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Ways f Experiencingfr ican rt :TheRole f Pat ina

0neof he eaturesf African rtmost mportanto a wor l< 'svatue, eaning,ndbeautys heunique urfaceual i tyhatsignatstsage ndhistory f use, tspat ina. riginattyesig-natinghe in ecrust hat orms na bronze culpturesa nat-uralpartofthe oxidation rocess,he ermpatina oday ov-ersa spectrumftrai ts hatprovide videnceftheobject 'shistory. ome fr icanigures,orexample, howa surfacepat inahathasbeen ol ished moothhrough ai ly r i tualuse. he at inas f otherwor l

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African rt satso

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Whi lehese ar iousnstanceshow ow oundmpactson heexper iencefart nAfrica, quat lymportanti fdi f fer-ent)sound lementsmpact n hisexper iencen heWestaswel l .Whethern hecontext f he ambient oise r headjacentonversat ionf a museum isplay,peciaI xhib i -i ionguides n ape, r ar thistory lasses,neexper iencesAfrican ndotherartworks n a range f ways hat nvolvesound sa cri t icatcompo nent.

Th e culpturalower f many frican rt orms lso ec-essari tynvolvesnother ensory ode,ouch.Many fr icanscutptures ere ntendedo be handted s muchas o beseen, nd hishandt inghangesndshapes n ob. jectvert ime.AmongheAfr ican r twor l

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regardn heWest dds o i tsvaluen col lect ionsere. heunique ropert iesf vory, porousmaterial hose urfaceis cont inualtyeshaped,otonlybyusebutalsoby hecot-orsofadded i lsandpigments,dd o hesculpture 'sisuaIpower. orksmade utofanimal orn no. 3) arry ome fthese ameeatures.he ypeof animalromwhichhehornwas aken s often ignif icant:he hornof heAfrican uffaloor bushcow, orexample, raws n he danger ssociatedwith hisanimaIn hewi ld.

A range fmateriaIropertiessassociatedit hAfricanstone arvings.eaturesuch scolor ndpatterning,rainandweightmpact rt n str iking ay s. he toneabr ictsetfthus mparts ist inct iveisual,act i le , nd conic ropert iesto retated bjects.Scutptures adeof soapstone if fermarkedlyrom hose fgranite,or nstance.oapstone,hileeasiero shape,s alsomore eadi ly cratched r marred,therebyeavinghesurface uite ulnerabteo abrasionsha tbecome art f thepat ina.

Broaderut turalssociat ionsdd o hesignif icancefthesematerialsswelt . stone's ssociat ioni thhardness,permanence,nd and ometimesarries ver o sculpturesmade rom hismaterial ,orexampte ongo emorial f igures(no.ru). ndbecausetone culpturesend o ast ongerthanwooden nes, o rl

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objects,uch s et igiousel ics ndgolddust. n rnese es-sets, ecanobservehe dif ferent ays n which hismetatcan eshaped. he op ncorporatesiguralorms hathavebeen ast singhe ost-w ax ethod. he urfacef hemetalcontainerasbeen legant lyncised ithgeometricesignsthat urther dd o thevisuatmpact. enin oyal elts no.3o)also recast roma copper l toy,he materiaLeremir-ror ingheassociat ionf hese et ls i th oyal ty.

The ed, eltow, ndamber hades f di f ferentopperal loys dda st r ik ingisuat f fecto heseworl

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creat ivepproacho hesubject,he esutt ingork, nd heway t wouldbe perceived.hi s erformativespect rovidesanadded imensiono ourappreciat ionf hese rts, r ing-ingthei rvar iouslementsogethern a more omprehensiveandmeaningfulwhole.

Tradi t ionaltagesn Africa aryconsiderably.heyinclude hrines, ouses, i l lage ommons,ields, eaches,water,orests, rossroads,nd ooftops,o name nty few.The uman odymight lso erve sa stage noccasion.f-ten, pecialsymboticssociat ionsetermineheselect ionfa stage. o t nfrequent lysculpture i l lappearn severaldi f ferent erformanceontexts, achof whichmaybe ac-countedorby he art ist n he overal t onceptual izat ionfth ework.

