Metro Pulse/Artbeat/Many Splendored

Comment
on this story

What:
Many Splendored: African Art in Regional Collections

Where:
UT's Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, 1715 Volunteer Boulevard (call 974-3200 for information)

When:
through March 4

Collectors of African art show and tell

by Heather Joyner

A few evenings prior to the Ewing Gallery's opening reception for its "Many Splendored: African Art in Regional Collections" show, I am in the exhibition space. And I'm probably in the way. People come and go through entrance doors sheathed in brown paper to conceal the frenzy within. Dr. Bill Dewey, the School of Art's African art expert, is taking what I imagine to be a much-needed break, but the gallery's chief honchos (Sam Yates and Cindy Spangler) are here, moving rapidly from one concern to another.

As student assistants position objects on platforms, I survey what could be the world's most exotic garage sale, confident that the impressive array of masks, textiles, weapons, and other pieces now clustered on tables and crowding the floor will soon be thoughtfully presented. After all, a similar scramble probably occurred at the neighboring McClung Museum before its show, "The World Moves, We Follow," was unveiled last month.

Both exhibits are part of UT's Africa Semester—roughly four months of visiting scholars, lectures, and cultural events offering a myriad of experiences on campus and beyond. Arts-related fare includes theater, films, dance performances, and music. It's enough to make one hide the TV and put off household duties until the fireflies appear.

Jamie McCann, an art history major involved with the Ewing exhibit, says, "This show is different from the one at the McClung because it's about the people in our region who collect African art [as well as the art itself]." Indeed, the dozen people or couples who own works on display have stories surrounding various acquisitions, and their comments in the "Many Splendored" catalog lend the show a certain intimacy. All share a fascination with other cultures, but each collector reveals his or her personal reasons for being drawn to specific pieces. Unlike displays of African art in classy museums, "Many Splendored" reflects individuals' connections with and respect for the art presented.

Some objects are old; many are not. Objects worth a lot of money stand alongside pieces bought for practically nothing. Some objects serve as warm reminders of past experiences, whereas others provoke conflict within those who have obtained them.

A one-time resident of Northern Togo, Knoxvillian Brent Cantrell says he has collected Moba artifacts with "hesitant deliberation." He explains: "Once the object is removed from its place...it ceases to be part of the fabric of that culture. When the eyes of the affluent turn to the African village or the Appalachian hollow, and pieces of material culture are traded for cash, the people there lose a little of that which binds their traditions.... There have been a disturbing number of large Moba ancestor figures on the U.S. market. Every time I see one, I envision an empty hole in front of a Moba family compound." Ritual objects in Cantrell's collection were gifts, not purchases.

On the other hand, the "lost" objects provide some people with a meaningful link to their ancestry. Local media personality Edye Ellis, whose featured collection includes a feather headdress from Cameroon and West African Fulani hats, says, "Kuba cloth wraps from Central Africa have been transformed into jackets that I am honored to wear. I love them all—for their textures and for the contexts in which they were used on the continent that is such a precious part of my heritage." South Carolinian James Miller says of his textiles: "Kuba art holds great beauty; it is geometric and precise...a symphony of images that puts one in mind of the music of Bach or a great formal work of architecture."

Knoxvillians Bill and Marty Goolsby say that pieces like their Ngala iron and wood sword "have a presence beyond the object itself...[revealing an] invisible world of spirit and emotion.... When we hold in our hands or gaze upon one of our African art objects, we feel a bond with the artist who created it and with those who used it."

John and Peggy Acorn (of South Carolina), like Bert and Editha Carpenter (of North Carolina), present collections purchased—for the most part— in New York. The Acorns' beaded ceremonial aprons and the Carpenters' exquisite furniture, masks, and other items are no less intriguing than art belonging to collectors who have lived in Africa. However, people like the aforementioned Miller and Knoxville residents Dianne Blane and Dr. Rosalind Hackett possess objects enhanced by their years of immersion in cultures of the Congo, Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Kenya, and Rwanda. Having amassed remarkable Tutsi baskets with pointed caps, Blane says, "I loved wandering through African markets.... I was struck by the beauty and complexity of every kind of handwork.... [T]he shapes and patterns are always particular to the people who make and use them.... [M]ost importantly, the craftsmanship also reflects images, designs, and colors associated with beliefs and symbols in the natural and supernatural worlds."

Hackett, a major contributor to Dewey's catalog for the McClung show, says, "In a nutshell, my home looks like an African art museum: to remind me of Africa, to be challenged on a daily basis to see the world differently, to convey to friends and students that Africa has much to offer, to be inspired by the transformative capacity of African art, and of course to beautify my domestic space.... [N]ow if I just had a few more walls and rooms in my house..."

Fortunately for us, the Ewing Gallery has plenty of space. And the art currently on view speaks of lives both here and in Africa. "Many Splendored" represents a terrific contribution to an exciting semester.