By Tajudeen Sowole
Loss of value, either as a
result of of misplaced or missing provenance, has been widely responsible for
improper appropriation of African art, particularly in foreign spaces.
Such distortion is even more
visible when art of African traditional origin has to contend with contemporary
space.
Visiting Kenyan Scholar, Lydia
Gatundu Galavu speaking during a Lagos interactive event.
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Curatorial challenge, in this context, was the focus of a
visiting Kenyan scholar, Lydia Gatundu Galavu who shared her thoughts with
Lagos audience under the theme Displaying Traditional Art in Contemporary
African Time, at Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Foundation (OYASAF), Maryland, Lagos. Galavu, a Ph.d Scholar on History of Art in Kenya was in Nigeria as the 2016 OYASAF Fellow.
Few days ahead of concluding her visit,
Galavu told participants at the OYASAF Fellowship Interactive Session that
choosing Nigeria as a resource to further her research was unavoidable.
"Nigeria is in the forefront of creativity in Africa," she stated and
noted that "OYASAF has the largest collection of African art."
However, appropriation of art of African
origin is as crucial as the energy and other resources invested in collecting
the works, either traditional, modern or contemporary. More importantly, as
some of the continent's best collections – of traditional art - are on display
in foreign museums, with quite a number of the of them being ancient also adds
to the complexity of appropriation as well as getting proper provenance. For
Galavu, the take-off point should be the reality of the period, which such
collection is being handled. "Being in contemporary times, we need to fuse
our art into the current understanding."
Sharing her experience, for examples, from
spaces such as Berlin Museum, Germany; British Museum, London, U.K; and
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, U.S,. Galavu recalled that in quite a
number of situations, the presentations were distorted. In fact, sometimes, non-African
art, she alleged, were wrongly placed in African museum spaces. And where
African contents existed, the texts, particularly on provenance, she said
"do not represent the ideology behind the art and period."
Galavu's findings would not be seen as exactly
new to the complexity of African art history space, particularly the academia
of which she belongs. Nigeria, in indeed, is a case study, where lamentations
over the dearth of adequate documentation of traditional art has been voiced at
different fora.
However, there appeared to have emerged new
dawn in the last few years with quite a number if books on traditional African
art. Among such books are a collaboration between Femi Akinsanya African Art
Collection (FAAAC) and Sylvester Ogbechi titled Making History: African Collectors and the Canon of African Art; in
2013, Conversations With Lamidi Fakeye,
authored by Yemisi Shyllon and Dr. Ohioma Pogoson, published by Revilo Company
Limited; and last year, Art and Risk in
Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power
and Identity, c. 1300, a
Cambridge University Press publication, written by an American scholar, Suzanne
Preston Blier.
At the OYASAF interactive event, quite a
number of contributors from the audience agreed with Galavu on the danger of
misappropriation. But again, the issue remains largely about the richness of
documentation available to art managers, home and in the Diaspora. Also, the
issue of not placing premium on anything of African origin was also
highlighted.
In his contribution, the convener, Shyllon
argued that "art is the only venture where Africa has competitive
advantage in the world." He stressed how such advantage could help
"to project our identity."
Galavu is from Institute of Anthropology,
Gender and African Studies, Nairobi University, Kenya.
Her Thesis is titled ‘Traditional
Art and the Individual: An ethnographic investigation of Turkana kitchen art.’
Galavu’s curatorial highlights included: AAM- Getty International
Program: museum art professionals (2016), Washington DC, US;
Sanaa ya Makaratasi;
exhibition of works on paper titled 'African Paper Art: Process,
Substance, Environment’ from 12 African countries, Nairobi, 2012; ‘A for Africa’ Project, exhibition
in Benin, Kenya and Burkina Faso (2009/2010)
International Symposium for
Ceramic Education and Exchange, University College of Creative Arts, Farnham UK
(2007/2008)
Exhibition Design, at the
British Museum for development of the exchange exhibition Hazina (2005).
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