The ircumstancesfviewingn a small r ivatehr ineor emple anenhance sense f contemptat ionnd ndi-vidual ngagement.he estrictionsf ight, ound, ndheightserveo ocus ttention: ow ool forexample, ight equirethe iewero kneel , h ich ncreaseshesense f reverence.To om e egree,iewing rt n anAfrican hr ine s compara-bte oseeingnoblectn a Westernhurch, reven n a mu-seum at tery,herehedisptay nd i ght ing rovide spe-cial ocus. ndas n heWest, roupingsf scutptures ightbeshownn African a single tructure r ocale, nco urag-ing iewerso addressoth heent i re roupingnd ndivid-uaI biects i thint .

Insome ases,hevil lagetselfmay a ve peciaItageswhere orks re ommontyxhib i ted.heKonso f Ethiopia(no.o4)place culpturesnspecialences etuparoundheirvi l tages.r ientedo an audience onsist ingf communitymembersndoutsiders,hese igures rovide ai ly eassur-ance fprotect ionor hosewi th in, nda clearmage f anever-presentbservero hose utside. eg amasks no.7z),for heirpart, reoften isplayed n a speciallyonstructedfencelikexhibit ionetting, hereheyar eviewed yyounginit iatess nstruct iveedagogicattementsur inghe ni t i -ation rocess.

Other ccasionsor iewingrt nAfrica onsist fevents

r8 | Suzannerestonlier

stretchingve r everalays ha tdraw ogether uch fa com-munity's opulat ion.nsome f hese ageants,uch sAs-anteOdwiraestivals,hesheer uantity f hear tand egaliaondisplay,nd he ichnessf he ormshemselves,onveyavisualoverloadhat satmost t indingn ntensity no tonlybecauseheressomucho see utalso ecausehegold e-gal ias bri t t iant lyef lectedy hesun. nother ases, iew-ing s imitedo rare ventsaking lace t ong ntervats:veryseven earsorsome nitiations,rasmuch ssixty earsorcerta in enerat ionaIeremonies;r at ongbut rregularn-tervats,swhen newmonarchomeso power.Whiteheymayshare eatures i thWestern oronat ions,fr ican n-thronements,ecausehey end o feature uc ha richarrayof art,become ll he more mportant s occasionsor artis-t icviewing.

Inconsider ingfricanrt , t satso i tal to ddress howillview hework men, omen, riests,pecialsocietyem -bers, h i ldren,ickpersons,ersons f a part icutarccupa-t ion, oyatty,upernaturals),hen t wi l tbe seen per iod ftheyear, ge n i fe) , ndwhat tate f mind heaudiencei l lbe n at he ime joyfut, ad;working,n celebrat ion,ere-mony, r dai ty onduct ) . dded o th isare hepersonal i-mensions. ifferentmotions re t irred hen relativesbe -ingcommemorated,rwhen ne's onordaughteras ustbeennit iated,rwhen nai l ingoved ne pproachesworkofartaspart f thehoped-foreat ing,rwhen ne's usbandor brothersperformingneof he masks ndisptay. ersonalcontexts anheightenhevisual ower f he obiect r,atothertimes,iminishtsaestheticuatit iesecauseheeventsthemselvesre ooverwhelming.hateverlse hese niquepersonaIeaturesonvey,heyhetp o shape heways hatthearts re een ndunderstood.

Ar tworks ften ddress supernaturatudienceswellasa human ne. jawmasks,orexampleno. 8),arewornin sucha way hat heir aces re urned kywardo addressthe ocaIgods.TheYoruba f Niger ia ometimes isplaysceptersepresentingshu,he rick ster eity, n heirheadsor at crossroads,n keeping i th hegod's dent i ty s mes-

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sengeretweenumans nddeit ies. orubataffs edicatedto Shango,hegodof hunder nd ain no.l : ) , in urnaresometimeserformednrooftopsclosesto he sky) na di -rect ppeaIo the heavens. ndYoruba danOgboni taffs(no.3r)may e mbeddedn heearth t imes f adjudica-tion o hatonly hebrass culpturesre isibte. ssuch,he yaddressoth heYoruba uman udienceas cues" hatacrime as een ommitted)nda supernaturaIudience,heearth oddess dudua, ho husentersntodi rect ontactwith hesculpturesnd heir ser.

