African Art History and Collections

Rick Politician
                                                                                                                                3/16/2002
History 152
Extra Credit --“Art from Africa”

There were many separate displays within the exhibit dedicated to someone’s personal collection or their artistry, an African event or an issue.  I will relate some of themes we discussed in class to a few of the different displays.

Fu Kiau Bunseki form Congo

This African brought many statues made by tribes after the arrival of the Belgian colonial government.  The statue referred to as “Seated Statue” wears a hat that shows this statue is a member of the Force Publique.  The statue, although representing an African, has an elongated nose like the whites.  This illustrates the conflicts created between Africans by the colonials.  Africans expected Africans to support each other because of the prejudice and oppression the white colonials displayed towards anyone with black skin.  Yet, there were many African who the white interests.  Examples of this are African tax collectors, chiefs with in the indirect rule system, and soldiers in the colonial armies.  Not only did the white colonials oppress the Africans under colonial rule, but so did other Africans as well.
Another statue called “man standing with a tie, a jacket, a can, a hat” depicts an African assimilated into the white culture.  Even though this African has given up his indigenous culture, he cannot fully be a colonial because of his black skin.  This statue illustrates the ‘Scientific Racism’ that existed within the colonies.  Many Africans were taught to live as Europeans, yet they were not treated as equals by the white colonials and were forced to live a life in limbo between African and European culture.  Neither the indigenous Africans nor the white colonials trusted them so the educated Africans formed their own low to middle-income class consisting of educated Africans as well as blue-collar workers.  This African middle class is the pre-cursor to the modern African who today attempts to bring his/her country into political stability and the world economy.

Gilbert Lo-oh Mbeng from Cameroon

Mbeng brought many relics of the Cameroon royal house.  He writes, “I would attest that so many young people of my age – I am 27 –have not gone to the palace.  They have not seen the Fon [King].  They have not seen most of these things” As Africans assimilate into a more Western culture, many of them lose their older values and cultural heritage.  In Cameroon, many young adults have never been to the palace of the King that traditionally rules over their land.  They do not know about the objects of their traditions.  In moving towards a Western culture they have lost much of their own.

Kakut Ole MaiMai Hamisi from Tanzania

Although many Africans have lost their culture as they westernize themselves, other Africans have found a way to balance adhering to their traditions with an acceptance of a more modern Africa.  Hamisi is one of these African who has found this balance. He “participated fully in Maasai rituals, subsisting for years on a diet of milk, meat and blood and wrestling some of the most dangerous animals on earth.”  Hamisi completed the traditional Maasai education “out of respect for my elders and our traditions,” after finishing high school.
Hamisi managed to not only succeed in the Western schools, but he also became well respected by the older and more traditional thinking members of his tribe.  He has successfully managed to bridge the two worlds together, something most of the African students in the Stambach’s, Lessons from Mt. Kilimanjaro, have not been able to succeed in.
These three displays describe the African struggle to be successful in a changing world without losing their native culture and traditions.  In colonial days, these adaptive Africans suffered contempt from both white colonials and other Africans.  Today the western society has melded with African society and the youths are taking on the western values so fast that the elders believe their ancestral values and traditions are being lost.  Nevertheless, a point of optimism has been created for both sides as some youths have managed to grow up and thrive in equilibrium between the African and Western worlds.