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'''''Tanzania. Masterworks of African Skulpture''''' (original title: '''''Tanzania.''''' '''''Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur''/''Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika''''' ) was an exhibition of traditional African sculptures originating from the mainland region of modern Tanzania. This exhibition was shown in 1994 at the House of World Cultures in Berlin and an annex of the ] art museum in Munich, Germany. It was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue with numerous photographs, maps and illustrations as well as contributions by ethnologists, art historians and collectors in German and Swahili, the national language of Tanzania.<ref name=":32">{{citation|date=1994 |editor=Jens Jahn, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin und Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München |isbn=3-88645-118-6 |language=de sw |location=München |pages=528 |publisher=Fred Jahn |title=Tanzania: Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur. Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika.}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> '''''Tanzania. Masterworks of African Skulpture''''' (original title: '''''Tanzania.''''' '''''Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur''/''Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika''''' ) was an exhibition of traditional ] originating from the ] of modern ]. This exhibition was shown in 1994 at the ] in Berlin and the ] art museum in Munich, Germany. It was accompanied by a ] catalogue with numerous photographs, maps and illustrations as well as contributions by ], ] and collectors in ] and ], the national language of Tanzania.<ref name=":32">{{citation|date=1994 |editor=Jens Jahn, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin und Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München |isbn=3-88645-118-6 |language=de sw |location=München |pages=528 |publisher=Fred Jahn |title=Tanzania: Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur. Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika.}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>


== The exhibition == == The exhibition ==
From 29 April to 7 August 1994, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin presented an extensive exhibition of African art objectp.<ref name=":02">{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-07 |date=1994-03-29 |language=de |publisher=Neues Deutschland |title=Tansania-Skulpturen |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/477697.tansania-skulpturen.html?origin=serp_auto |website=www.nd-aktuell.de}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>For definitions of the term "African art", see the relevant section in the article ] and the sources cited therein.</ref> The same exhibition was shown from 29 September 1994 to 27 November 1994 at the Lenbachhaus-Kunstbau, Munich.<ref name=":22">{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-07 |date=1994 |language=de |title=Tanzania. Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur |url=https://www.lenbachhaup.de/programm/ausstellungen/detail/tanzania-930?origin=serp_auto |website=www.lenbachhaup.de}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> More than 400 historical sculptures and masks from Tanganyika, the East African mainland in present-day Tanzania, had been selected for this exhibition. Some of the objects on display came from German museums, while others were provided by lenders from Europe, the USA and Africa. From 29 April to 7 August 1994, the House of World Cultures in Berlin presented an extensive exhibition of African art objects.<ref name=":02">{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-07 |date=1994-03-29 |language=de |publisher=Neues Deutschland |title=Tansania-Skulpturen |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/477697.tansania-skulpturen.html?origin=serp_auto |website=www.nd-aktuell.de}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>For definitions of the term "African art", see the relevant section in the article ] and the sources cited therein.</ref> The same exhibition was shown from 29 September 1994 to 27 November 1994 at the Lenbachhaus-Kunstbau in Munich.<ref name=":22">{{cite web |date=1994 |title=Tanzania. Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur |url=https://www.lenbachhaup.de/programm/ausstellungen/detail/tanzania-930?origin=serp_auto |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.lenbachhaus.de |language=de}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> More than 400 historical sculptures and masks from Tanganyika, the East African mainland in present-day Tanzania, had been selected for this exhibition. Some of the objects on display came from German museums, while others were provided by private collectors from Europe, the USA and Africa.


In the course of the former colony of German East Africa, cultural artefacts and other objects worthy of preservation from the point of view of ethnology came into the possession of German museums and private collectionp.<ref>These include ] such as skulls and ] finds of dinosaur ] from the ].</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-13 |author=Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |language=de |title=Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa |url=https://www.smb.museum/nachrichten/detail/publikation-zur-provenienzforschung-an-schaedeln-aus-deutsch-ostafrika-human-remains-from-the-former-german-colony-of-east-africa/}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> As evidence of the traditional culture<ref>Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 37: "By 'traditional' we mean sculptures for ritual purposes that were made in a traditional way by members of a people for clients from that people."</ref> of African peoples, such objects have been kept in ethnological museums in numerous German cities since the end of the 19th century. Until the exhibition in Berlin and Munich, sculptures from various Tanzanian ethnic groups had not been presented on a large scale as evidence of the country's cultural traditionp. In the course of the former colony of ], cultural artefacts and other objects worthy of preservation from the point of view of ethnology came into the possession of German museums and private collections.<ref>Apart from cultural objects, these include ] such as skulls and ] finds of dinosaur ] from the ].</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-13 |author=Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |language=de |title=Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa |url=https://www.smb.museum/nachrichten/detail/publikation-zur-provenienzforschung-an-schaedeln-aus-deutsch-ostafrika-human-remains-from-the-former-german-colony-of-east-africa/}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> As evidence of the traditional culture<ref>Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 37: "By 'traditional' we mean sculptures for ritual purposes that were made in a traditional way by members of a people for clients from that people."</ref> of African peoples, such objects have been kept in ] in numerous German cities since the end of the 19th century. Until the exhibition in Berlin and Munich, sculptures from various Tanzanian ethnic groups had not been presented as evidence of the country's cultural traditions on such a large scale.


