The creative force of African art is eloquently represented by a number of fine objects in the Gallery of African Art. In Fall 2004, Art History professor Dana Rush and her seminar students in "African Art in the Museum: Problems of Presentation and Representation" co-curated a reinstallation of the African Gallery in a manner consistent with Africa's antiquity and its varied global interactions. Themes in this reinstallation explore Africa's many religious systems and associated arts including early Christian and Islamic heritages, the transatlantic migration of African arts and culture, and modern and contemporary African art.

In addition to the objects on view here, Krannert Art Museum has created a number of virtual panoramic scenes of the African Gallery. They can be found in our Virtual Galleries in QTVR exhibit.

Works displayed in this gallery represent a number of generous gifts and loans from private individuals.

Chi-wara Dance Headpiece
Western Region of Mali
Bamana People
Sculpture: wood, brass, basketry
l: 22 1/2"
Gift of Cecilia and Irwin Smiley 1991-7-1

The antelope headdress is worn by Bamana men who are members of the chi wara secret society. Such associations are very important in western African agrarian cultures. The group takes its name from a Bamana cultural hero, the spirit who taught the Bamana their most essential skill, agriculture.

The function of the chi wara is to teach the skills needed for successful farming, to ensure a good harvest, and to guarantee the survival of the Bamana people. Chi wara is the sole major Bamana secret society that admits women, although only initiated men may carve the masks and wear them as they dance. The inclusion of women stresses the underlying philosophy of chi wara: harmony may be achieved only by maintaining a dynamic equilibrium between men and women to produce new generations, and between sun and earth to grow new crops. During the performance, each mask has a special female partner who dances behind the masquerader, fanning the air to disseminate the spirit's vital aura.

Poro Society Anti-Witchcraft Mask (1970)
Carved by Zana Soro
Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire
Sculpture: wood
l: 39"
Gift of Anita J. Glaze 1986-31-1

The poro society anti-witchcraft mask is another mask pertaining to a secret society. This Senufo helmet mask is a visual sign of protective and aggressive magic and the embodiment of supernatural powers and knowledge of magical formulae. The Senufo people of the Côte d'Ivoire use this mask as a force against lawbreakers and evil spirits.

In contrast to the chi wara of the Bamana, the poro society is an all-male secret society. This anti-witchcraft mask employs animal imagery to symbolize the need for control in an imperfect world. Wild boar tusks and antelope horns have been added to the fearsome image of a bird devouring a chameleon. The bird is the hornbill, a metaphor of the world's creator used widely by western African sculptors. This bird was one of the first beings on earth and the one that brought palm nuts and the oil palm to the region.

Diomande Mask
Dan People, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, 20th century
Sculpture: wood
l: 32"
Gift of the Richard J. Faletti Family Collection 1996-12-1

The hornbill is also featured in the mask of the Diomande group of the Mau people, a Mande-speaking group related to the Dan people living in Côte d'Ivoire. For the Dan people the hornbill is the symbol of the goddess of life, who presides over agricultural and human fertility. The mask represents a play of balancing forces that counteract discord, injustice, and disorder while instilling inner calm or ``cool heart.''

Mask-spirits represent ancestral forest spirits that inhabit masks carved for them after they have revealed themselves to villagers through dreams. Diomande sculptors carefully select the wood to be used, carve it for exacting symmetry, and polish it to a high gloss, resulting in a visually stunning blend of beauty and fierceness.

Aguru Epa Dance Mask
Yoruba - Southern Nigeria, 20th century
Sculpture: wood, pigment
h: 52"
Lent by Neal Ball

The Epa dance mask expresses the belief in Shango, the Yoruba god of fire, thunder, and lightning. Shango is depicted here as an equestrian warrior in European clothing. This African deity traditionally terrifies his enemies by blowing fire and smoke from his mouth, suggested in this instance by smoking a pipe.

The dancer who wears this Janus (two-faced) mask must have great athletic prowess. The climax of the Epa ceremony requires him to leap up and land on a small mound three feet above the ground surface. Good hunting and a bountiful harvest are assured if he succeeds. If he does not, the powers that made him fail must be appeased with sacrifices.

Votive figure of Yupa the Scribe (1304-1237 BCE)
Egyptian, Thebes, 13th century BCE
Sculpture: black granite
27" x 13"
Gift of Ellnora D. Krannert 1967-3-3

Although carved in a hard stone, the contours of a freestanding Egyptian sculpture in this gallery convey an intense humanity. The man represented here is Yupa, a scribe. We see him in the prayerful act of dedicating an offering. His working posture, seated on the ground, would not have been far removed from this kneeling pose. There is a natural formality in the compact symmetry of his head and body, legs folded under him, arms against his sides. Without violating the solidity of the block or changing the planar relationship of its four sides, the sculptor gives an impression of distinct personal identity. From his shoulders to his heels, Yupa conveys a dignity determined by convention, severe yet spiritual.