BOOKS
A WORLD OF EARRINGS, AFRICA, ASIA, AMERICA
By Anne van Cutsem
Published in English, French, German, and Italian by Skira Editions, Milan, 2001
Format: 24 x 28 cm, 359 pp., 285 color and B/W illustrations
Hardcover: 60Eu
After Ethnic Rings, this beautifully illustrated second volume of a multi-volume series on the Colette and Jean-Pierre Ghysels collection presents nearly 700 earrings coming primarily from Asia, but also from Africa and America.Continent by continent, the author illustrates the historical and cultural context in which these simultaneously ornamental and functional objects were produced. Far from simply decorative, earrings have served protective purposes for the ear is the source of oral knowledge, a vital factor for peoples with no written tradition. For the Kikouyou or the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya, a person's prestige is measured by the number of ear ornaments. In the Archipelagos of Indonesia, a suitor's family offers earrings to seal an alliance.Leather earrings with beads are a sign of a married woman's status among the Masai.In the Philippines and among the Naga headhunters, men's hunting exploits and prowess as warriors are revealed in the jewelry they wear on their ears.
Captions describe materials, size, and function, and an index and glossary supply additional information.This book will be followed by a volume on bracelets.[back]
ARTS PRÉCOLOMBIENS DE L'AMÉRIQUE CENTRALE.NICARAGUA, COSTA RICA ET PANAMÁ
By Michael Snarski, Silvia Salgado Gonzalez, Luis Alberto Sanchez
Published in French by Editions Somogy, Paris, Barbier Mueller Museum, Geneva, 2001
Format: 23 x 30 cm, 267 pages, 102 color illustrations, 6 plates, 30 figures, maps
Softcover, 250 FF
This catalogue was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name, organized last June by the Maison de l'Amérique Latine in Paris in collaboration with the Museo Barbier Mueller de Arte Precolombino in Barcelona. Its focus is the southern portion of Central America: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. It is an exhaustive and thorough study of this poorly known area. It opens with a geographical and historical overview of the region, and continues with an exploration of the cultural origins and symbolic meanings of the jade and stone sculptures, and ceramics from the area. The authors also discuss chronological contexts and fabrication techniques. The color illustrations follow, and each piece is the subject of detailed commentary.[back]
LEGENDS, SORCERERS, AND ENCHANTED LIZARDS
By Pascal James Imperato
Published in English by Africana Publishing Company, New York and London, 2001
Format: 9.5" x 10", 96 pp, 136 B&W Illus, map
Softcover: $30.00
This is a book that was published to accompany an exhibition of the same name that opened in October at the African Art Museum of the S.M.A. Fathers in Tenafly, New Jersey. It analyzes and documents a comprehensive collection of carved door locks created by the Bamana of Mali and currently in the collection of Pascal and Eleanor Imperato. The information presented is largely the result of field research carried out by the author in the late 1960s, a time when access to the region was difficult for Westerners because of political constraints. As a medical doctor he had the rare opportunity to move through rural villages largely unhindered. In doing so he was able to gain the trust of the inhabitants and explore his interest in the indigenous arts while treating outbreaks of deadly disease. His text provides a general overview of Bamana society, a more specific examination of Bamana doors and locks, and a comprehensive catalogue of the locks in the exhibition. Though few of the locks illustrated are artistic masterpieces, the latter is particularly interesting as it contains intriguing notes on symbolism, as well as serving as a general regional style guide.[back]
A STÓ:LO-COAST SALISH HISTORICAL ATLAS
Edited by Keith Thor Carlson
Published in English by the University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2001
Format: 10.5" x 14.5", 192 pp, profusely illustrated, 86 color maps.