In contrast to sculptures from West Africa, which have been appreciated by artists and collectors such as Picasso, Braque and Apollinaire since the beginning of the 20th century at the latest, the impression prevailed in public art exhibitions and in ethnological literature that East Africa was poor in traditional African art.<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn, 1994, p. 18–22.</ref> With the most extensive exhibition of East African art objects to date, the organisers pursued the goal of making "a previously unknown rich cultural landscape accessible to the wider public."<ref>See Jahn, 1994, p. 13</ref> In contrast to sculptures from West Africa, which have been appreciated by European artists and collectors such as ], ] and ] since the beginning of the 20th century, there had been a prevailing judgement in public art exhibitions and in ethnological literature that East Africa was poor in traditional African art.<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn, 1994, p. 18–22.</ref> With the 1994 extensive exhibition of East African art objects, the organisers wanted to make "a previously unknown rich cultural landscape accessible to the wider public."<ref>See Jahn, 1994, p. 13</ref>


== The catalogue == == The catalogue ==
The 528-page, large-format exhibition catalogue was compiled under the academic direction of Munich-based art historians Maria Kecskési and Iris Hahner-Herzog. It contains contributions by European and American ethnologists, art historians and collectors on aspects of traditional sculptural art from Tanzania and is intended as a supplement to the exhibition. More than 500 black and white photographs of sculptures and masks from public and private collections as well as maps and illustrations accompanying the texts complement the individual chapterp.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-15 |language=de |title=Galerie Fred Jahn |url=http://www.fredjahn.com/category/publikationen/1994-publikationen/ |website=www.fredjahn.com}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> The 528-page, large-format exhibition catalogue was compiled under the academic direction of Munich-based art historians Maria Kecskési and Iris Hahner-Herzog. It contains contributions by European and American ethnologists, art historians and collectors on aspects of traditional sculptural art from Tanzania as a complement the exhibition. More than 500 ] of sculptures and masks from public and private collections as well as maps and illustrations enhance the individual chapters.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-15 |language=de |title=Galerie Fred Jahn |url=http://www.fredjahn.com/category/publikationen/1994-publikationen/ |website=www.fredjahn.com}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>


=== Maria Kecskési. Introduction === === Maria Kecskési. Introduction ===
In the introductory section, Maria Kecskési, then head of the Africa department of the Ethnological Museum in Munich, describes the aim of the exhibition of sculptural art objects from various ethnic groups in what is now Tanzania. She refers to comparisons between the traditional arts from West and East Africa. She mentions the appreciation and richness of form of West and Central African art, for example from Nigeria and today's Democratic Republic of Congo. In particular, she referred to the thesis of art historian Gerald W. Hartwig that East Africa has a poverty of sculptures compared to other regions of Africa.<ref>{{citation|author=Gerald W. Hartwig |date=1978 |doi=10.2307/3335347 |issn=0001-9933 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=62–96 |periodical=African Arts |title=Sculpture in East Africa |volume=11|jstor=3335347 }}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>{{Zitat|Text=Handbücher, Ausstellungskataloge und andere zusammenfassende Darstellungen der traditionellen Künste Afrikas pflegen die Kunst der ostafrikanischen Länder, auch Tanzanias, sehr kurz zu behandeln. Begründet wird dies mit der angeblichen Kunstarmut der dort heimischen Völker und Kulturen. Man weiß zwar, dass Musik, Tanz und Dichtung auch in Ostafrika blühen und blühten, und unübersehbar ist zudem die Vielfalt der sogenannten Gebrauchskünste: Töpferei, Flechterei, Holzschnitzerei, Schmiedehandwerk und Perlenstickerei warten mit auch ästhetisch bemerkenswerten, oft reich ornamentierten Produkten auf, und bedeutend sind außerdem die Traditionen des Körperschmückens, sowohl im Bereich des angelegten Schmucks als auch in jenem von Frisuren, Körperbemalung und Narbentatauierungen. Sie sprechen deutlich genug gegen die These von der Kunstarmut.|ref=<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn 1994, p. 17</ref>}}Refuting this thesis of an alleged poverty of figurative art in Tanzania's history was the reason for putting together this comprehensive exhibition from public and private collections in 1994. Kecskési also refers to changes in the appreciation of traditional African art, in that "European artists recognised the 'raw' sculpture of East Africa as a form-rich, expressive art in the 1980s at the latest and incorporated it productively into their art."<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn, 1994, p. 24, wo die Autorin auch auf ] und ] verweist.</ref> In the introductory section, Maria Kecskési, then head of the Africa department of the ], describes the aim of the exhibition of sculptural art objects from various ethnic groups in what is now Tanzania. She refers to comparisons between the traditional arts from West and East Africa. She mentions the appreciation and formal richness of West and Central African art, for example from Nigeria and today's Democratic Republic of Congo. In particular, she referred to the thesis of art historian Gerald W. Hartwig that East Africa has a poverty of sculptures compared to other regions of Africa.<ref>{{citation|author=Gerald W. Hartwig |date=1978 |doi=10.2307/3335347 |issn=0001-9933 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=62–96 |periodical=African Arts |title=Sculpture in East Africa |volume=11|jstor=3335347 }}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>{{Zitat|Text=Handbücher, Ausstellungskataloge und andere zusammenfassende Darstellungen der traditionellen Künste Afrikas pflegen die Kunst der ostafrikanischen Länder, auch Tanzanias, sehr kurz zu behandeln. Begründet wird dies mit der angeblichen Kunstarmut der dort heimischen Völker und Kulturen. Man weiß zwar, dass Musik, Tanz und Dichtung auch in Ostafrika blühen und blühten, und unübersehbar ist zudem die Vielfalt der sogenannten Gebrauchskünste: Töpferei, Flechterei, Holzschnitzerei, Schmiedehandwerk und Perlenstickerei warten mit auch ästhetisch bemerkenswerten, oft reich ornamentierten Produkten auf, und bedeutend sind außerdem die Traditionen des Körperschmückens, sowohl im Bereich des angelegten Schmucks als auch in jenem von Frisuren, Körperbemalung und Narbentatauierungen. Sie sprechen deutlich genug gegen die These von der Kunstarmut.|ref=<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn 1994, p. 17</ref>}}Refuting this thesis of an alleged poverty of figurative art in Tanzania's history was one of the reasons for putting together this comprehensive exhibition from public and private collections in 1994. Kecskési also refers to changes in the appreciation of traditional African art, in that "European artists recognised the 'raw' sculpture of East Africa as a form-rich, expressive art in the 1980s at the latest and incorporated it productively into their art."<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn, 1994, p. 24, wo die Autorin auch auf ] und ] verweist.</ref>


