Fang / Louis Perrois.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Perrois, Louis.

Series:

Visions d'Afrique. English ; 2.

Visions d'Afrique. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fang (African people)--Social life and customs.

Fang (African people).

Sculpture, Fang.

Wood sculpture, Fang.

Physical Description:

154 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Milan : 5 Continents, 2006.

Summary:

Fang sculpture from Equatorial Africa (Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea) is one of the most emblematic expressions of African art. It has been showcased in exhibitions in Europe and the United States since 1914 in counterpoint to avant-garde painting, and was one of the most praised forms of "Negro art" on the part of artists and intellectuals in the early twentieth century: Braque, Derain, Picasso, Apollinaire, Breton, Eluard, etc. Ritual art par excellence, Fang sculpture, which has now disappeared, was linked to the world of the dead and the spirits of the forest. The stylised, but refined, wooden ancestor statues were attached to bark reliquary baskets containing family relics. A study of a large number of these figures has revealed several styles and regional substyles. The Fang also produced various kinds of masks that were used by the initiation societies, mainly to mete out customary justice. The people of the great forest, who were deeply attached to appearances and symbols, developed a flourishing decorative art which adorned their weapons, finery and everyday utensils as well as the insignia of power.

Contents:

The Pangwe, Pahouin and Other Fang Groups in the Nineteenth Century 11

Equatorial Africa in the Past 11

First Contacts with the Fang in the Nineteenth Century 13

Fang Villages and Traditional Lifestyle 16

Society, Family and the Individual 17

Value Systems and Social Laws: Fang Customs 19

Myths, Beliefs and Rites: Spirits and Ancestors 21

Fang Sculpture 25

Ritual Sculpture Related to Ancestor Worship 28

A Stylistic Overview of Fang Country in the Nineteenth Century 29

Styles and Substyles in Ancestral Fang Statuary 34

The Masks of Initiation Societies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 43

Mobile, Decorative Fang Art 47

Craftsmen and Artists, Inspired Sculptors 52

Fang Sculpture in a World of Appearances 57.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 138-151).

ISBN:

8874392958

9788874392957

OCLC:

63187009