East African cultures have often been overlooked. Thousands of species of wildlife have become a source of endless fascination while the human populations living in their midst remain relatively little known. This publication will draw readers closer to the realities of several East African lifestyles. At times, it invoices us to consider environments quite different from our own. For the most part, this is a place where industrial objects are the exception, not the rule. Just think of all the products we rely upon to eat, sleep, dress, and defend ourselves. In contrast, a rural pastoralist provisioned for travel is a model of efficient and effective design. He carries a calabash container, a wooden headrest, and a hide shield and wears beaded garments. Each artifact is individualized for his personal use. Examining his creativity require learning more about aspects of his daily existence.For decades, this creativity was sublimated in the literature as an addenda to the masks and sculpture of West and Central Africa. Katherine White was committed to breaking through this aesthetic barrier. In 1978, she and her three sons travelled to Kenya on what was to be her last trip abroad. Armed with Hasselblad and her omnivorous eyes, she recorded and purchases a time capsule of East African artistry. As her journals attest, she often pursed the ornament still worn of the object still held by its original owner. I approached a marvelous old man with a white feather headdress, ostrich plumes, and a wire lip plug. We struck a bargain, then he tried to remove the plug. It got so heartrending, I couldn't watch. It was grown in. Quite a crowd collected. We waited and waited. The man was frantic. Finally, it was delivered to me, and I wasn't sure I could touch it. I felt I had part of that old mans anatomy in my hand.
Like this lip plug, most of the art in this publication was recently acquired. A selection from the Katherine White Collection was ably distilled by Gene Burt to represent a variety of East African art forms. His text helps the reader to restore these artifacts to their intimate use by other cultures. While we surround ourselves with comforts increasingly made by machines, their traditions stand in fragile contrast.
Price: $4.95
|
