Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Petridis, Constantine

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Description: Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

BOOKSpeaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22868

Featuring a selection of more than 75 works of traditional African art in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection, this volume includes objects in a wide variety of media from regions across the continent. Essays and catalogue entries by leading art historians and anthropologists attend closely to the meanings and materials of the works themselves in addition to fleshing out original contexts. These experts also underscore the ways in which provenance and collection history are important to understanding how we view such objects today.

Celebrating the Art Institute’s collection of traditional African art as one of the oldest and most diverse in the United States, this is a fresh and engaging look at current research into the arts of Africa as well as the potential of future scholarship.

*This eBook is available exclusively on the A&AePortal.*

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Print publication date November 2020 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300254327

EISBN 9780300270655

Illustrations 156

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Senufo roan antelope masquerader of the Noumoussoba hunters’ association
Three Bwa masqueraders
Art Institute of Chicago, installation view of Arts of Africa (Gallery 137)
Art Institute of Chicago, installation view of Arts of Africa (Gallery 137)
Dance Staff (Oshe Sàngó)
Container (Opón Igede)
Pair of Headdresses (Tyi Wara Kunw)
Procession of the Tyi Wara
Afrique Occidentale–Danseurs Miniankas–Fétiches des Cultures
A Cape pangolin (Smutsia temminckii)
Antelope headdress
Gwomba, dance of the agrarian cults
Headband, Earrings, and Pair of Clasps
Bracelets
Qur’an Box Pendant
Equestrian and Four Figures
Fragment of a Kneeling Figure
Male Figure
Female Figure
Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)
Bird Figure (Lumbr)
Sib Tadjalté, a diviner and healer, in his shrine room, village of Kouekouera, Burkina Faso
Plank Mask (Luruya)
Masqueraders and musicians parading through a village, Burkina Faso
Male Face Mask (N'Tomo)
Helmet Mask (Kono Kun)
A Kono performance among the Senufo, Bobo-Dioulasso, Berkina Faso
Zoomorphic Figure (Boli)
A Kono mask and a zoomorphic boli power object
Helmet (Sigi Kun)
Helmet Mask (Kponyungo)
A kponyungo performance at a funeral in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire
Door (Korugo)
Female Caryatid Drum (Pinge)
Caryatid drum and drummer at a funeral, Katiali, Côte d'Ivoire
Lidded Box
Lidded Box
Male Figure
Edisibowei’s shrine
Carved figure of Odewei
Isobowei in his shrine
A shrine for Benaaghe
Carved figure
Female Headdress (Nimba, D’mba, or Yamban)
Baga Buluñits d’mba performance in the village of Monchon, Guinea
Helmet Mask (Banda or Kumbaruba)
Performance of the costumed banda headdress among the Baga Mandori, Guinea
Shrine Figure (a-Tshol or Mbëlëkët)
A clan elder with two of his tshol figures in front of his shrine in a village among the Baga Sitemu, Guinea
Face Mask
Face Mask
Female Helmet Mask (Ndoli Jowei)
Masqueraders of the Bundu (or Sande) association I Freetown, Sierra Leone
Male Face Mask (Zauli)
Male Face Mask (Zamble)
Female Face Mask (Gu)
Face Mask
Face Mask
Face Mask
Face Mask
Female Face Mask (Ndoma)
Masquerader in a Gbagba performance in the village of Kami, Côte d’Ivoire
Figural Staff
Figural Staff, detail of topmost figure
Female Figure (Akua’ba)
A Ga girl in Addah (Adda; now Ghana)
Pectoral Disk (Akrafokonmu)
Attendant to Nana Kwasi Akuffo, the Akroponghene (King of Akropong)
Figural Plaque
Carving of tusk, detail
Niyu altar, Juny compound, Benin City, May 1891
Carved Tusk
Veranda Post (Òpó Ògògá)
Three figural posts in Ìkéré, Nigeria
Kneeling Maternity Figure (Ère Ojúbo)
Kneeling Maternity Figure (Ère Ojúbo), rear view
Kneeling Female Figure (Olúmèye)
Tapper with Supplicant and Hunter (Ìróké Ifá)
Tapper with Maternity Figure (Ìróké Ifá)
Babaláwo Kolawole Ositola beginning a divination session in the Porogun quarter of the town of Ìjèbú-Ode, Nigeria
Figural Staff (Ògó)
Headdress (Àgó Ègúngún Ode)
Egúngún masquerade, Abéòkúta, Nigeria
Headdress (Igi Gèlèdé)
Epa Headdress (Jagúnjagún)
Crown (Adé Ilèkè)
The king (ògògá) of Ìkéré, Èkìtì, Oníjagbó Obasorò Alówólódù, and his son
Royal Tunic (Èwù Ilèkè) and Coronet (Akoro)
Royal Tunic (Èwù Ilèkè), back
Crest Masks
Figure Screen (Duein Fubara)
Face Mask (Agbogho Mmuo)
Stool
Crest Mask (Ngambak)
Female Figure
An autumn celebration among the Ham people in the village of Nok, Nigeria
Portrait of Metang, the 10th King of Batufam
Commemorative figures of kings and queens in front of the royal palace in Batufam, Cameroon
Male Face Mask (Chihongo)
Full Chihongo character wearing a knitted fiber costume and characteristic broad skirt made from fibers
Female Face Mask (Mwana Pwo)
Portrait of a young Chokwe woman
Half-Length Figure (Eyema Byeri)
Head (Angokh Nlo Byeri)
Figure (Mbulu Ngulu)
Figure (Mbulu Ngulu)
Male Figure (Nkisi Nkondi)
Two minkisi minkondi and one zoomorphic power figure in the shape of a two-headed dog, in village in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Helmet Mask (Kholuka or Mbala)
A masquerader performing during an initiation ritual, near Kasongo Lunda, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Headrest (Musawa or Musau)
Drinking Horn
Chair (Chitwamo or Njunga)
Chair (Chitwamo or Njunga), detail
Mother-and-Child Figure (Bwanga bwa Chibola)
Mother-and-Child Figure (Bwanga bwa Chibola), back
Helmet Mask (Bwoom)
Face Mask (Ngady Mwaash)
Helmet Mask (Mukenga)
Funeral effigy with mukenga mask among the Ndengese people, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Male Caryatid Stool
Face Mask (Kifwebe)
Male Figure (Singiti)
A chief seated on a caryatid stool and flanked by three ancestor figures, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Mask (Idimu)
Wooden framework with a display of ivory and wooden masks during an initiation into the Kindi grade of the Bwami association, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Lidded Box
Portrait of a woman wearing the popular halo coiffure, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Face Mask
Headrest (Isicamelo or Isigqiki)
Umpanda: King of the Amazulus
Headrest (Isicamelo)
Isicamela (Zulu Headrest)
Studio portrait of a Zulu man, Mariannhill Mission, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Young Zulu Men Dressing Their Hair
Figure Posts, details
Figure Posts
Figural Container
Woman wearing a saif malik mask, Muscat, Oman
Helmet Mask (Lipiko)
A lipalipanda player and a lipiko masquerader entering the village of Matambalale, Mozambique
Lidded Container
Unobadula (Unobhadule), the Wood Carver
Snuff Container
Snuff Container
Bound Manuscript: The Miracles of Mary (Te’amire Maryam): the Story of Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo
Christ and Mary Enthroned from Bound Manuscript: The Miracles of Mary (Te’amire Maryam)
The Covenant of Mercy from Bound Manuscript: The Miracles of Mary (Te’amire Maryam)
Triptych Icon
Triptych icon with side panels closed
Calabash
Altar for Sàngó with different containers, Ìdòfin, Ìgbàná, Western Nigeria
Circular Divination Tray (Opón Ifá)
Altar for the Inner Head (Ìborí) with Container (Ilé-Orí)
The king (dejì) of Àkúré in full regalia, Àkúré, Nigeria
Map of Africa: Cultures and Locations

