Noticias
It has been seen by 30,000 people and runs till April 3
The National Museum of Anthropology shows the arts of Central Africa in the exhibitioin, Congo River
January 17, 2016A rich ethnographic collection presents the temporary exhibition Congo River. Arts of Central Africa, which since its opening held on December 16, 2015, has been visited by almost 30,000 people at the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA, for its acronym in Spanish).
The setting up shows the complex and diverse cultural identities around the Congo river basin, as well as the related features that soaked them in the intense relationship with its waters. Masks, sculptures and textiles tell us about the strength of rituals and marked customs, in turn, by force of its powerful flows
Congo River. Arts of Central Africa is the largest exhibition dedicated to collections from the African continent in Mexico; 346 pieces mainly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and collections of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.
The objects corresponding to the tribes: Lega, Bembe, Fang, Vuvi, Kota, Punu, Adouma, Eshira, Luba, Ngbaka, Ngombé, Tsogho, Kwele, Teke, Pomo, Mbete, Pende, Suku, Kongo and Songye are spread out in the Temporary Exhibition hall of the National Museum of Anthropology in five sections: 1) Heart-shaped masks, 2) Reliquaries and statues of ancestors, 3) Female representations in subequatorial savannah, 4) Musical instruments, and 5) Towards Abstraction.
Throughout 1,200 meters, the Mexican and foreign public can appreciate: masks, reliquaries, statues, headdresses, weapons such as axes and spears; harps, drums, whistles, rattles and textiles; in materials of wood, leather, fibers, ivory, feathers, bone, raffia, grass, foliage, ceramics, kaolin, resins, cotton, iron, brass, copper, glass, shells, pearls, and pigments.
Unlike the exhibitions presented at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, in Shanghai, at the National Museum in South Korea, at the Archaeology and History Museum of Le Mans, and at the Sédières Castle in France; the Quai Branly Museum sent to Mexico over 100 pieces, including weapons and textiles, that had never left its collections. They are objects that are not usually even shown in its own showcases.
This exhibit was called Congo River by the importance of this tributary for centuries as a source of life and inspiration of around 20 ethnic groups, plus it is the second largest in Africa after the Nile, and which surface currently comprises six countries: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
This show highlights the pieces that attracted attention in the early twentieth century of several European artists such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Gustav Klimt and Henri Matisse, who found a source of esthetic inspiration in masks and sculptures.
The pieces of the exhibtion, Congo river. Arts of Central Africa are accompanied by information tags where you can read its characteristics, place of creation, material, year and collection from which are part of . It also has a screen projecting audiovisual material subtitled in Spanish in which you can learn more about the different tribes that are presented in the exhibit.
Also, the show compares the cultures of Central Africa in order to find points of convergence, ranging from bodily features (polished teeth, scarification, white, red or black dyes) to key institutions (initiation, agricultural and therapeutic rites, funerals and enthronement of chiefs and kings).
After taking a tour of the exhibition, Colombian Carlos Andrés Moreno, called the exhibition "wonderful and beautiful" in which he could learn more of African culture, while regretting not to know more of the culture , its tribes and objects on display, to enjoy it more.
"You come to these places in an attempt to stop being so ignorant. My daughter lives here and is the third time I visit her, I had never been to this museum, it's extraordinary, Mexico has a great culture and the National Museum of Anthropology in addition to show that richness gives a space to exhibit the cultures of other places . It's great", said 62- year- old tourist.
Heart-shaped masks
The mask is considered in Africa a fundamental sign of communication that expresses a highly symbolic message. Someone who has a mask is dynamic, is related to the mime, music, dancing, and singing.
The pieces that make up the first section of the exhibition are masks created by people of the equatorial forest, usually made of ivory wood, mostly are concave and are carved in low relief.
On this matter, Francois Neyt, curator of the exhibition, said at the opening that the multifaceted role of masking is an indication of communication, to teach and revive the identity of the group in the initiation rituals, worship the ancestors, the spirits of nature and chase away spirits devouring souls, identify and severely punish the culprits and even heal the sick and accompany the deceased.
The masks, before anything else, is a manifestation of the presence of a spirit within the community of living, which could be the spirit of a specific deceased and even in this case, it was not a realistic presentation: the masks with human faces were idealized.
Among the pieces that you can see at the exhibition, there are masks from the Republic of Congo, where is very important the sight and the look; from the East Bembe, which focuses on the eye cavities and the eyes.
You can also see: masks offered to governors; polychromatic and great simplicity Congo pieces, sculptures with heart-shaped heads. Besides, the masks and objects vary according to the authority of the people, because only the senior have the most beautiful objects.
Reliquaries and statues of ancestors
Different figures can be seen in the Reliquaries and statues of ancestors section, and there are several kinds: good and bad, dangerous, violently dead and spirits of nature.
Among the pieces there are two guards who see in two different directions, a female statue which had a sacred function and a strong presence on its look, covered with vegetable oils, and a protective dog with nails who is the representation of a dosmestic animal to use the power in order to avoid evil spirits at home. While in the reliquaries, the remains of the deceased that are hidden are preserved.
In this section you can also see headdresses, which were traditionally used by men and women; guardian of reliquaries statuettes Mbulu Ngulu, which were carved in wood and adorned with plaques and sheets of copper and brass. The use of these materials imported from Europe which were considered precious indicate that these statuettes were of great value because it was believed that the shiny surfaces of the metal parts reversed negative influences.
Such reliquary statuettes were among the first African objects exhibited in France in the late twentieth century. Its abstract representation of man exercised a considerable influence on the development of Western art.
