A fine Eastern Pende Panya-Gombe African mask. Coll.: David Norden
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A fine Eastern Pende Panya-Gombe African mask. Coll.: David Norden |
Michael C. Carlos Emory Museum
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Carlos Emory |
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back to news February 7 - April 18, 2004
http://carlos.emory.edu/COLLECTION/ |
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Without the benefit of the mechanical potter's wheel, African ceramicists transform lumps of clay into near-perfect symmetrical vessels and decorate them using the simplest of tools. Made primarily for utilitarian purposes, African pottery reveals a fusion of form and function, yet many vessels possess an undeniable aesthetic appeal. Their symmetrical shapes, rich earthen colors, elegant proportions, and skillful decoration are the individual aesthetic innovations of artists working within regional conventions.
Pottery vessels also serve purposes beyond the domestic realm. Not unlike the matching dinner set brought out at an American Thanksgiving dinner, prestigious African eating and drinking vessels confirm the formality of an occasion. Clay vessels are frequently used in birth, puberty, marriage, and funerary rites. This is because the medium of clay, when imbued with the symbolism of purity and procreation, and the conceptualization of the potting process as transformational, makes pots meaningful in the human cycle of life. The vessel's power to contain can also make it the repository for spiritual essences such as ancestors and spirits in certain African cultures.
Spirited Vessels: Creation and Ritual in African Ceramics pays tribute to the multivalent quality of African ceramics as aesthetic, utilitarian, prestige, and ritual ware. The exhibition features late nineteenth and twentieth century pottery and clay figurative sculptures from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique, and South Africa. The artworks are drawn from the Michael C. Carlos Museum's permanent collection of African art, as well as several other Southeastern art museums, and prominent private collections.
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Author: Jean-Baptiste Bacquart