Hardcover: $50.00
This large and beautifully designed and printed volume addresses a wide variety of issues relating to the culture, environment, and history of the Stó:lo, a subgroup of the Coast Salish people living primarily along the Fraser River and its tributaries in southern British Columbia. Far from being simply the attractive coffee table book that its size and packaging might suggest, this is a work of remarkable detail intended to memorialize a great deal of what is known and remembered of this very specific cultural group. Rather than providing a general overview, this book launches directly into a cosmological account of transformation with a detailed map of associated sites-both existing and destroyed-relevant photos, and a table of transformative objects, creatures and events. From there it moves onto an account and map of spiritually potent locations, and from there a look at the origins of sxwó:yxwey masking, dance, and regalia. The following 175 pages maintain the same level of minutia. This book was created to be used by the Stó:lo as a primer to their own culture, and as a method of outreach to others so that the world specific to the Fraser River can be better understood by all.[back]
ASIAN COSTUMES AND TEXTILES.FROM THE BOSPHORUS TO THE FUJI YAMA
Edited by Mary Hunt Kahlenberg
Published in English, French, and Italian by Skira Editions, Milan, 2001
Format: 25 x 30 cm, 320 pp, 250 color illustrations
Hardcover: 75Eu
A wonderful book that illustrates a wealth and rich selection of brightly colored and beautifully decorated textiles and costumes spanning the Asian continent from Turkestan to Japan, from India to Indonesia. The textiles addressed in this work belong to the Belgian Mis private collection and feature techniques as varied as embroidery, batik, dyed silk, weaving, suvani, ikat, painting, and more.From bold ikat robes from Uzbekistan to beaded skirts from Borneo, from palm fiber jackets from the southern Philippines to the silk garments of the Boginese people of Sulawesi, these garments cannot be duplicated in today's world; the techniques by which they were made are rarely still in use. Costumes by their very nature are an intimate expression of the wearer.Garments hug, shield, and proclaim the body, and, especially for occasions of importance such as wedding or funeral, clothing broadcasts intention and frequently dictates behavior.[back]
NATIVE AMERICAN ART COLLECTED
By Margaret Dubin
Published in English by The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2001
Format: 8.25" x 8.25", 184 pp, 22 color and B&W illustrations
Hardcover: $29.95
The art world, and particularly the realm of contemporary art, is a complex and ever-shifting intersection of taste, supply, demand, immediacy, and economics. The relationship between artist, dealer, and collector is in a constant state of flux and development. When non-Western artists, and particularly Native artists, enter this fray, an entirely new level of complexity arises relating to the legacies of colonialism and differing expectations. It is easy in this context to perceive Native artists as marginalized by an asymmetrical system. This author, however, argues for a more complex understanding involving other variables. The result by her assertion is a situation of negotiated rather than preordained political positions and cultural identities. Some of the issues under discussion here are specific to Native American arts, but much of the information in this interesting book can be applied to other Native arts around the world.[back]
AFRICAN ART AND ARTEFACTS IN EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS 1400-1800
By Ezio Bassani
Published in English by Malcolm McLeod, Trustees of the British Museum, London, 2000
Format: 22.5 x 28.5cm, 328 pages, 608 b/w illustrations, 10 figs. The book is accompanied by a Mac/PC compatible CD Rom.
Hardcover, 85 Pounds Sterling
It would be difficult to forget the fascinating book Africa and the Renaissance: Art in Ivory, published in 1988 in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name, by the Center for African Art in New York. Ezio Bassani and William Fagg had brought together all of the known objects in ivory that had been commissioned by Europeans from African artists between 1490 and 1600. The same objects are to be found here again, augmented by all known pieces collected before the end of the 18th century. The exhibit is the fruit of several years of research, and almost 800 artifacts from more than 100 collections are illustrated. Each is the subject of a detailed description. Indexes permit cross reference and make this a valuable tool and information source.[back]
L'ART DU GRAND NORD
Edited by Jean Malaurie
Published in French by Citadelles and Mazenod, as part of the series L'Art et les Grandes Civilisations, Paris. 2001
Format: 25 x 32 cm, 620 pages, nearly 800 illustrations, 380 in color.
Hardcover, 1266 FF
The next logical step after the publication of African Art in 1988, Oceanic Art in 1994, and Pre-Columbian Art in 1996, had to be a book on the art of the Art of the Great North. No book as important as this has yet been published on the subject, and its appearance was eagerly awaited. From André Breton and the Surrealists to Max Ernst, by way of Matisse and Moore, the originality and richness of the forms and colors of the arts of the north have touched the sensibilities of Western artists.
The work covers numerous cultures: Eskimo/Aleut art of Alaska, the Inuit of Canada and Greenland, the natives of the Northwest coast of America and Canada, the Athabascan and Algonquin indians, the Lapps, the people of northern Siberia, and the Ainu of Japan. One chapter is devoted to the contemporary arts of these peoples but the authors are focusing primarily on the cultural history of the Amerindian peoples through an account of the archaeology, art, and anthropology of the area, and through an explanation of the role of shamans, who were considered intermediaries between man and nature. A large selection of masks and sculptures are illustrated, which well represent the rich and abundant iconography of the art. These were drawn from public and private sources in Russia, Europe, and the Americas. Numerous photos of historical interest complete the book.