Light ings essent ialo the otalvisuaI ndsymboticmessagehatworks fartpresento heir udiences.t scon-t ro l lednvar ious ays, uch spresent ingbjectsnshr inesor nter iorpaces,hose imensionsror ientat ionetp han-nel t ;select ingart iculart imesfday ndmonths ftheyearinwhichoshow heworks; rusing uch ubsidiaryight ingelementss orches r ires. he oordinat ionf ceremoniesorperformancesithsun,moon, ndother ourcesanpro-duceight ingf preciseolor ,ntensity,nddirect ion.

Props ndotheranci l lary f fects rovideurther i -mensionsoawork fart.MasqueradearticipantsommonlycarrypeciaIe[[s, eapons,ans, er bs, rstaffsha tarees -sentialo heoverall ask orm, etpingo define role, har-acter ,nd otalaesthet icmage. r tworkshat n hemselvesserve sprops realso mportanto persons f special ta-tu ssuch s oyalty, essengers,riests, evotees,r mem-bers fspecia lroups. cepters,rms, nddance taf fs reparticularlyoo d xamptesf his.

Costumend ewelryunct ionn a similar aywhenaddedo iguresrmasquerades.ndeed,heyhetp onveythespecialymbol icoles ssociated itheachwork.TheYorubaelede askersno.l+), hroughheir taborateos-tumingnd pparet ,eaff i rmheir elat ionshipothwith hepowerfullderly others f society ndwith heYoruba od -dess emoja,hedeity fwitches. achGetede asker rapsgreatuant i t iesfcloth rou nd iships o suggesthemas-sive irth f hese upernaturats.xpensive etalbraceletsand nkletsreworn swet l o denote emoia'snormous

weatth. arge ooden reaststrappedo hemasl

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cul turalworkersm0hasizehesi lhouetten hei rmovementsacrosshe ie ld.

Bothmasl

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cultural ists,ut he Mbut i hemselves ere ometimeso-ercednto abor.

Kuba oyal er formancesn hiscontext eem o takeon he characterf a charterhatgrantshe orest wel lersprimordialndperpetuaIubalterntatus. osome egree,this s einforcedn he oyalatt i ref Bushoongings nd herelaled do pportraitigures.nboth, he kingwears head-dressn heshape f a hoeblade,making lear hecont in-ue d upremacyf heKuba griculturalistsverthe anquished"pygmy." ere,oo, heperformancespect f hese rtworksoffers ful ler nderstandingf he argerociaImportanceof hemaskingorms, iving ital hape oth o he mask er-sona nd o hecontextn which t canbeunderstood.

I Th eCollectionndExhibit ionfAfrican rtMuch sAfrican bjects omeo be mbued ithadditive en-soryexperiences,aterialeatures,ndperformanceon-texts,he oleshat hese rtsassume sculturaIcons ndobjects f exchangere haped y hei r o l tect ionistories.Whiterueof al lart, hisaspectsparticularlytrikingnAfricanworks ecauseheirmeanings reso complex nd he ci r -cumstancesf heir ndigenousisptay opowerful nd ar-ied. he nique o l lect ionistory feach cutpturend tsdi -verse xhibi t ion ett ingsn many espectsunct ion ikeametaphoricat ina theolder hecot lect ionate, hemoreimportanthework's arl ier wner,he ongerhe istof ex-hibi t ion enues,he thicker"hepat ina f value hat s ac-cruedo an object.

Weoftenview he cotlecting f African rt witha dis-tinctlyWestern ye, olored y actors svaried s colonialimperat ive,esthet icnterest, arket atue, nddesireorcutturaleri tage.nAfrica,oo, ndividualsfmeans kingsmost mportantly sometimesollectedhe artsof differentcultureshroughrade, i f ts,war, rothermeans. heFon fBenin epubt ic,orexample,isptayedoreignrts longsidedomest icxamplesn ongparadeshatcirculatedhroughthecapi ta l ndwere ntendedo mpresshe ocaI opulace

zz I Suzannerestonlier

and oreign uests. fr ican ulers realsoknown o havespecif ical lyommissionedorks f art romEuropeinbothAfrican ndWesterntytes),heworks ometimeservingm-portanti tualroles.none nstance,[arge ongyeowerf ig-ure,similarto he one n the Teel ol lect ionno.95),wasamong everaloreign orkshatheldan mportantlacentheKuba ourt .

