Ibo, Ibibio, Ogoni: Art in Wood from Three South-Eastern Nigerian TribesAuthor(s): George PrestonSource: African Arts, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Jan., 1976), p. 66Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3335025 .

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IBO, IBIBIO, OGONI." A rt in Wood From Three South-Eastern Nigerian Tribes Endicott-Guthaim Gallery, New York October 1-November 15, 1975

This show deserves attention because it was a laudable response to the model problem of the African art gallery: how to resolve the so-called dichotomy between commercial viability and scholarly responsibility. Gallery goers, collectors, and students of African art have become more sophisticated than ever before, and they are bored with the object-tribe- country-medium-height syndrome which characterizes most catalogues and the labels ancillary to the exhibits.

This habit is compatible with the art for art's sake fallacy: it is incompatible with the art for life's sake truism manifest in traditional African art. Pace Gallery made a major breakthrough in this problem area in fall 1974 with "African Ac- cumulative Sculpture," guest curated by Prof. Arnold Rubin. It will be a for- midable task for them to mount another show of that caliber. In that exhibition, in which a problem in creative scholarship

dominated the selection of objects, Rubin attempted to integrate certain African thought processes into aspects of Western thought.

Scholarship of another variety, but of equal importance, dominated the selec- tion of objects in this Ibo, Ibibio, and Ogoni exhibition at Endicott-Guthaim Gallery. Guest curator Alfred Scheinberg addressed himself to the problems posed by the diversity and unity of these con- tiguous peoples. His catalogue provides a lengthy introduction to the artistic com- plexities of the area and the significance of this art both as reflection of and resolu- tion of the complexities. The introductory essay and the extensive ancillary notes to the exhibits are probably the most concise yet informative synthesis of the primary and secondary source materials on the area-enhanced by the author's visits to southeastern Nigeria. The exhibition and catalogue offer a reinterpretation of aspects of the abovementioned sources which responds to many common ques- tions: what is the relationship of the Igbu society to the cult of ikenga; what are the cultural determinants of style in fatting house dolls, and are the dolls a reflection of or modification of that aesthetic; and how does the local concept of soul projec- tion affect sculptural imagery? Of course, some scholars are familiar with the answers to some of these questions, but the answers are in the diaspora of out-of- print Africana. Ironically, the catalogue's only shortcoming is related to this

problem. Scheinberg's "Bibliography" is actually "References," and while his syn- thesis is entirely his own and impressive, it calls for interlinear reference notes.

Scheinberg has a very, very interesting eye. Nothing in this show could be called fake or poor quality, although some per- sons might argue that a few mediocre pieces were present. I prefer to call your attention to some examples of remarkable beauty. The following objects, according to this writer's eye, are worth a purely hedonistic visit to the gallery: a ritual ves- sel with three trophy heads (cat. no. 14); an okorosia festival mask (cat. no. 3); an ekpo mask (formerly coll. Leon Underwood, cat. no. 31); a rare and powerfully beautiful monkey mask (cat. no. 34); and a 23-inch-high Ibibio example of Mammy Watta, the only known exam- ple from that tribe, in joined wood, pig- ments, and leather (cat. no. 59).

A word to the informed: this show paid no respect to the mystique of the Frenchified patina! Varying in visual ex- citement from the softly carved succulence of the fatting house doll with its tensions suggested by the contrast of full forms and incised surface, to the puppets with their "irrational" clothing, to the fugue-like structure of superposed forms, it was an aesthetically gratifying experience. [The catalogue is available for $4.00 from Endicott-Guthaim Gallery, 946 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10021.]

George Preston City College of New York

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WOOD, TRACES OF KAOLIN, 37.5cm.

MARMEE WATER. EKON SOCIETY, IBIBIO. JOINED WOOD, LEATHER, PIGMENT, 59.5cm.

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