For the layman as well as for the professional, this is a veritable encyclopedia of these intensely imaginative and poetic art forms. The text is thorough and scholarly, and provides an exciting journey through the strange and colorful world of the art of the great north. For many, its pages will represent a wonderful voyage of discovery.[back]
AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST, BRONZES ET AUTRES ALLIAGES, LIBÉRIA, CÔTE-D'IVOIRE, GHANA. FER NOIR.
By André Blandin
Published in French by André Blandin and Galerie Leloup, Paris, 2001
Format: 21 x 29.5 cm, 87 pages, 74 color illustrations, 960 b/w
Softcover, 210FF
This book was published in conjunction with a showing of the author's collection at Galerie Leloup in Paris last June. It is a sequel to to the author's earlier book Afrique de l'Ouest, Bronzes et Autres Alliages (West Africa, Bronzes and Other Alloys), which covers the areas of Mali, Burkina Faso, and the northern portion of the Ivory Coast. With descriptions of more than 500 pieces, this new publication offers a remarkable documentation of the art in brass of the western Ivory Coast and eastern Liberia, as well as of the metallurgy of northwest Africa.[back]
BELA HEIN. GRAND INITIÉ DES IVOIRES LEGA
By Bernard de Grunne
Published in French by Editions Adam Biro, Paris, 2001
Format: 22 x 28.5 cm, 55 pages, 52 color illustrations, 15 b/w
Softcover, 1200 BFr
This abundantly illustrated catalogue accompanied Bernard de Grunne's exhibition at the BRUNEAF XI tribal art show in Brussels last June. The book provides insight into the personality of noted dealer Bela Hein through the presentation of twenty-eight rare and old ivory sculptures (mostly Lega) from D.R. Congo. Most of these were purchased from Henry Pareyn in 1926 and are hitherto unpublished. A catalog raisonné of the Bela Hein collection, and a list of Western exhibits from 1799 to 1937 featuring traditional African and Oceanic objects, are also included.[back]
ZAGORSKI.LOST AFRICA
By Pierre Loos
Published in English, French, and Italian, by Skira, Milan, 2001
Format: 23 x 30cm, 224pp, 550 duotone and B/W illustrations
Hardcover: 250FF
Kazimir Ostoja Zagorski (1880-1941), fled to Congo in 1924 to escape the Russian Communist regime. Zagroski was the first professional photographer to travel throughout the interior of Congo and also visited neighboring countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and SouthAfrica. He took thousand of pictures, 500of which, divided in two extraordinary series on different tribes, build up to a unique historic and ethnographic survey. His forays into the depths of the African continent took him into the most remote villages of the Kuba, Mangbetu, Bwaka, Tutsi, and many others. There he documented ceremonies, masked dances, the great African creativity in body ornament, clothing and utilitarian objects, all functioning in their appropriate cultural context. These beautiful pictures, taken with great technical skill and with a sense of dignity for the people portrayed, are a monument to the African continent as it once was.[back]
INDIAN BASKETRY ARTISTS OF THE SOUTHWEST: DEEP ROOTS, NEW GROWTH
By Susan Brown McGreevy
Published in English by SAR Press, Santa Fe, 2001
Format: 9" x 9", 96 pp, 80 color and B&W illustrations
Softcover: $19.95
The Indians of the Southwest have been making baskets for more than 8,000 years. From their earliest uses as containers for gathering, processing, storing, and serving plant foods, baskets have evolved into a vast array of ritual, utilitarian, and decorative forms. It is a tradition that today is very much alive and experiencing a considerable renaissance. This book examines the historical basis of Southwestern basketry, and then looks at the work of ten notable contemporary basket weavers ranging in age from 21 to 82. Both continuity and innovation are revealed in the contrast between historic and contemporary works.[back]
BAMANA: THE ART OF EXISTENCE IN MALI
Edited by Jean-Paul Colleyn
Published in English and German by The Museum for African Art, New York, 2001
Format: 9" x 11.75", 266 pp, profusely illustrated in color and B&W
Softcover and hardcover
This beautifully produced book is the catalogue for a two-part exhibition that opened at New York's Museum for African Art and the Museum Rietberg in Zurich in October. It documents in great detail one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of Bamana art ever mounted. Detailed essays by noted Africanists address a variety of aspects of Bamana culture and are illustrated by a selection of beautifully photographed, aesthetically stunning objects. This is an important work that will be a welcome addition to any art library.[back]
