BAGA by ACC Art Books

visions of africa

Baga

€ 35.00 | $ 39.95 | Can. $ 44.95 | £ 27.95

Marie Yvonne Curtis Marie Yvonne Curtis

The Baga, along with the Nalu and the Landuma, are a small rice-growing community living along the coast of Guinea, in West Africa. They became famous following the discovery of their extraordinary sculptures towards the end of the nineteenth century. Nowadays, the art of the Baga is admired in the public and private collections. Their works consist mainly of different types of wooden masks and statues of various sizes, as well as wonderful percussion instruments, chiefs’ seats, and other skilfully carved utilitarian objects. All these objects were once created and used as important features in their ritual behavior based on the manifestation of their divinities, ancestor worship, rites of passage, secret brotherhoods, and the performance of important social ceremonies like weddings, funerals, and harvesting. Influenced by colonization and newly introduced religions and at the same time finding inspiration in traditional myths and legends, sculptors included entirely new works, like the figures of colonists standing on horseback or riding birds, the many different kinds of female busts representing “Mami Wata,” the sea goddess, winged figures, animals from their tales and legends, and the heroic founders of their villages.

Baga

Table of Contents

Editorial Coordination Laura Maggioni Translation Julian Comoy

Acknowledgments The publisher would especially like to thank Marc Ghysels for his invaluable assistance.

Editing Emily Ligniti Art Director Fayçal Zaouali Layout Carlotta Turba

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. © 2018 by 5 Continents Editions, Milan ISBN 978-88-7439-820-1 First published in September 2018 by 5 Continents Editions Piazza Caiazzo, 1 20124 Milan, Italy www.fivecontinentseditions.com Distributed in the United States and Canada by Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York, until December 31, 2018. Distributed outside the United States and Canada, excluding Italy and Central/South America, by Yale University Press, London, until December 31, 2018. Starting January 1, 2019, our publications in English will be distributed by ACC Art Books throughout the world, excluding Italy. Distributed in Italy by Messaggerie Libri S.p.A.

Cover Nimba-headed male figure (pl. 47). Wood. H. 52 cm. Private collection, Belgium, courtesy Galerie Yann Ferrandin, Paris. Back cover Banda mask by the Baga Mandori. Photo Sabine Diakité, 2017. Page 2 D’mba dance in the village of Kataco. Photo Sabine Diakité, 2015.

Between Tradition and Innovation

8 15 19 26 31 54 60

Historical Overview of the Discovery of Baga Objects The Baga: A People Steeped in Tradition The Beliefs The Sculptors The Ancient Art of the Baga The Most Recent Sculptures Fresh Challenges Confronting the Masks

Plates

121

Plate Entries

129

Annotated Bibliography

138

Acknowledgements

143

Photo Credits

Between Tradition and Innovation NALU

NALU

Co m

po n l

LANDUMA

Kanfarandé Kamsar

nez

Tshalbonto (Taïdi)

PUKUR

Rio

Tolkotsh Kufen

M’nar (Binari) M’born (Mbotini)

Kawass Katako Maré Kalilentsh (Kakilensi) Kalikse Bukor (Bigori) Monchon Kifinda

PEUL SUSU

Bongolon

Fat

Douprou

Sobané

ala

BULUÑITS

SITEM

BOFFA

KAKISSA Marara go Taboria on o P Ile de Kito Ri Katéma (Tatéma) Koba Rarè

LAN TIC OCEAN AT

KOBA

SUSU

Dubréka

Nongo Kaporo

KALUM Ile de Loos

Capital town of the region Towns BAGA (sub-groups) Mandori Sitem

This essay is dedicated to Mary Joseph Soumah, my paternal grandmother and a woman of extraordinary generosity. She belonged to the Baga Kalum family (Rogbanè).

MANDORI

our

Ri o

BOKE Kolaboui

Ile Tristao

Dobali Kambilam

CONAKRY

Pukur Buluñits Kakisa Koba Kalum NALU Neighboring people

Map of the Guinea coast. The lands of the Baga sub-groups along the entire coast are indicated from north to south.

Like their neighbors the Nalu and the Landuma, the Baga live on the edge of the coastal mangrove swamps in Guinea. They have long struggled to preserve their traditions, which have always been central to their sense of identity. Sculpture enjoys a special place in society and plays an important role in mediating between the gods and the world of men, in ancestor worship, in the performance of rites of passage and initiation rites, as well as in the regeneration of time and mankind. More specifically, sculpture in some sense expresses the rules that a community has adopted to organize society, to overcome the fears engendered by the natural environment and daily life, and to establish contact with supernatural powers before imbuing them with life. All their masks, statues, and many extraordinary artifacts involve some form of sculpture.They are generally kept in a sacred place and borne by someone wearing a costume made of plant fibers and cloth, but acquire their power only when aroused by music, singing, and dancing—essential features of any ritual. The art of the Baga gradually came to light during European expeditions to explore the coast of Guinea.The Europeans were always interested in skillfully made artifacts and they collected pieces sporadically or systematically as they went, adding them to public or private collections. This led me during my research between 1990 and 1996 to consider the history of these works’ peregrinations. The quality of the crafstmanship prompted me to examine their sculpture more closely. It soon became clear that I should concentrate on trying to understand the relationship between the Baga and their art. This book aims to suggest some possible answers to a question that is both simple and at the same time complex: What is Baga art? We often think of art as something ethereal and independent of other aspects of social interaction. This attitude is questionable enough when applied to Western