Furthermore, Kecskési points out that research into traditional cultural objects is only possible from the middle of the 19th century onwards on the basis of written sources on collectionp. She also comments on different approaches to cultural anthropology and art history in relation to African art. On the fundamental question of how tradition and creativity also relate to each other in African art, she writes the following:{{Zitat|Text=Die Annahme fremder Impulse, die Schöpfung einer von fremden Vorbildern stimulierten, eigenen Stiltradition ist ein durchaus kreativer Vorgang; und die Treue zu traditionell gewordenen Formen bedeutet keineswegs Reproduzieren. Der Schnitzer richtet sich im allgemeinen nach dem traditionellen, idealen Vorbild (das er nicht vor Augen, sondern im Gedächtnis hat); in der Gestaltung des Einzelstückes fühlt er sich aber weitgehend frei.|ref=<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn 1994, p. 22</ref>}} Furthermore, Kecskési points out that research into traditional cultural objects is only possible from the middle of the 19th century onwards on the basis of written sources on collectionp. She also comments on different approaches to cultural anthropology and art history in relation to African art. On the fundamental question of how tradition and creativity also relate to each other in African art, she writes the following:{{Zitat|Text=Die Annahme fremder Impulse, die Schöpfung einer von fremden Vorbildern stimulierten, eigenen Stiltradition ist ein durchaus kreativer Vorgang; und die Treue zu traditionell gewordenen Formen bedeutet keineswegs Reproduzieren. Der Schnitzer richtet sich im allgemeinen nach dem traditionellen, idealen Vorbild (das er nicht vor Augen, sondern im Gedächtnis hat); in der Gestaltung des Einzelstückes fühlt er sich aber weitgehend frei.|ref=<ref>See Kecskési in Jahn 1994, p. 22</ref>}}

Revision as of 23:42, 3 January 2025

File:Siège-Kami-Musée des Confluencep.jpg
High-backed stool, Kami ethnic group, late 19th century, Musée des Confluences, Lyon
Exhibition of traditional art from Tanzania

Tanzania. Masterworks of African Skulpture (original title: Tanzania. Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur/Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika ) was an exhibition of traditional African sculptures originating from the mainland region of modern Tanzania. This exhibition was shown in 1994 at the House of World Cultures in Berlin and the Lenbachhaus art museum in Munich, Germany. It was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue with numerous photographs, maps and illustrations as well as contributions by ethnologists, art historians and collectors in German and Swahili, the national language of Tanzania.

The exhibition

From 29 April to 7 August 1994, the House of World Cultures in Berlin presented an extensive exhibition of African art objects. The same exhibition was shown from 29 September 1994 to 27 November 1994 at the Lenbachhaus-Kunstbau in Munich. More than 400 historical sculptures and masks from Tanganyika, the East African mainland in present-day Tanzania, had been selected for this exhibition. Some of the objects on display came from German museums, while others were provided by private collectors from Europe, the USA and Africa.

In the course of the former colony of German East Africa, cultural artefacts and other objects worthy of preservation from the point of view of ethnology came into the possession of German museums and private collections. As evidence of the traditional culture of African peoples, such objects have been kept in ethnological museums in numerous German cities since the end of the 19th century. Until the exhibition in Berlin and Munich, sculptures from various Tanzanian ethnic groups had not been presented as evidence of the country's cultural traditions on such a large scale.

In contrast to sculptures from West Africa, which have been appreciated by European artists and collectors such as Picasso, Braque and Apollinaire since the beginning of the 20th century, there had been a prevailing judgement in public art exhibitions and in ethnological literature that East Africa was poor in traditional African art. With the 1994 extensive exhibition of East African art objects, the organisers wanted to make "a previously unknown rich cultural landscape accessible to the wider public."

The catalogue

The 528-page, large-format exhibition catalogue was compiled under the academic direction of Munich-based art historians Maria Kecskési and Iris Hahner-Herzog. It contains contributions by European and American ethnologists, art historians and collectors on aspects of traditional sculptural art from Tanzania as a complement the exhibition. More than 500 black-and-white photographs of sculptures and masks from public and private collections as well as maps and illustrations enhance the individual chapters.

