Persona: Masks of Africa—Identities Hidden and Revealed

Abstract

Description from the Museum:By examining the use of masks in dances, rituals and the belief system they serve and represent, the book also explores their concrete and symbolic roles as objects that are "devitalized" once they have been removed from their environment. They raise questions about identity, self-respect and the perception of the "Other" in Western society. A mask hides an identity, or reveals it. The traditional mask, used during African ceremonies and festivals, is always more than the wooden face worn by the dancer: it allows an entity to take shape, with its own way of dancing and moving. The wearer transforms into another person, a deity, sometimes even an animal. The exhibition presents 180 masks in an original way, grouped according to 18 themes including the history of the collection and the role of the mask in communication with the supernatural, in the harvest, during initiation rituals, at funerals, etc.Catalogue of the exhibition co-published by the Royal Museum for Central Africa and 5 Continents, in English, French and Dutch. Written by Anne-Marie Bouttiaux, the exhibition's organizer, this work also includes an essay by Roger Pierre Turine. ISBN 978-88-7439-513-2. Additional information is available at www.africamuseum.be.

CHALLENGING THE DEAD HAND OF THE MUSEUM DISPLAY: The Case of Contemporary Guro (Côte d'Ivoire) Masquerades

“…In the exhibition Persona , the display case featuring Guro masks contained one of a series of three ensembles that were arranged together to help show the public how acquiring objects had evolved at the RMCA: from early acquisitions in the late 19th century to establish the collections for stylistic study purposes to acquisitions by scientists from other departments within the museum who were untrained in anthropology and art history and finally to carefully thought‐out acquisitions in the field using anthropological research (Bouttiaux :14–67). In this context, Guro masks illustrate the contemporary stage of anthropological research complemented by object acquisition while stressing contemporary mask practices.…”

“…As I have argued before, for example, regarding why the Guro's new, colorful masks are totally neglected by dealers and private collectors: “The ultimate goal of enthusiasts of non‐European art is to find a lost style of original purity in an object that predates the arrival of the ‘whites’, or that at least wasn't corrupted by their presence. However, the pieces supposedly representing this ‘pre‐colonial’ art were probably all acquired, if not also created, during the colonial period, as many authors have noted” (Bouttiaux :46, 291 no. 5).…”

“…I will use as an example Persona, Masks of Africa: Identities Hidden and Revealed (Bouttiaux ), an exhibition I curated and presented at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren, Belgium, between April and December 2009. I will discuss and analyze my personal experience of the past in the present.…”

“…To explore questions of identity, I had at my disposal masks that, of course, hide the wearer's identity but reveal another kind of identity related to a people, group of persons, or specific society. I also incorporated contemporary art installations by various artists, mainly from Africa or the African diasporas, who explored the mask and its identity in a more figurative sense (Bouttiaux :52–61). These artists were interested and eager to work and participate in the project (Figure ).…”

Art and the individual in African masquerades Introduction

“…They implied that each group was rooted in a mythic past and people in the group shared a common language, religion, social organization and art. For scholars who before and after 1983 assessed masquerade and other arts as expressions of bounded cultural or ethnic group identities, people considered part of a particular group operated within established parameters consistent with the group identity (see, for example, Griaule 1938; Sieber 1962; Segy 1976; Vogel 1977; Phillips 1978; Cole 1985; Jedrej 1986; Lamp 1996; Haxaire 2009; Bouttiaux 2009a).…”