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First NA Serial Rights

1,385 words

THE KINGDOMS, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY

OF

AFRIOAN TRIBAL ART

Written by June Grayson, Photographed by Ri#hard Grayson

You might say that E. Eliot Benezra, M. D., has a subspecialty in masks. In his consul#ing room, this Ohicago psychiatrist helps his patients find out what's behind their masks. In the African room of his suburban home, Dr. Benezra studies #he origins of his own burgeoning collection of African tribaI masks and sculptures. The insights gained from either discipline illuminate the other one. Modern man is not as dif!eren# from members of #hose African #ribes as he might think.

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"1 have al#ays been ln#erested in the history of mankind with its vanishing art and cultures," says Dr. Benezra. "So ten years ago I went to Africa wi#h a group of physicians from my medical society. I was eager to see African people in their everyday lives."

"But African was not the way I imagined it to be, although my fantasies were probably based on old Tarzan movies. We did get to see some native animals in a national park but our #uide could almost call them by name. And we saw some #eremonial dances performed for tourists. The Africa I sought, however, had alreadY disappeared."

"I did not think of Africa again until a dinner party five years later in a home filled with African art - bronzes, terracottas, wood carvings, figures, and masks. I finally saw in suburban Ohicago what I had hoped to see in Africa - the very essence of its art and culture."

Dr. Benezra bought the first piece of his collection that very night from an African importer who also attended the partY. The carved, wooden divination bowl remains one of his most prized possessions.

African art should never be called "primitive." In fact, it is hi#hly sophisticated art, rich in its diversity. The truth is that primitive art in #eneral, as well as the craftsmen and artists who create it, is not primitive at all, but the result of centuries old, elaborate traditions. Westerners s#ill have a

long way to go to understand the cultures that produce such art.

African rock art has been dated back #o 9,000 8.C. What #he

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Europeans merchants and missionaries to African found from the fifteenth century onwards were not the simpIe, barbaric curios of a newIy, enlightened peopIe but evidence of #wo thousand years of African creative genius.

It took the Parisian artists of the early twentietb century to proclaim the artistic merit of African tribal art. In fact, influences from African masks and statues have been found in the works of the Oubists and Surrealists. These artists insisted

that naturalis# was not the onlY way an artist could express

himself and that African art represented a different, but no less valid, reality.

Picasso said that "primitive" sculpture" has never been been surpassed. In a painting by Picasso in 1907, Les Demoiselles d"Avignon, the heads of the prancing nude figures are clearly based on African masks.

"African art is rooted in religion," continues Dr. Benezra. "And African religion is generally based on animism, the assumption that supernatural po#er resides in all par#s of creation - human, animal, plants, rocks, and rivers - and that #his power can be tapped, controlled, and directed by ri#ual means. Animism believes that both animate and inanimate objects possess an innate soul. Even #he dead retain this force. So the departed ancestor spirit, the spirit of an animal killed in a hunt, or even the spirit of a tree cut down, may constitute a danger to the tribe until they appease it by sacrifice or other rituaIs. In the case of a dead ancestor, a sculpture or a mask may have to be made to provide a home for the wandering soul and #o focus that power #o help the living."

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"African art is conceptual, not naturalistic," Dr. Benezra says. "lt does not represent an object as seen b# the eye. A mask does not represent fear. It is fear i#self. Each sculpture gives us a message about the mysteries of creation, religion, history, and social structure."

"Such animism is not too far-fetched from our western culture, espe#ially around Halloween," observes Dr. Benezra. "Houses are haunted by ghosts. People are bewitched and cursed. Even though we deal with this humorously at Halloween, freaky things continue to happen throughout the whole year in our own lives and in the lives of others. I sometimes wonder if it is counterphobi# for me to have these art objects in my own home - perhaps a way of keeping un#onscious persona! fears of magic and mysticism at bay."

African #ribaI art usually refers to African south of the Sahara. Northern Africa developed differently because its Moslem religion proscribed the making of ima#es.

Most of Dr. Benezra's collection is from central and western African tribes. Since wood does not |ast in that climate, his wooden pieces are from this century. He usually buys from the importers he met at the dinner partV when they return on their yearly trips to the United States. Some antique shops also specialize in African art.

A single mask may cost from SlOO.OO to a $1.000.00. Larger figures may cost several thousand dollars. Still, Dr. Benezra believes that an African art collection can only increase in value. "Fine art museums have elevated tribal art to a major art

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status," explains Dr. Benezra. "The Metropolitan Museum in New York has an outstanding collection of African art. Although most of the American collectors I know are white, I should think

_ that collecting by black professionals will increase as they can

afford to travel and buy the things that attest to their roots."

Happily, African art is not dying. Although some recent African politi#al regimes have tried to stamp out tribal customs to promote modernization, most modern African leaders hope to encourage the con#inuation of both traditional and modern artistic achievements.

If you travel to African today, you can probably start an African art collection by purchasing African "airport art" - ivory jewelry and hand-carved wooden figures in the Nairobi airport for S5.00 to $20.00.

"You can tell if a piece of African art is authentic or just made for the tourist trade," Dr. Benezra says. "Examine the masks for sWeatmarks or erosion by termites."

Collectors #ho #ant one-of-a-kind pieces for their coIle#tions will probably have to establish a working relationship with a specific antique dealer or an African importer. as Dr. Benezra has.

Then comes the fun of research, for many dealers don't really know the ba#kground of an item which they may sell. Tribal characteristics can be recognized by the posture of an image, bodily proportions, #he shape of #he torso, details of a headdress, scarifications of the skin, the shape of the different features. the type of dress, and the ornamentat#on. Each tribe ln African may have some unique feature that is

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"When you start a collection like this, you can never see how it is going to take over your ll#e," continues Dr. #enezra. Even when Barbara says - enough, enough - I can only say - one more, one more."

According to Barbara Benezra, African art grows on you. "The more you are exposed to it, the more you appreciate it. You see different thin#s. It is an adventure for both of us whenever we buy another piece."

"The ni#est thing about this collection," Dr. Benezra continues, "is that my wife doesn't need to dust it. Repairs and maintenance are non-existent. ln fact, the pieces should not be dusted, they should not be polished, and they should be left just the way they are after years #,nd years of exposure to the elements. They are supposed to be cracked and scratched. They do take up a lot of space, however, and that becomes a consideration."

"Art collections used to be restricted to kings. the ohuroh, and a privileged few," Dr. Benezra says. "NoW collectin# can be a passion of an ever-growing number of people. The use of masks has been known in every culture - to hide and to reveal. We can only enrich our own lives as we appreciate the lives of others."