Maria Kecskési. Introduction

In the introductory section, Maria Kecskési, then head of the Africa department of the Ethnological Museum in Munich, describes the aim of the exhibition of sculptural art objects from various ethnic groups in what is now Tanzania. She refers to comparisons between the traditional arts from West and East Africa. She mentions the appreciation and formal richness of West and Central African art, for example from Nigeria and today's Democratic Republic of Congo. In particular, she referred to the thesis of art historian Gerald W. Hartwig that East Africa has a poverty of sculptures compared to other regions of Africa.

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Refuting this thesis of an alleged poverty of figurative art in Tanzania's history was one of the reasons for putting together this comprehensive exhibition from public and private collections in 1994. Kecskési also refers to changes in the appreciation of traditional African art, in that "European artists recognised the 'raw' sculpture of East Africa as a form-rich, expressive art in the 1980s at the latest and incorporated it productively into their art." Furthermore, Kecskési points out that research into traditional cultural objects is only possible from the middle of the 19th century onwards on the basis of written sources on collectionp. She also comments on different approaches to cultural anthropology and art history in relation to African art. On the fundamental question of how tradition and creativity also relate to each other in African art, she writes the following:

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Marc L. Felix. A short history of Tanzania

The introductory article by the Belgian art expert and collector Marc L. Felix provides information about the peoples who have inhabited the Tanzanian mainland over the course of Tanzania's millennia-old history. In addition to the Cushitic, Nilotic and Bantu-speaking groups with their developed cultural techniques in agriculture and animal husbandry, these also include the Swahili-speaking coastal inhabitants, whose societies were characterised by the cultural influences of immigrants from the Persian Gulf, India and Indonesia. Since the 19th century in particular, gradual population movements and cultural change have taken place as a result of the trade in ivory and slaves, the introduction of plantation farming and finally the colonisation of Tanganyika.

Marc L. Felix. The traditional Sculpture of Tanzania

Dieser kunsthistorische Überblick mit umfangreichem Bildmaterial vermittelt eine Typologie von Objekten, die als Teil der materiellen Kultur der jeweiligen Ethnien überliefert sind. Zum großen Teil handelt es sich dabei um Holzskulpturen, welche Masken, Figuren oder Symbole für Machtpositionen oder rituelle Zwecke darstellen. Felix stellt dabei für die mehr als 100 Ethnien auf dem tansanischen Festland acht geografisch übergreifende Stileinheiten mit spezifischen kunsthistorischen, stilistischen und typologischen Gemeinsamkeiten auf. Dabei unterscheidet er zwischen der jeweiligen Funktion und dem Typus einer Skulptur. Als Beispiel führt er eine kunstvoll verzierte Axt als Typus an, die jedoch nicht als Werkzeug, sondern als Symbol für die rituelle Funktion ihres Gebrauchs diente. Ein solches Symbol konnte je nach Situation „zum Heilen, Beschützen, Abschrecken oder als Vermittler zwischen Geistern und Menschen dienen.“

Enrico Castelli. Traditional Sculpture from Central-Eastern Tanzania

Enrico Castelli, ethnologist at the University of Perugia, describes above all so-called mwana hiti (tranp.: children made of wood) figures of the Zaramo, Luguru, Kami, Kwere, Kutu and Ngulu ethnic groups, who live between the coast and the hinterland. As a uniform element, these figures have female features such as stylised breasts, stratified navels and specific hairstylep. Furthermore, many figures are decorated with geometric patternp. Mwana hiti figures were used as ritual objects in initiation rites for girls who were accompanied by mothers or godmothers in their development into young women. Castelli interprets the geometric motifs as a sign of kinship relationships (lineage).

Similar figures were also used as the upper parts of ritual staffs, musical instruments and for grave steles as an image of an ancestor. Grave steles with male figures exist from the end of the 19th century alongside female onep. These feature elements with specifically male connotations such as knives, axes or the Islamic headdress kofia. The use of both female and male marked grave sculptures is interpreted by the change from matrilineal to patrilineal kinship relationshipp.

Georges Meurant. Sculptures made of clay and wood from North-Eastern Tanzania

Georges Meurant, collector, author of studies on African art and former professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, discusses in his article the mostly small-format sculptures made of wood or clay of the ethnic groups south of the Kenyan border in the north-east of the country. These were used in connection with initiation, fertility or agriculture, but also as tools of sorcerers and healerp.

In his explanations, Meurant refers to the collection and publications of the Austrian-born British ethnologist Hans Cory. Thanks to his many years of residence in Tanganyika and his knowledge of the language, he had been collecting self-taught ethnographic information since the 1930s, particularly on clay figures and their ritual use. On this basis, Cory published numerous studies, particularly on topics such as African customary law, local customs and rites, secret societies and witchcraft, traditional medicine, music and initiation ritep.

Als gemeinsame Merkmale der Holz- bzw. Tonfiguren beschreibt Meurant stilistische Ähnlichkeiten aufgrund der jeweiligen Gestaltung der Köpfe, Ohren, Beine und Arme bei den Skulpturen der einzelnen Ethnien. Dabei stellt er lokalspezifische Eigenschaften fest, welche sowohl anthropomorphe als auch tierische Figuren aufweisen.

Georges Meurant. The sculptural art of the Nyamwezi

Before Meurant discusses the sculptures of the Nyamwezi, he provides an overview of the formal characteristics of the larger regions of origin in Tanganyika according to the geographical classification on the map in the catalogue p. 39. He distinguishes three categories with regard to the provenance of the sculptures in Western collections: Even before the official founding of the German colony in East Africa in 1891, German collectors had acquired sculptures locally. Later, ethnologists such as Karl Weule handed over their artefacts to ethnological museums, including those in Berlin and Leipzig. A second group of artefacts came to Europe through private collectors from the subsequent Belgian and British colonies in East Africa. The third and most extensive group is the contemporary trade in African art, which, according to Meurant, includes thousands of sculptures and masks from Tanganyika. However, there is often a lack of background information on the origin and original use of these objectp.