33 - 34 | 35 - 36

126

Plate Entries

127

Pl. 33. Bust mask with two horns (tiyambo). Wood, pigment. H. 56 cm. Private collection. The tiyambo mask portrays a pubescent girl depicted in a modern, naturalistic fashion. The sculpture has a straight nose, round eyes with a black pupil, a thin mouth, and ears in the shape of the arc of a circle, like those on a nimba mask. Two horns curving backwards emerge from the figure’s plaited hairstyle, hinting at its supernatural origin. The armless girl is adorned with a necklace and has the full, pointed breasts typical of her age, while a bead belt, as worn by initiates, encircles her waist.

Pl. 34. Bust mask with horn (tiyambo). Wood, pigment. H. 78 cm. Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, inv. 73.1966.18.2. A figure inspired by the underground world, tiyambo was the responsibility of young Baga Sitem men and was depicted as a girl who had undergone initiation as a preparation for marriage: a necklace round her neck, bracelets on her forearm, belts around her waist. This highly stylized example wears a plaited hairstyle, in the middle of which emerges a long horn. The young woman’s arms support her breasts in sign of worship and seduction.

Pl. 35. Bust mask (yombofissa). Wood, pigment. H. 52 cm. Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva, inv. 1001-23. This bust of a young woman is called yombofissa, which means “beautiful hair.” It is colored red, which in Baga art is the idealized representation of light skin. The figure’s long, plaited natural hair is parted down the middle by a wooden crest (painted yellow and blue), of the kind a Fulani or Limba woman would wear. The position of her hands, shown gripping two objects, is unusual. The work is a fine illustration of the sculptor’s skill and imagination.

Pl. 36. Kinson headdress. Wood, pigment. H. 52 cm. Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, inv. 71.33.40.20. This mask headdress made up of various different birds was created by a Baga artist from Koba who named it after himself (Kinson). The complex, flowing invention plays successfully with hollows and voids. It also introduces new sculptural forms and a fresh arrangement of colors (white, back, red, and yellow). The mask twists and turns with great rapidity during the dance so that each side is brought into play.

Pl. 41. Men’s drum (timba). Wood, pigment. H. 132 cm. Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, inv. 73.1965.1.12. This is a particularly striking sculpture, both in its sleek lines and beautiful polychromy (red, black, ochre, and brown). While the horse certainly symbolizes colonial power, it is also the emblem of Baga elders. This type of large drum, called timba by the Baga and matimbo by the Pokur, the Buluñits and the Nalu, was played during ritual ceremonies—initiations, announcements of death, harvests, and sacrifices to the ancestors—using two wooden drumsticks.

Pl. 42. Women’s drum (a-ndef). Wood, pigment. H. 113 cm. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., inv. 91-1-1. Baga women have their own musical instruments, which they keep in their society and play during the ceremonies they organize, including initiations, funerals, weddings, exchanges with the ancestors, and receptions for visiting foreigners. Like the men’s drums, which are larger, the women’s drums are also played using two drumsticks. In this example the drum itself is held by snake-like elements over the head of a beautiful Baga bride, who is kneeling and holding a container for offerings. The dark and light brown natural pigments lend this sculpture a certain dignity. Nowadays the caryatids supporting drums commissioned by women are generally painted bright red.

Pl. 43. Men’s drum (timba). Wood, pigment. H. 160 cm. Jeffrey Swanson Collection, Seattle. This recently made drum has a relatively small soundbox and is decorated with large, colored geometric patterns. It is supported by two sets of caryatids: the first level contains four kneeling figures with their arms raised, consisting of two naked girls with beautiful plaits and jewels and two young men wearing European clothes. All four are on a pedestal resembling colonial buildings, with their typical arches and columns.

Pl. 44. Men’s drum (timba). Wood, pigment. H. 118 cm. Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, inv. 71.1928.26.1. This high (70 cm), oblong men’s drum is unique and highly original in concept. It has traces of color (blue and white) and its stand is made up of four small figures standing in a ring on a round base, all displaying the features typical of nimba statuettes. This type of drum is played exclusively by men in their secret society and is kept by their chief.

Pl. 37. Bird headdress (a-bëmp/a-bämp). Wood, pigment. H. 54.61 cm. University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, gift of John J. Brady, Jr., inv. 1992.33. Bird masks are common to the Baga, Landuma, Nalu, and Soussou. Once used exclusively in a sacred context, these sculptures have bit by bit turned into a way of providing fun for the young. This particular specimen was made by a Baga sculptor from Koba, who has given free rein to his imagination, balancing some chicks on little boards placed on a large pelican’s back. The whole work is brightly colored and the birds are treated in a basically realistic manner.

