seemingly believe that it is possible to appreciate the arts of the non-western world without any knowledge of the world of ideas which they reflect. Laure Meyer even went so far as to ask bluntly: "What justification can there be for denying values of beauty to sculptures created on African soil?" (1992:9), because "All the features which transcend the merely functional and which serve no practical purpose, are evidently intended to satisfy a need for aesthetic pleasure…" (ibid.).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fig.1 . Fig.2 .
Fig3a . Fig.3b
The second most prominent dance movement noticeable in figurative wood carvings from Africa is the SOUMPLÉ. It is in every respect like the dooplé, except that the knees and feet are kept close together (ibid:56). Figure 2 is a good example. It shows a figurine of the Lobi people who also live in the above mentioned border region. Figures like it are known as bateba effigies which have a status between supernatural beings and humans. The legs are markedly bent at the knees and very close together; the carver has not even bothered to separate them. The arms hang down the side of the body and the hands are open, palms facing downward (see explanation above). Again, the buttocks have been emphasized to indicate the slight leaning forward of the dancer.
The third dance movement in KOUITCHIN. It is characterized by bent knees which are kept together as are the thighs. However, the heels and ankles are held apart by the length of the dancer’s foot, while the big toes touch. Figure 3, a Luba/Hemba figurine from the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, shows the second part of the move, i.e. the in-turned toes. The legs are still in dooplé. Again, in view of what has been said above, it represents a dancer’s stance.
But there are many other dance movements which one can discover in African figurines. A Mende figure in the British Museum shows the person resting its weight on the outside edge of its feet, while the legs appear to be almost straight. The arms hang slightly angled by the side of the body, but the elbows are turned behind the torso (Meauzé, 1968:142). Again, the whole posture represents a typical African dance stance. Pounding the ground with the outside of the foot is apparently a dance movement widespread throughout West Africa.
In the Pierre Guerre Collection in Marseilles is a Fang figure which holds its hands together as if in prayer in the Christian manner. However, as Tiérou explains, hands held together like that by an African dancer symbolizes the completion of a circuit of energy. It too is a movement frequently used in traditional African dance and is associated with the soumplé (ibid:197).
A much illustrated Dan figurine of a woman carrying a child which is kept in the Musée des Arts Africaines et Océaniens in Paris, shows feet and legs in prominent dooplé stance. Arms and hands are in a half-raised position suggesting wings or feathers, a movement also much used by African dancers (ibid:54)
Two figures, which display the major criteria of African beauty, are an example of Babembe origin from the Republic of Congo, and of Izie origin from Nigeria. The lines of both figures are all curve, their necks are long and their limbs voluptuous (Segy,1975:212/273; Tiérou,1992:78). The palms of their hands in both examples face upwards.
Again, illuminating explanations like these contradict the established western view that: "in Africa…wood figures often manage to stand more securely if their legs are bent at the knee. For a real person such a position would be anything but secure" (Schmalenbach, 1988:22). Or: "animated facial expressions are just as unthinkable here as tension in the muscles of the body" (ibid:18). They are examples of complete misunderstanding of the nature of African culture. Facial expressions are not important to African dancers and mime is unknown to them. According to Tiérou, the richness of gestures is self explanatory in African society, while sign language of the faces is non-existent. What is more, they are superfluous in genuinely traditional African dance, similar to the mudras dances of the Hindus. Gestures, on the other hand, express the condition of the soul fully. All African dancers as well as their spectators know their meanings. Hand and arm gestures are a frequent feature of wooden carvings from Africa.
Interpreting African sculptural art is thus not as straightforward as seems to be believed by many western authors on the subject. However, some have recognized the western shortcoming. For example, Willett (1971:150) already recognized some 29 years ago that many writers, trained in art history, seemingly believe that it is possible to appreciate the arts of the non-western world without any knowledge of the world of ideas which they reflect. Laure Meyer even went so far as to ask bluntly: "What justification can there be for denying values of beauty to sculptures created on African soil?" (1992:9), because "All the features which transcend the merely functional and which serve no practical purpose, are evidently intended to satisfy a need for aesthetic pleasure…" (ibid.).
© Herbert E. Roese
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Gillon, W. (1979) Collecting African Art; Cassell Ltd., London
- Mack, J. (1995) ‘Eastern Africa’, in T.Phillips, 1995, pp.117-177.
- Meyer, L. (1992) Black Africa – Masks, Sculptures, Jewelry; Editions Pierre Terrail, Paris.
- Meyer, L. (1995) Art and Craft in Africa – everyday life, ritual, court art; Editions Pierre Terrail, Paris.
- Meauzé. P. (1968) African Art – Sculpture; Tabart Press, New York.
- Phillips, T., ed., (1995) Africa, the Art of a Continent; Royal Academy of Arts,
- Schmalenbach, W. (1988) African Art – The Barbier-Mueller Collection; Prestel Verlag, Munich.
- Segy, S. (1975/4th ed.) African Sculpture Speaks; Da Capo Press Inc., New York.