Meurant also comments on the most important forms, cultural functions and the categorisation of individual ethnic groups in the settlement area of the Nyamwezi and their sub-groups such as the Sukuma. He categorises the sculptures according to formal similarities such as size and texture, the execution of body parts (for example heads, limbs or secondary sexual characteristics), the depiction of female and male figures or animal figurep. Finally, he assesses the assessment of Anglo-Saxon scholarship regarding an alleged poverty of sculptures as inaccurate. Furthermore, he criticises Tanzania's centralist cultural policy in the first decades after independence as an "authoritarian rejection" of indigenous traditions in favour of a national culture of the modern state.

Nancy Ingram Nooter. Eaastafrica high-bakced stools: eatranskcltureae tadition

Die US-amerikanische Kunsthistorikerin und ehemalige Kuratorin am National Museum of African Art, Nancy Ingram Nooter, beginnt ihre Beschreibung von Hockern mit erhöhten RückenlehneThe US art historian and former curator at the National Museum of African Art, Nancy Ingram Nooter, begins her description of stools with raised backrests by referring to similar forms of this type of sculpture among various ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa. As traditional symbols of rule and ceremonial thrones for dignitaries, stools are also known from Ghana, Cameroon and Angola, among other placep. However, many examples originate from East Africa, from Ethiopia in the north to Zambia and Zimbabwe in the south.

n, referring to similar forms of this type of sculpture among various ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa. As a traditional symbol of rule and ceremonial thrones for dignitaries, stools are also known from Ghana, Cameroon and Angola, among other placep. However, many examples originate from East Africa, from Ethiopia in the north to Zambia and Zimbabwe in the south.

There are particularly numerous examples from what is now Tanzania, with the surviving stools being attributed to the Nyamwezi, Zaramo, Gogo, Kaguru, Luguru, Doë and Kwere in particular. The latter four ethnic groups have matrilineal traditions, which is reflected in numerous stools with female attributes such as stylised breasts or hairstylep. There are also some examples with male attributes, whereby research assumes that the social status of both male and female dignitaries was expressed through such ceremonial stoolp.

Characteristic features of the stools are their round seat, three legs or alternatively a plinth. The backrests are much higher than the stool itself and often feature stylised human figures or abstract or geometric shapep. They are also carved from a single piece of wood. Apart from the specimens from Tanzania, these features can also be found on stools made by the Tabwa and Bemba, who live west of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Zambia. Such similarities in sculptures from different ethnic groups are attributed to migratory movements and the exchange of goods, e.g. through the transregional caravan trade in East Africa.

Allen F. Robertp. Affinity of forms: aesthetic points of contact between the peoples of western Tanzania and south-east Zaire

On the basis of his field research in Tanzania and studies in the Belgian Royal Museum for Central Africa as well as the relevant specialist literature, the social anthropologist at the University of Iowa and former director of the African Studies Centre at UCLA, Allen F. Roberts, describes aesthetic and formal similarities in sculptures found on both sides of Lake Tanganyika. In particular, the shapes of the eyes, necks or arms and the proportions of some sculptures are similar among different ethnic groups in these regions on both sides of the state borders of Tanzania and the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In his work Masks and Figures from Eastern and Southern Africa, the art historian Ladislav Holy had already pointed out such similarities in 1967. Roberts, however, disagrees with Holy's judgement, who claimed that the ethnic groups in Tanzania had merely created an art that "lacks unity and presents a disparate image." Roberts, on the other hand, describes the undisputed similarities between sculptures by the Tabwa, Hemba and Luba living on the western side of the lake and those of the Fipa, Jiji, Tongwe, Hehe, Ha and Sukuma in Tanzania. He attributes these similarities to centuries-old kinship, commercial and cultural relationships between the ethnic groups due to migration and trade relationp. Roberts also includes the East African slave trade, which led to relative wealth and a lively exchange of goods in the city of Ujiji, for example, and thus also to the adoption of sculptural forms from other ethnic groupp. According to Roberts, these relationships and the willingness to adopt originally foreign ways of life, even across natural and political borders, also explain the appreciation and use of sculptures from neighbouring traditionp.

Charles Meur. Approach to the carving of masks in Tanzania

The essay by Belgian artist and collector Charles Meur contains detailed formal descriptions and stylistic analyses of wooden masks from numerous ethnic groupp. Meur lists nine stylistic groupings that cover the whole of Tanganyika with the exception of the Makonde region in the south. The text also contains a map with drawings of the various mask typep. Further drawings describe characteristic forms such as the design of the carved inner and outer sides, eyes, noses, ears, mouths and other figurative elementp. The author assumes that most of the masks were originally decorated in colour and mentions other elements of some masks such as human teeth, head or beard hair and pieces of animal fur.


