ART
C R E AT I V E
MAKAMO FINALLY GETS WHAT HE DESERVES Wo rds by Ko jo Baffo e
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eauty and value are such subjective concepts. Throw ‘power’ into the equation and the exploration of these concepts can descend into an endless, often heated, debate. The discussion around beauty and what is deemed ‘aesthetically pleasing’ cannot be had, especially in this day and age, in isolation of a history that is fraught with oppression, exploitation and an extremely one-sided manifestation of power. The artworld is not immune to this and it could be argued that history, within the context of politics, capitalism, and power, has been especially harsh when it comes to African art, specifically. The language that was used for a long time centred around the words ‘crafts’ and ‘curios’, while much of what was stolen from the continent were often deemed ‘artefacts’ that only have a place in European or Western museums. As a side note, I still cannot get my head around the argument from European institutions, they will not repatriate these stolen works. They say that African institutions do not have the necessary resources and capacity to be able to adequately store these cultural materials, but that is a conversation for another day.
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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines curios as “something (such as a decorative object) considered novel, rare, or bizarre” while on the website key differences, it states that “Art is described as an unstructured and open-ended form of work; that expresses emotions, feelings, and vision. Craft denotes a form of work, involving the creation of physical objects, by the use of hands and brain. Art relies on artistic merit whereas craft is based on learned skills and technique.” Of course, these are not the ultimate authorities on definition but do easily reflect the general, read Western, consensus. As a layperson, it is my understanding that one of the tools used to separate African art from Western art is functionality and the idea that if something is functional – say a mask, for a traditional ceremony – then it cannot be art. And yet, the influence of African art on European art and the work of artists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and Constantin Brancusi, amongst others, is well documented. The narrative is changing, albeit slower than is ideal, but we do need to keep having the conversations and ensuring that it does not continue to be an extremely one-sided one.