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Contents

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Contents

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22869

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Foreword

James Rondeau

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Speaking of Objects sheds new light on the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection of the traditional arts of Africa by focusing on works that exemplify significant styles, display a high degree of artistic achievement, and also prompt stories from and about their makers....

Author

James Rondeau

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22870

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Acknowledgments

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Acknowledgments

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22871

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Note to the Reader

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Note to the Reader

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22872

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From the Object to the Field (and Back Again): Complementary Perspectives on African Art

Constantine Petridis

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Although scholarly investigations of the arts of Africa began more than a century ago, occupying a space between the disciplines of anthropology and art history, African artworks typically were not integrated...

Author

Constantine Petridis

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.10-19

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22873

Chapter subject tags:Art, AfricanAnthropology--FieldworkAesthetics

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Northern Africa and the Sahel

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Northern Africa and the Sahel

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22874

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Cat. 1: Of Crests, Farmers, and Antelopes

Pascal James Imperato

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cat. 1: Of Crests, Farmers, and Antelopes

Author

Pascal James Imperato

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.22-29

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22875

Chapter subject tags:Bambara (African people)Sculpture, BambaraHeaddressesRites and ceremonies

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Cats. 2–16

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cats. 2–16

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.30-57

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22876

Chapter subject tags:Figure sculpture, AfricanAncestor worshipMasks, AfricanSculpture, Bambara

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Coastal West Africa

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Coastal West Africa

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22877

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Cat. 17: Of Figures, Spirits, and Shrines

Martha G. Anderson

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cat. 17: Of Figures, Spirits, and Shrines

Author

Martha G. Anderson

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.60-67

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22878

Chapter subject tags:SpiritsWood sculpture, West AfricanSculpture, IjoShrines

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Cats. 18–50

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cats. 18–50

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.68-125

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.7

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22879

Chapter subject tags:Masks, AfricanCeremonial objectsHeaddressesTextile fabrics

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Central Africa

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Central Africa

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.8

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22880

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Cat. 51: Of Masks, Men, and Women

Manuel Jordán

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cat. 51: Of Masks, Men, and Women

Author

Manuel Jordán

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.128-135

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.9

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22881

Chapter subject tags:Chokwe (African people)Masks, AfricanAncestor worshipCosmology

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Cats. 52–67

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cats. 52–67

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.136-163

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.10

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22882

Chapter subject tags:Figure sculpture, AfricanReliquaries, Kota (Africa)Masks, AfricanRites and ceremonies

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Eastern and Southern Africa

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Eastern and Southern Africa

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.11

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22883

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Cat. 68: Of Pillows, Cattle, and Curios

Anitra Nettleton

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cat. 68: Of Pillows, Cattle, and Curios

Author

Anitra Nettleton

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.166-173

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.12

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22884

Chapter subject tags:Zulu (African people)Hairstyles

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Cats. 69–75

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Cats. 69–75

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.174-187

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.13

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22885

Chapter subject tags:Sculpture, TanzanianMasks, AfricanChristian art and symbolism--Ethiopia

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“One’s Head Is One’s Creator”: The Interconnectedness of Word and Image in Yòrùbá Art

Babatunde Lawal

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Before the twentieth century, an emphasis on Eurocentric theories led many Western anthropologists and art historians to regard the stylized forms of indigenous African art as “primitive” and a failed attempt to imitate nature...

Author

Babatunde Lawal

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Related print edition pages: pp.188-195

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00321.14

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22886

Chapter subject tags:Yoruba (African people)Art, YorubaCosmologyRites and ceremoniesMasks, African

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

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