Meur, who also created the other geographical maps in the catalogue, also describes his subjective impressions and associations through the "extreme simplification, which is free of any attempt at probability", as follows: "The original block is not lost in the hewn form, it remains a fragment of nature. For these farmers and hunters with a close relationship to nature, a few details are enough to recognise a self-contained, independent reality in a block of wood that appears to us to have hardly been worked at all..." And further: "An artist who creates his own world, populated by a multitude of spirits of nature or by his ancestors, who bring him closer to the past and thus establish a connection to the 'creator of the world'." Meur also points out that Homo habilis first appeared in the vicinity of the great lakes of Central Africa, where the first evidence of art in the form of rock paintings has been preserved.

Giselher Blesse. South-Eastern Tanzania: the art of the Makonde and neighbouring peoples

Makonde helmet mask

In his description of masks worn by the Makonde people living on both sides of the Ruvuma border river in Mozambique and Tanzania, Giselher Blesse, ethnologist and former employee of the Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, begins by describing the use of these masks (singular: lipiko, plural: mapiko) in ritual dance performancep. Especially at the end of initiation rites for boys and girls, masked young men performed such dances for the village community. The fully veiled dancers represented the ancestors and spirits of the ethnic group with energetic, sometimes frightening movements to the sound of drums and singing. A distinction is made between masks that were attached in front of the dancer's face and masks that were worn on the dancer's head. Both forms, as well as breast plates attached in front of the dancer's body, have been represented in Western collections as early examples of traditional carving art from Tanganyika since the beginning of the 20th century and increasingly thereafter.


Masks and the rarer full sculptures of the Makonde and neighbouring ethnic groups bear male or female facial features, with the latter also being characterised by the characteristic lip plugp. Some masks depict animals such as antelopes, whereby animal figures with long horns are also known as devil masks (sheitani). The author also mentions artistically decorated Makonde utensils such as stools, containers for tobacco or ritual medicine as well as figurative parts of musical instrumentp.

Marc L. Felix. Art historical conclusion

In his concluding contribution, Felix describes the various theories and indications of far-reaching regional influences from southern and eastern Africa as well as South Asia and the Persian Gulf on traditional art forms in mainland Tanzania. He then poses the question of what can be characterised as typical for this art. He names three typical themes that are assigned to different ethnic groups in different forms and materialp. The most common is the female figure, followed occasionally by sculptures or masks in pairs with male or female featurep. The third theme is represented by sculptures of cattle, usually made of clay, but also of wood or, more rarely, metal. Even though these themes are found in many sub-Saharan regions, the author considers them to be unmistakably Tanzanian in their specific design. As examples, he mentions the numerous variations of doll-like hull figures (mwana hiti), which are not only found on the Tanzanian mainland but also in neighbouring regionp. Other typical themes are so-called "piggyback figures" and the high-backed stools that are also widespread. Wooden abstracted grave poles, which were also made in pairs with long arms and features for both sexes, as well as long decorated staffs as status symbols for important persons are further characteristic Tanzanian stylistic formp. Finally, Felix also notes striking differences between the masks and those from other regions of Africa.

Rezeption

In ihrem Bericht über die Ausstellung in Berlin für die Fachzeitschrift African Arts bemerkte die Ethnologin Kerstin Volker unter anderem eine Synthese grenzüberschreitender stilistischer Einflüsse auf die verschiedenen Kulturen Tansanias, die nach ihrer Einschätzung auf Wanderungsbewegungen und regionalen Handel zurückzuführen sind. Im Einzelnen hob sie hochstilisierte rituelle Stäbe und Fliegenwedel sowie Mwana hiti-Figuren und Huckepack-Figuren hervor. Bei letzteren sitzt eine jüngere Frau auf den Schultern einer älteren, wobei diese als eine Art Patin in Initiationsriten interpretiert wurde. Hierbei betonte Volker die Darstellung weiblicher Attribute dieser Objekte als Hinweis auf die Matrilinearität der betreffenden osttansanischen Ethnien.

Weiterhin kommentierte Volker die ausgestellten Skulpturen der Makonde. Diese Objekte stammten zum Großteil aus dem Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig und wurden zwischen 1850 und 1950 erworben. Darunter betonte sie wenig bekannte und außergewöhnliche Beispiele für asymmetrische Masken sowie Masken mit dem typischen Lippenpflock. Andere ausgestellte maskenartige Skulpturen, die von Männern in rituellen Kontexten verwendet wurden, wiesen Brüste, einen hervorstehenden Nabel oder pyrographische Dekorationsformen auf.

Mit Hinweis auf das geringe Wissen um traditionelle Kunst aus Tansania vermisste Volker kulturspezifische Informationen zu den Ethnien und der Verwendung der Objekte: „Obwohl in den Texten an den Wänden betont wurde, dass diese Objekte nicht als selbsterklärende Kunst um ihrer selbst willen verstanden werden, entsprach die Präsentation ohne ethnologischen Kontext genau diesem Ansatz. Auch die Beschriftungen der Objekte tendierte eher dazu, die Objekte zu klassifizieren, als Informationen über deren Bedeutung, Verwendung oder andere Hintergründe zu vermitteln.“

Die Ethnologin Elisabeth Grohs bezeichnete die Ausstellung in ihrem Beitrag „Tanzania oder die längst fällige Aufwertung der künstlerischen Tradition dieses Landes“ als „Entdeckung für das deutsche Publikum.“ Der Katalog stellt ihr zufolge ein wichtiges Dokument dar, denn viele Objekte würden künftig „nur mehr über diesen Katalog zugänglich sein, da sie von Privatsammlern aufgekauft und entsprechend verstreut sein werden.“

Bei den einzelnen Beiträgen vermisste sie jedoch einen einheitlichen theoretischen Ansatz, der auch die Funktion und Bedeutung bei der ursprünglichen Verwendung durch die Ethnien einbeziehen würde. Weiterhin stellte sie Fragen, warum Tansania erst spät als Kunstregion entdeckt wurde und wie Sammler seit den 1970er Jahren eine große Zahl an zuvor unbekannten Objekten erwerben konnten. Hierbei fehlten ihr zufolge entsprechende Informationen über die Provenienz von Skulpturen im Privatbesitz. Die stilistischen Zuordnungen hielt sie für teilweise zu ausführlich und wenig erhellend. Weiterhin wirft sie die Frage auf, ob es sich bei einigen Skulpturen um Originale oder Kopien handelt.

