Makonde art

The name Makonde art refers to East African sculptures or, less frequently, to modern paintings created by craftspeople or artists belonging to the Makonde people of northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania, separated by the Ruvuma river. Art historians, dealers and collectors have created this genre of African art, that can be subdivided into African traditional artifacts or modern artistic works. This genre can be traced back to the 1930s, when the first documented exhibition of Makonde art was held at the Centro Cultural dos Novos in the former Portuguese colony of today's Mozambique.[1]

Traditional and contemporary styles

Makonde art can be subdivided into different styles. Traditionally, the Makonde have carved secular household objects, ritual figures, and masks.[2] After the 1930s, Portuguese colonizers and other missionaries arrived at the Mueda plateau in Northern Mozambique. They showed great interest and fascination for the Makonde wood carvings and began to order different pieces, from religious pieces to political “eminences.” The Makonde sculptors, after noticing such interest, began to carve sculptures in a new style, using pau-preto (ebony wood, Diospyros ebenum) and pau-rosa (Swartzia sapini) instead of the soft and non-durable wood they had used before. This first contact with Western culture has been considered to be the introduction of European styles into the tradition of Makonde carving.

Since the 1930s, the Modern Makonde Art has been developing in Tanzania. An essential step away from the traditional sculptures was the creation of abstract figures, called Shetani in Swahili language, representing mostly evil spirits. The shetani play a special role in Swahili popular beliefs. This shetani style was created in the early 1950s by master carver Samaki Likankoa. Likankoa's patron, Mohamed Peera, an art curator in Dar es Salaam, played an instrumental and decisive role in further influencing the modern Makonde art movement. Some Makonde sculptors, including George Lugwani, have embraced a fully abstract style of carving without discernible figures. Since the 1970s, Modern Makonde Art has become part of the internationally recognized contemporary art of Africa. One of the most acknowledged artists is George Lilanga, who started with carvings and became famous as a modern painter.

A special genre of traditional ritual Makonde art is the characteristic Mapiko masks (singular: Lipiko). These have been used in tribal dances accompanying coming-of-age rituals since before contact with missionaries in the 20th century. These masks were carved from a single block of light wood (usually sumaumeira brava) and may represent shetani spirits, ancestors, or living characters (real or idealized). The dancers in the rituals wore the masks so that they could see through the mask's mouth or alternatively, fixed the mask on their heads, with the mask facing towards the audience when the dancers bent forward.

Changes in the 20th century

Modern Makonde art is an integration of traditional woodworking practices with artistic woodcarving. After the introduction of road systems in the plateaus between Tanzania and Mozambique by Portuguese troops during World War I, the traditional practices began to shift to meet new social and economic demands. Portuguese forced labor and taxes had prompted Makonde carvers in Mozambique to expand past the practices of traditional woodcarving. Makonde art was once a ritual expression reserved for men and kept hidden from women, but Western influences on 20th-century Makonde art changed both the production and purpose of this art style.[3][4]

Makonde sculptors originally from Mozambique, but displaced in Tanzania, supported the resistance towards colonial regime in Mozambique. As early as 1959, Makonde people in Dar es Salaam helped create a nationalist organization (MANU) that later became part of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO). Supporting the fight for liberation, Makonde sculptors created cooperatives and made financial contributions by selling their artworks for the struggle for liberation in Mozambique. Referring to notions of modern Makonde carvers as traditional, rural people, a Portuguese study from 2020 said: "To generically place the Makonde artists in isolation, in the corner and in the bush, is a Western paternalist fiction."[5]

Types of Modern Makonde art

Ujamaa or Tree of life

Roberto Yakobo Sangwani left his home Mozambique and headed for Tanzania in the late 1950s. With him he brought a style of Makonde art formally known as Dimoongo, meaning ‘power of strength’ or ‘tree of life’. Traditionally these sculptures portrayed clusters of connected wrestlers holding up a winning victor. Gradually, the main figure shifted to represent tribal heads or people in unity with community members or family. Regardless of who the central figure of a sculpture is, the organization of this style represents one central figure, surrounded by and supported by other figures. These figures exemplify ujamaa (communal unity) or relationships in a community and bring forth the underlying reverence the Makonde have for their ancestors or society.[6]

