Baule Blolo Bian & Blolo Bla

I used to travel frequently to Cote d’Ivoire in 1990’s. I passed the Baule villages on my way to Northern Ivory Coast, to Senufo people. I had never spent even one night in a Baule village. The Baule statues which I'd been eagerly collecting where purchased in Abidjan or by Hausa traders in Man town.

Today I’m dealing with spirits filing so densely the Asian underworld. The belief in the immortality of ancestors’ souls in South East Asia is also strong as in West Africa.

The wooden sculptures of the Bale remain me the Batak’s and Timor forefathers.

The postcolonial Blolo Bian and Blolo Bia are characterized by a greater expression than Asian sculptures. The elaborated details as hairdressing and face scarification give an extra dose of power and elegance. I think that Thai spirits have a great respect for the supernatural mediums from Africa.

African glass beads. Royal crowns from Nigeria. Les couronnes royales de Afrique.

My first connotation with african art is a mask. My second associations when I think about Africa are african beads.
The beads have been available in "Dark Continent" for centuries. The oldest beads made of ostrich eggshells found in Sudan were produced 12,000 years ago.
During my stay among Turkana in Kenya I had filmed women making these disk - shaped beads. The art of oldests adornment which has survived until now.

The beads made of powder glass or glass have determined social and economic status among the pastoral tribes of East Africa and the sophisticated royal courts of West Africa.

Beaded royal crowns in Nigeria were always very revered objects. The crownmakers were real masters of beadworks. The crowns in shape of a wool winter cap were never made according free patterns and an artist's visions.

Yoruba or Mama crowns show full royal symbolism. The colours of beads and a bird at the crown's summit create the supernatural link and a mystic bridge to the devine ancestor's world.

Les couronnes royales perlées au Nigeria ont été révérées les objets.
Les maîtres d'art de perles ont créé des couronnes avec symbolis royal.
Les couleurs de perles et d'un oiseau au sommet de la couronne créent le lien surnaturel et un pont mystique au monde de l'ancêtre.

Poupée de Namchi du Cameroun. African doll.

Les Poupées africaines sont créées pour de jeunes filles pour jouer avec et comme un charme pour assurer la fertilité dans les femmes.
Leur forme et costume varient selon la région et le coutume.
Quelquefois les poupées sont transmises de la mère à la fille.

Les poupées africaines sont utilisées pour enseigner et divertir.
Chaque poupée est unique parce qu'ils sont la main faite.

Les poupées de Namchi sont connues comme une des plus belles poupées africaines et sont faites du bois ferme.
Les gens Namchi vivent dans le Cameroun Nord.
Leurs poupées sont célèbres pour ses formes géométriques et décoration de perles déroutante.

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Afrykanskie lalki wykonane z drewna sa wspanialymi objektami kolekcjonerskimi. Lalka na zdjeciu pochodzi z Kamerunu. Plemie Namczi slynie z fantastycznych lalek, ktore czesto przechodza od matki do corki. Wspaniala ekspresja tych lalek i dekoracja z koralikow robi z nich prawdziwe dziela sztuki. Kazda lalka jest jedyna w swoim rodzaju, gdyz jest zawsze wykonana recznie.

Bardzo ekspresyjne lalki z drewna sa jeszcze w Tanzanii. Wielki wybor jest w RPA, ale Ndebele dolls wykonane sa z materialu bawelnianego.

Dogon art. Sculpture with raised arms. The purifying the universe in Mali.

The Dogon live 250 km south of Timbuktu on the cliffs of Bandiagara in Mali.

The Dogon have been isolated for centuries and were able to conserve their ancient religious habits. Each village built an altar. The Hogon who is chief priest is in charge of all religious and agrarian rituals.

But many families possessed individual altars.

One kind of individual shrine is a rain-making altar. This altar called andugo is equiped with wooden sculptures which represent Nommo. Dogon mythology tells that Nommo was the first living creature created by the sky god Amma. Nommo is master of water and symbolizes rain falling from sky and all water on earth.

Ngil Masks of Fang. Cameroon and Gabon. African Art.

Fang people live in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The Fang were Christianised before World War II.
Despite that a belief in witchcraft and black magic remains firm among Fang. Unfortunately secret society as Ngil disappeared together with old customs and dances.

The Ngil masks were worn by members of a male society during the initiation of young boys. The mask was a part of raffia costume covered whole body. The Ngil masquerade took place in village after sunset. The masks were mostly painted white to be visible by all spectators.
Today the Ngils are very desired by collectors and original pieces are expensive.

During Vérité auction in Paris in 2006 a 100 years old Ngil mask was sold for $ 6.500.000. The mask with the scarifications on cheeks is a perfect example of spiritual power in African tribal art. Unknown Fang sculptor from rain forest influences and intrigues us in 21th century.


You can admire the beauty and charm of African mastepieces watching the collection of Marcello Lattari.

The collection shows a wide spectrum of tribal art from West and Central Africa including Fang's Ngil masks and Byeri statues.

African art. Contemporary Benin bronze from Nigeria.

The Edo Empire was pre-colonial country located in modern Nigeria. In the 15th century Benin became the greatest city of the empire created by Oba Ewuare.

The state developed an advanced culture especially in its famous artifacts of bronze.

Bronze casters produced only by royal permission or commission.
These pieces of art had ritual and ceremonial meaning. Brass was regarded as a royal material because of its shining surface and the high durability.

At the end of 19th century the Benin kingdom lost the independence. British soldiers took the capital city.
Since beginning of the 20th century the artists have created her works for sale. The art lost its royal touch and blessing.

Today Benin bronzes are very desired by collectors in Europe and America. Many contemporary pieces equal to old masterpieces.

Tinga Tinga paintings from East Africa. African Art

If you visit souvenir markets in Mombasa, Nairobi or Dar es Salaam, you will see some stalls with colorful paintings. There are Tinga Tinga. Pictures named after Eduardo Tinga Tinga.

Eduardo Said Tinga Tinga was born in Mozambique in 1937. He moved to Tanzania at age of 18.

Eduardo started to paint pictures of animals and people during his work on buildings sites. Soon his naive style was widely recognizable among dwellers and foreign residents in Dar es Salaam.

In the 1970's his paintings' style was followed by many local artists. Zanzibar became touristy mecca. Many holidaymakers left Africa with suitable souvenirs: paintigs of game animals or Masai warriors with Kilimanjaro background behind.

Today Tinga Tinga pictures belong to main stream of visual art in East Africa. The artists still use vibrant colors and enrich Eduardo's legacy by adoption of suahili features.