Auch angesichts des Anspruchs der Ausstellung und des Katalogs, das Publikum in Tansania und Deutschland über die künstlerischen Traditionen des Landes zu informieren, kommentierte Grohs die Motive der Kunsthistoriker und Sammler auf kritische Weise: „Warum legen westliche Kunstsammler und Forscher so großen Wert darauf, als wohlmeinende Mäzenaten aufzutreten und sich in völlig uneigennütziger Weise für die Rehabilitierung missachteter Kunst einzusetzen?“ Auch die zahlreichen Abbildungen dienten nach Grohs kommerziellen Zwecken, da die Darstellung afrikanischer Kunst in Katalogen den Wert einer Skulptur im Kunsthandel beträchtlich erhöhe. Insgesamt hält Grohs die Beschäftigung mit afrikanischer Kunst durch das vorherrschende Interesse in Europa und Amerika bestimmt. Ihr zufolge wurden die „Eigeninterpretation der afrikanischen Bevölkerung und ihre Reaktion auf westliche Sammelleidenschaft dagegen lange nicht reflektiert.“ Schließlich kritisierte Grohs Klischees bezüglich afrikanischer Kunst wie beispielsweise im Beitrag von Meur, der von einem „blinden und stummen Materialblock“ oder einem „animistische Künstler“ spricht.

In ihrer Rezension des Katalogs in African Arts bezeichnete Diane Pelrine, Kunsthistorikerin und Kuratorin an der Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, das Buch als wichtige Erweiterung der einschlägigen Literatur und hob die Abbildungen als bedeutende Ergänzung von zuvor selten publizierten tansanischen Kunstobjekten hervor. Andererseits vermisste die Autorin Bezüge auf kontextuelle Informationen zu vielen Objekten.

Weiterhin bemängelte die Rezensentin, dass das Buch fast ausschließlich figurative Skulpturen behandelt und nur wenige Abbildungen nicht-figurative Objekte wie Musikinstrumente, Haarnadeln oder Schnupftabakdosen zeigen. Dabei könne der stilistische Reichtum einiger dieser Objekte einen interessanten Kontrast zu vielen Figuren und Masken vermitteln. Daneben bemängelte sie, dass die Swahili-Kultur mit ihrem bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Kunst in Tansania außer im Beitrag von Felix über Stilregionen kaum erwähnt wird. Schließlich kritisierte Pelrine, dass kein tansanischer Autor unter den acht Verfassern von Beiträgen vertreten ist, was keinen Austausch zwischen afrikanischen und westlichen Wissenschaftlern ermöglicht habe.

Masks and sculptures from Tanganjika

The objects shown were not part of the exhibition, but merely serve as examples of similar sculptures and maskp.

Literature

  • Enrico Castelli, Speranza Gaetano: Die Skulptur Ostafrikap. In: Werner Schmalenbach, Enrico Castelli (Hrsg.): Afrikanische Skulptur aus der Sammlung Barbier-Müller. Prestel, Genf, München 1988, ISBN 3-7913-0848-3, p. 206–303. 
  • Manfred Ewel, Anne Outwater (Hrsg.): From Ritual to Modern Art: Tradition and Modernity in Tanzanian Sculpture. Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Dar es Salaam 2001, ISBN 9976-973-85-3 (englisch). 
  • Marc L. Felix: Mwana hiti: life and art of the matrilineal Bantu of Tanzania = Mwana hiti: Leben und Kunst der matrilinearen Bantu von Tansania. Fred Jahn, München 1990, p. 504 (deutsch, englisch). 
  • Elisabeth Grohs: Kisazi: Reiferiten der Mädchen bei den Zigua und Ngulu Ost-Tanzanias (= Mainzer Afrika-Studien 3). Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-496-00122-4. 
  • Gerald W. Hartwig: Sculpture in East Africa. In: African Artp. Band 11, Nr. 4, 1978, ISSN 0001-9933, p. 62–65, 96, doi:10.2307/3335347. 
  • Gerald W. Hartwig: The Role of Plastic Art Traditions in Tanzania, Baessler–Archiv, N.F. 17, 1969, p. 25–40.
  • Ladislas Holy: Masks and Figures from Eastern and Southern Africa. Paul Hamlyn, London 1967 (englisch, archive.org). 
  • Maria Kecskési: Afrika-Ausstellungen in München – ein Rückblick. In: Alexander Röhreke (Hrsg.): Mundus africanus: ethnologische Streifzüge durch sieben Jahrtausende afrikanischer Geschichte; Festschrift für Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler zum 70. Geburtstag. Verlag M. Leidorf, Rahden 2000, ISBN 3-89646-018-8, p. 81–99. 
  • Kurt Krieger: Ostafrikanische Plastik (= Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Völkerkunde Berlin, Abteilung Afrika). Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-88609-251-8. 
  • Dominicus Zimanimoto Makukula: The Development of Visual Arts in Tanzania from 1961 to 2015: A Focus on the National Cultural Policy and Institutions’ Influencep. 2019, doi:10.17169/refubium-4095 (englisch, fu-berlin.de). 
  • Charles Meur: Peoples of Africa: Ethno-linguistic map. In: Tribal arts SPRL. 2001 (englisch). 
  • Georges Meurant: La Sculpture Tanzanienne Traditionelle Révélée par le Marché de l’Art Primitif. In: Musée national des arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie (Hrsg.): Creer en Afrique / 2e colloque européen sur les arts d'Afrique noire, p. 33–42, Paris, 1993.
  • Fadhili Safieli Mshana: The Art of the Zaramo: Identity, Tradition, and Social Change in Tanzania. New Orleans University Press of the South, 2009 (englisch). 
  • Nancy Nooter. East African High-Backed Stools: A Transcultural Tradition. Tribal Arts, Autumn 1995.
  • DNB-IDN 941766381 Ausstellungskatalog im Bestand der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek.