Shetani

Shetani style woodcarvings (“devil” in Swahili) are expressions of Makonde mythology and spirits. This style uses the appearance of otherworldly physical traits, like large, distorted facial or body features, sometimes of animals, to signify the spiritual realm.[7] The essence of Shetani is thought to take five forms: human, mammal, fish, bird, and reptile. In some sculptures, there are also culturally significant symbols, like a mother's breasts or calabashes, used to carry water.[8]

Binadamu

Binadamu, a naturalistic type, captures the essence of Makonde social roles. Most common are depictions of men smoking and women fulfilling household chores. After Portuguese occupation, many locals began to prioritize the craft and create figures embodying the daily lives of Makonde men and women to appeal to Western taste.[9][10]

Rites of passage

Long before Makonde woodcarvings became of commercial interest, the purpose of this art form was to characterize evil spirits during rites of passage ceremonies. Most notable are male initiations into adulthood, which are marked by circumcision. At the beginning of this rite, a ritualist dance, the Mapiko, is performed. Throughout this dance there are three active parts: A masked dancer representing a dead man who has come to haunt the village, the Mashapilo, or an evil spirit seeking to spread malice and disrupt health, and lastly, the young man undergoing this transition into manhood, who is to conquer these entities. Both of the masked dancers are symbolic expressions of the evil that must be faced and defeated by the young man. The boys then receive the circumcision ritual, and are subsequently taken away from the group and taught their societal duties as men. Ceremonies for girls also include ritualist dance and isolation, however, woodcarvings are only present once a woman is married. Once a Makonde woman marries, she will carry around a carved wood doll to promote fertility.[11]

  • Makonde Binadamu sculpture
  • Makonde Shetani sculpture
  • Makonde Ujamaa sculpture detail
  • An abstract carving by George Lugwani in mpingo

See also

Further reading

  • Kingdon, Zachary. 2002. A Host of Devils: The History and Context of the Making of Makonde Spirit Sculpture. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27727-2
  • Korn, Jorn, Jesper Kirknaes.1974. Modern Makonde Art. London, New York, Sydney: The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited. ISBN 9780600361718
  • Mohl, Max: Masterpieces of the Makonde. 1990–97. Ebony Sculptures from East Africa, a comprehensive photo-documentation. Vol. 1-3. Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 3925761578
  • Stout, J.A.: Modern Makonde Sculpture. 1966. Kibo Art Gallery Publications, Nairobi, Kenya.

References

  1. ^ Grohs, Elisabeth (1989). "Art Makonde contemporain = Arte Makonde contemporânea.". Art Makonde: tradition et modernité (in French and Portuguese). Paris: Ministère des affaires etrangères, Secretariat d'état aux relations culturelles internationales, Association française d'action artistique; Ministère de la coopération et du développement. pp. 144–157. OCLC 20964411.
  2. ^ As Tanzanian art historian J.A.R. Wembah-Rachid wrote in his article Traditional Sculpture: "In fact, throughout Tanzania, social, economic, political and religious power and authority are symbolised by sculptured pieces of work..." In Ewel, Manfred and Anne Outwater, eds., 2001. From Ritual to Modern Art. Tradition and Modernity in Tanzanian Sculpture. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers. ISBN 9976973853
  3. ^ "Makonde Art – African Blackwood Conservation Project". Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  4. ^ Wembah-Rashid, J.A.R. (October 1993). "Cultural Vulnerability of Returning Refugee Children: The Mozambican Wamakonde in Tanzania". Refuge. Canada's Periodical on Refugees. 13, 6 (Mozambican Refugees and International Assistance): 20–21.
  5. ^ Sarmento, João; de Lemos Martins, Moisés (2020). "Searching for Mozambique at the National Museum of Ethnology, Portugal" (PDF). repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt. p. 22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-05-18. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
  6. ^ P. Fay. "Makonde". Newport Middle Passage. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  7. ^ "Tanzanian Affairs » MAKONDE ART". Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  8. ^ "Makonde art collection". www.makonde-art.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  9. ^ "Makonde sculpture – TALKING OBJECTS: Art Conservation Conversations". TALKING OBJECTS: Art Conservation Conversations. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  10. ^ "Makonde figurative carvings - Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya". www.bluegecko.org. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  11. ^ "Rituals, beliefs and sculptures in Makonde culture". Exploring Africa. 2017-02-27. Archived from the original on 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
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