HEROIC AFRICANS REINSTATED  by Isabel Stainow Wilcox

The exhibition “ Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures” at the Metropolitan Museum curated by Dr. Alisa LaGamma, gathers pre-colonial sculpture from eight landmark sculptural traditions from West and Central Africa created between the 12^th century and the 20^th century. Focused on sculptural forms that commemorate important leaders, it dispels the reductive view of African art as being uniform and simplistic.  It offers insights into a rich variety of forms and styles ranging from abstract to fully naturalistic and highlights a skilled and sophisticated artistry. These sculptures are also the only testament to these influential leaders who would have only been known through oral history.

No longer seen as timeless abstractions of generic archetypes, these objects are reconnected in this exhibition to their local context and oral history. Through an intelligent and effective use of photography and video a better understanding of the role of these sculptures is achieved.  Through out the exhibition period postcards (late 19^th century) link regional leaders to specific sculptural forms and photographs by Paul Gebauer (Cameroon) taken in the early part of the 20th century give further indication of the context within which these sculptures existed. A contemporary video entitled “ Cameron – The Golden Days of the Kingdom” by Manuel Zips-Mairiitsch and Werner Zips brings to life the regional rituals and illustrates the king or eminent leader’s function as the spirits of the elders’ conduit. Furthermore, photographs of similar objects in situ and as essential elements of ceremonial sites help to illustrate how they were displayed and used. These images help temper the preciousness conveyed by the museum’s exhibition format.

Establishing a broader context, a parallel is set between the early African (12th and 16^th centuries from Nigeria and Ife) sculpted heads and the tradition of the Roman bust and the Egyptian sculptural tradition as commemoration of a leader’s legacy. It is helpful to remember that those regions of West Africa were exposed through the trading routes to other artistic traditions coming from the West and the East.

The shift from the naturalistic portrait-like heads, though idealized, from Ife (Yoruba people) and Benin ((Edo peoples) to the abstracted heads from the Akan people is dramatically highlighted. This shift was probably the result of the weakening of those earlier civilizations, increasing conflicts and waves of invasions.  The Memorial head done by the Akan peoples (Kwahu traditional area, Ghana 19^th/20^th century) shows a dramatic abstraction of the head which has been reduced to a two dimensional disk. The forehead is also very broad. These features reference the effort of Akan mothers to shape the head of their infants through carnal massage. Most of these heads were done by female artists and represent women leaders. Of note is the attention to particularities of the leaders being commemorated despite the definite idealization of the earlier pieces and the abstraction of the later ones.  Examples offer many variations in facial markings linked to the specific character of the leader being represented.

The full figure becomes the focus of the rest of the exhibition.  The powerful, dynamic and full-bodied figure of a priestess from Cameroon (Bamileke) is another reminder that women leaders were also subject of praise and veneration. The coarseness of the carving and roughness of the finish of these tall and life size figures from the Grasslands contrasts with the smooth, shiny finish and sophisticated carving of the smaller seated figures from the Chokwe people (Angola). These sculptures of hunters had to be of a more modest size because the Chokwe people were always on the move and the sculptures needed to be transportable. Men of action, the Chokwe showed themselves with over sized hands and feet.  I could not help thinking of Picasso’s figures from the 1920’s with the same over sized extremities. The exhibition culminates with the lusingiti, majestic sculptures from the Hemba people (DRC). Twenty-two examples are positioned in a circle as if partaking in a ritual. The elongated, serene figures feature larger heads and long torsos reflecting the Hemba’s beliefs and values. Though all very similar, these masterpieces exhibit subtle distinctions which are a reminder that they were connected to specific leaders.

The exhibition ends with a series of photographs by Phillis Galembo of contemporary leaders, which has become the new accepted way of commemorating leaders in the 21st century.  It is a reminder, already alluded to in the beginning of the exhibition that this tradition of creating commemorative sculpture of important leaders started to fade with the advent of photography. Photographs soon became the preferred means for commemoration and veneration after death.