Notes and references

] ] ] ] ]

  1. Jens Jahn, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin und Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München, ed. (1994), Tanzania: Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur. Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika. (in de sw), München: Fred Jahn, p. 528, ISBN 3-88645-118-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  2. "Tansania-Skulpturen". www.nd-aktuell.de (in German). Neues Deutschland. 1994-03-29. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  3. For definitions of the term "African art", see the relevant section in the article African Art and the sources cited therein.
  4. "Tanzania. Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur". www.lenbachhaus.de (in German). 1994. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  5. Apart from cultural objects, these include human remains such as skulls and palaeontological finds of dinosaur fossils from the Tendaguru formation.
  6. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. "Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa" (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  7. Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 37: "By 'traditional' we mean sculptures for ritual purposes that were made in a traditional way by members of a people for clients from that people."
  8. See Kecskési in Jahn, 1994, p. 18–22.
  9. See Jahn, 1994, p. 13
  10. "Galerie Fred Jahn". www.fredjahn.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  11. Gerald W. Hartwig (1978), "Sculpture in East Africa", African Arts, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 62–96, doi:10.2307/3335347, ISSN 0001-9933, JSTOR 3335347
  12. See Kecskési in Jahn 1994, p. 17
  13. See Kecskési in Jahn, 1994, p. 24, wo die Autorin auch auf Georg Baselitz und A. R. Penck verweist.
  14. See Kecskési in Jahn 1994, p. 22
  15. See Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 31–33
  16. See hierzu die detaillierte Landkarte Tansanias und der angrenzenden Staaten mit den jeweiligen Ethnien, Jahn, 1994, p. 39.
  17. See Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 37–38 und die Abbildungen von zeremoniellen Äxten, p. 57, 144 und 145.
  18. Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 37–74.
  19. Außer den Abbildungen im Text wird dieses Kapitel wie auch die folgenden durch einen ausführlichen Bildteil mit Abbildungen der besprochenen Skulpturen ergänzt.
  20. See hierzu auch Marc L. Felix, Mwana hiti: life and art of the matrilineal Bantu of Tanzania, München, Fred Jahn, 1990.
  21. See Castelli in Jahn, 1994, p. 94–95
  22. See Castelli in Jahn, 1994, p. 96–97.
  23. Außer den Abbildungen im Text wird dieses Kapitel wie auch die folgenden durch einen ausführlichen Bildteil mit Abbildungen der besprochenen Skulpturen ergänzt.
  24. Im Einzelnen beschreibt Meurant folgende Ethnien und ihre Skulpturen: Chaga, Pare, Kamba, Shambaa und Zigua. Dies entspricht in etwa der von Felix eingeführten Stilregion V, p. 39
  25. See Meurant in Jahn, 1994, p. 154–166
  26. Hans Cory (1956), African figurines: their ceremonial use in puberty rites in Tanganyika., London: Faber and Faber, retrieved 2024-11-18
  27. See Meurant in Jahn, 1994, p. 154–166
  28. See Meurant in Jahn, 1994, p. 219 und 235
  29. See Meurant in Jahn, 1994, p. 220–235.
  30. "Obituaries". The Washington Post. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  31. "Obituaries". The Washington Post. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  32. See die Abbildungen in Jahn, 1994, p. 316–349
  33. See Nooter in Jahn, 1994, p. 294–306.
  34. See Roberts in Jahn, 1994, p. 350–363.
  35. Meur, p. 371–372
  36. See Meur in Jahn, 1994, p. 371–387
  37. Der Leipziger Ethnologe Karl Weule beschrieb in seinem Werk „Negerleben in Ostafrika“ (1909) Formen und Funktion der von ihm vor Ort erworbenen Masken.
  38. See Blesse in Jahn, 1994, p. 432–444.
  39. See Felix in Jahn, 1994, p. 504–514.
  40. Tatsächlich wurden Skulpturen aus der Ausstellung und dem Besitz der Galerie Jahn mit Hinweis auf den Katalog in Auktionen zum Teil für mehrere Zehntausend US-Dollar angeboten. "Kaguru-Luguru Throne Chair". Retrieved 2024-11-18. "A Superb and Rare Luguru Throne, Tanzania". Sotheby's. Archived from the original on 2024-11-18. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  41. "Diane Pelrine | Indiana University - Academia.edu". Retrieved 2024-11-17.
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