Female representations in subequatorial savannah
Women played a key role in the gradual transformation of African societies. The female figures in masks and statues are testimonies of this dominant position.
In this section you can see the Queen Nzinga of the kingdom of Matamba in Congolese territory and the royal wives of kuba or luba and the queen of the holo, among other respected mothers; it stands out the importance of women in relationships with the real and the invisible world.
Women are symbolically linked to the cycle of life, the new moon, the seasons, agriculture and any form of fertility. A figure that stands out is the fragment of a panel door from the punu culture, Gabon, a female figure carved in Wood.
Musical Instruments
In this section you can see musical instruments and furniture. Musical instruments are indispensable in African culture as they are used in the ceremonies, but also for the pleasure of accompanying the songs and stories.
Drums, rattles, whistles, and harps can be seen in larger quantities. Also, barrels from drums decorated with geometric engraved or sculpted designs which are rare ornaments to see. These refer to the human face, sometimes represented by eyes, a mask or a head which looks like separated from the wood which the object is made of.
In Central Africa harps are comparable to statues or even individuals, the soundboard, usually tight, evokes the female body. The tailpiece*, to which the lower ends of the strings are attached, penetrates the box, which refers to the masculine principle.
What calls the attention is the harps provided with legs, this reinforces the similarity of the instrument with a character. During the performance, the instrument and the musician appeared to have the form of an embracing couple. In this section you can see the arched harps of Zande and Mangbetu cultures of late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
About the furniture, in the early twentieth century some African pieces aroused the admiration of African art fans, they realized that esthetic concerns are not limited to masks and statuettes.
In the information tags is explained that the taste for art deco has caused some works become in a source of inspiration not only for painters and sculptors, but also for furniture makers, still the example the cabinetmakers, designers and interior decorators in France.
Among the pieces of furniture that can be seen the baskets stand out, which have been relegated as objects of domestic use. They can be round, square or rectangular, in addition to the special baskets of round bottom and quadrangular opening.
The basket of Kongo culture is characterized by using wicker fibers (of shiny, dark, cream and almost yellow appearance), which facilitate the realization of geometric patterns on its surface: diamonds, polygons, ovals and fine lines of alternate colors are part of the collection.
The woven mats are another piece considered as furniture and handicraft, which only explorers and anthropologists have preserved as a concrete testimony of African productions; this kind of mats with figurative motifs are, for example, from the Vuvi culture.
You can also see textiles, including cloths from the Mbete culture, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Outstanding and colorful pieces have been produced in Central Africa that look real abstract paintings.
The cloths from Kuba culture show a great diversity in its ornamentation. Always refer to the social position of its owners in very hierarchical communities so that some individuals were forbidden to use imported cotton fabrics.
Towards abstraction
In Towards Abstraction section, in the early twentieth century several European artists found a new source of artistic inspiration in the sculptures and masks from Africa. In fact, the black arts as they were known at that time either African or Oceanian art can not be separated from certain works of the greatest Westerners painters and sculptors, sometimes collectors too.
For example, the influence of African art is recognizable in paintings by Pechstein and Kirchner, who directly integrated African objects in their compositions. Picasso, Modigliani and Matisse found plastic solutions in African masks and the faces of the statuettes. Then, Giacometti proceed in the same manner with works that allude to African spoons.
Along with these figurative forms, other African works inspired the artists to perform more abstract compositions. This trend began with Gauguin, who in 1893 introduced glyphs of Easter Island in one of the paintings.
This section highlights the cloth Currency from Kuba culture, made with raffia and palm fiber, treasured by the painter Henri Matisse.
Arms
The display of weapons is an extra that presents this exhibition in Mexico; mining and metallurgical work was practiced in Central Africa since the ninth century BC, which produced knives, swords, spears or arrowheads.
The weapons of Central Africa are notorious for its balance, its offensive appearance and beautiful forms. They were collected by Europeans since the sixteenth century and formed part of the first African objects brought to Europe.
We can see luxury axes, the models made by different Songye groups are the most spectacular: its barred blades and the use of copper for making the handle or simply as a motif inserted into the iron.
Other weapons are liganda currency, throwing knives museles, throwing knife kipinga, throwing knife moko-ndo, throwing knife ondo, there are also knives and its sheath, sword mambeli (luxury arm bwagogambanza), knife ifangbwa, knife and short sword mopamba
Regarding the handguns (Sharps), knives or swords, these are characterized by a wooden handle coated with copper or brass, in ocassions a form of upholstery nails imported from Europe and a long blade.
Collective Sounds
The exhibition has an interactive space, where you can see videos posted on masks, drumming or play the harp, so that visitors can create their own sounds and make connections with those who play other instruments.
Río Congo. Artes de África Central, muestra presentada por la Secretaría de Cultura, el INAH y el Museo del Quai Branly de País, Francia, y que es la presentación de culturas ricas e inquietantes y diferentes, con elementos básicos de lo que es la humanidad; estará abierta en el Museo Nacional de Antropología, en la Sala de Exposiciones Temporales, hasta el 3 de abril. Horarios de visita: martes a domingo de 9:00 a 19:00 horas. Entrada libre.
The exhibition, Congo River. Arts of Central Africa, is presented by the Ministry of Culture, the INAH (for its acronym in Spanish) and the Musée du Quai Branly Country, France, being the presentation of rich, moving and different cultures, with basic elements of what humanity is. It will be open at the National Museum of Anthropology in the Temporary Exhibition Hall until April 3. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 19:00 hours. Free admission.
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*Tailpiece: A triangular piece of wood, usually ebony, to which the lower ends of the strings of a violin or other related instrument are attached (Translator’s Note)
Mexico,Distrito Federal