Once utof Africa, orks fAfrican rtcontinueo addto heir istories,nd hereforeo heir ignif icancend atue.Theownershipf a workbya specif ic ing, olonial f f icial ,or col lectorarr ies pat ina f value imilaro thephysicalpat ina isi ted n he surface ywearor age. hese atue-adding ontextsnclude ar lymuseum otdingsuch s hePittRivers ollectiont Farnham,hereheCross iver ono-lith no .4r )wa sonce oused, swe[[ s mportantrivateot -lect ionsn Af r ica such s he previouswner f he Beninleopard ask no. 9l,ObaErediauwa,hoascendedo hethrone n ry79)and n the West, or exampleha tof GeorgeOritz no.5z) ndofJ.J.Ktejmannos.6, 5). ikethe tonemonoli th nce n hePit tR ivers ol lect ion,heremany oto-nialobjects ere eposited, number f African rtworksst i [ [ arryhe pat ina f Europe'sarly oloniaI ngagementwithAfrica. hese bjectsnclude Chokwe wana womask(no. oo) ormerlyn he cot lect ionf M.Quint in, Belgianterr i tor ia lgent n he rgzos;a Legamask no. lz) hat orthirty ears asowned ya Belgianotonia ldministrator;an da Makond mapikomask no . or) ha toncewa spartofa Portugueseissionaryoltection.nsome ases,hese olo-nia l inkagesver lap i thother arly f r icanaxhibi t ionon-texts n heWest. heKuba ead-formup no .Bz )wa soncein he col lect ionf Walschaert ,n ear ly e lg iannimal ndAfrican rtprocurer.heMangbetuox ollectedn he Bgos(no. :) was ormertyn heUmtauff ol lect ionn Hamburg.Umtauff ,near lymporterndexhibi torfzoo ndci rcus n-imats, lsowas nvolvedn ransport ingumansrom fr icanto Europeo performn hedegradingut hen-popularthno-graphicpectacleshat ookplacen zoologicalarks, ars,dance al ls, ndother et t ings.

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In heir wnway, xhibi t ionsfAf r ican r tnotonly n-creasenobject 'seal ndperceivedalue utalsoadd oitsaura. hus, key art feach bject 's ost-col lect ionis-torysdef inednpart y h eplaces heret hasbeen hownand hepubl icat ionsnwhicht has ppearedsee hristraudGeary'sssayn his otume).ssuch, bject wners ndmu -seum uratorsf ten haren hevalue-addingrocess.ca-demic r i ters, hetherntent ionat lyr not ,alsoadd o themetaphoricat ina fAf r ican r tworks ndsometimes e-come art f the ery rocessfvalue nhancementndob-jeci hange.ometimes,oonafter publ icat ionppears,workshat av e een iscussedrebought nd emovedromthei rocal et t ingsy ndiv idualsoldinghebooks r art i -ctes san l lustratedhoppingist . n hi s ense, chotarship,l ike oltectionistories,erves sa patina nhancer,onfer-r ingvaluenworkshroughhevery rocessf publ icat ion.

Pat ina,sboth physicatuat i ty nda concept,laysavi ta l o lenshapingowAfrican rt sexper iencednd he

valuesha tcome o beassociatedit h t. t offersnsightntotheways hese rtsareknown ocal ly swel Iashow heseoblects ont inueo be def ined y hose omingn contactwith hem ong f ter heyhave ef t heart ists ' ands. akingthe mportancefpat inanto ccounthen xaminingfricanartencouragess o peermore losety t heseworks,o ex -amineheminute etai ls f heir urfaces,o note heplacesofwear rweatheringnd heeffect faddedmaterials.t os-tersa realizationha twe need o value otonty ightn "view-ing" hese rtworks, u talso heunique t t r ibutesftouch,sound, mell , aste, ndmateriaIhateachworkmayhotd.And t presses s o hinkaboutperformativeactors uc h sstaging,ighting, rops, ound ffects, iewers, nddisptay.Pat ina,ikea work's esthet icndeconomicalue, f ten n-creasesver ime,addingn significantays otonly o ormandmeaning,utalso o overat liewing leasure.na work 'svar ious at ina ttr ibutes e come o know, undamental ly,some f hevar iant ays f exper iencingfrican rt .

Ways f Experiencingfr ican rt I z3