Pl. 38. Bird headdress (a-bëmp/a-bämp). Wood, pigment. H. 60 cm. Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, inv. 73.1963.153. This headdress is remarkably naturalistic and has been painted in a variety of colors (white, black, dark ochre red, and indigo blue). It represents the fish eagle or ibis with its long, curved beak and includes a richly decorated crest. The bird is carrying two chicks on its wings, as well as two standing Baga girls with their hands on their breasts and a man dressed in the European style wearing a colonial helmet, whose hands are resting on a nimba-type figurine. The fish eagle embodies the Sata-bo spirit, whose appearance announces imminent death or catastrophe.

PI. 39. Box mask (sibondel). Wood, pigment. H. 71 cm. Frederick Lamp Collection, New Haven, Connecticut. Made out of kapok wood, this mask was invented in the 1930s and takes the form of a box with a donkey’s head, or the head of a hare with very long ears, at the front and a stylized tail at the back. This particular specimen was collected in the village of Kufen (Debesre district) in 1970 and is richly decorated with colored motifs on a white background. Each separately sculpted figure is nailed to its base. In this composition, the sculptor has depicted two large birds with long, curved beaks, two men on a motorcycle, and a Moslem dignitary wearing his distinctive white cap.

Pl. 40. Box mask (al-b’rak). Wood, pigment. H. 110 cm. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, gift of Helen and Dr. Robert Kuhn, inv. X85.834a. This so-called Al-b’rak box mask, from the name of the prophet Mohammed’s winged horse, is another original invention. According to the Baga Sitem sculptor Salo Baki, this work now in Los Angeles is the first he ever made. It dates from 1954 and was modeled on a picture in a newspaper he saw hanging on the wall of a house in Tolkotsh. It showed a winged white horse with a woman’s head and long black hair.

Pl. 45. Nimba-headed couple. Wood, metal. H. 84.4 cm. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., gift of Samuel Rubin, inv. 78-14-4 and 78-14-5. These two male and female statuettes were viewed as the guardians of the sacred places where the ancestors were worshipped and rituals performed to provide protection for the community. The story of these two works is very interesting. Removed from the sacred forest of the village of Maré and confiscated by the Moslem cleric Asékou Sayon in order to be destroyed, they were instead bought and photographed by Geneviève and Maurice Nicaud, who were present when they were seized. The sculptures were subsequently sold to various collectors and repaired before being donated to the museum.

Pl. 46. Nimba-headed male figure. Wood. H. 59 cm. James J. Ross Collection, New York. This statue possesses a head that is a perfect and striking replica of the nimba mask. The fragile, handless arms are raised to the chin in sign of worship. The belly is prominent and the feet are encased in a hemispheric base. Although these statues were seen by colonial administrators in Pokur and Sitem villages at the end of the nineteenth century, their precise purpose has remained a mystery.

Pl. 47. Nimba-headed male figure. Wood. H. 52 cm. Private collection, Belgium, courtesy Galerie Yann Ferrandin, Paris. This beautiful statue was once part of the Charles Frey Collection in Basle, Switzerland. Charles Frey acquired it in northern Sassandra between 1930 and 1940 when he was working for the Société commerciale de l’Ouest africain (plantations) in Agboville (Côte d’Ivoire). The specimen displays the same features as the other statues of this kind: a nimba head, hands under the chin and a rounded belly. However, the figure stands out for the way the legs are gathered under the body and solidly anchored to the base, as well as for its luscious dark patina—the result of the wood being blackened by coal smoke and covered with layers of libation oil.

Pl. 48. Kneeling female figure. Wood. H. 28 cm. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, gift of The May Department Stores Company, inv. 19:1966. This example of a female statuette highlights the importance of the woman’s role in the home. The pot she carries on her head underlines her function as a housewife, while her hands holding her breasts refer to her duties towards her spouse, who expects respect and attention, and her children (care and education).

In the same series: Bamana by Jean-Paul Colleyn Bamum by Christraud M. Geary Baule by Alain-Michel Boyer Benin by Barbara Plankensteiner Chokwe by Boris Wastiau Fang by Louis Perrois Guro by Anne-Marie Bouttiaux Igbo by Herbert M. Cole Kota by Louis Perrois Kuba by David A. Binkley and Patricia Darish Lobi by Daniela Bognolo Luba by Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts Mossi by Christopher D. Roy Pende by Z. S. Strother Punu by Louis Perrois and Charlotte Grand-Dufay Yaka by Arthur P. Bourgeois Yoruba by Babatunde Lawal

Colour Separation Eurofotolit, Milan Printed in Italy in July 2018 by Tecnostampa - Pigini Group Printing Division Loreto - Trevi, Italy for 5 Continents Editions, Milan