Art of the Lega: Meaning and Metaphor in Central Africa - exhibition preview

African Arts, Summer, 2002 by Elisabeth L. Cameron

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In the first few sections of the Fowler installation, bright lighting and a liberal use of didactic material and contextual photographs focused attention on how the Lega use their artworks. As the visitor moved through the sections, the general lighting grew dimmer and individual sculptures were illuminated by spotlights. Didactic labeling was reduced to allow the visitor to internalize the context and concentrate on the aesthetics of these unique sculptures.

The culmination of both the aesthetic presentation and the contextual display was reached in the final room (Fig. 31). In a completely darkened and silent setting, a collection of spectacular works sat on pedestals, lit by focused beams of light. Texts and photographs were absent. For the art lover this was the ideal environment for reflecting on the beauty of each sculpture. For Bwami the room would have brought to mind the last and highest initiation, when the teacher shows the candidate a display of works that must be contemplated in silence. No words. No songs. Only the power of each individual object instructs the initiate in the final truths.

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(1.) Many thanks to Dr. Last for his willingness to share his collection with the world and to make it a promised gift to the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History.

(2.) See Biebuyck 1973: pl. 25 for a photograph of zoomorphic figures grouped in use.

(3.) See Nunley & McCarty 1999:15: "In using this term we are referring to an object placed over the face or covering the entire head so that the face is more or less concealed." Or Kasfir 1988:5: "A mask ... [is] something which nonetheless both covers and transforms."

(4.) De Kun calls many Lega masks "hand-masks" or "pseudo-masks" (1966:84).

(5.) For discussions of how Western definitions of masks do not fit many African forms of masquerading, see Kubik 1993 and Cameron 1995.

(6.) Kilega is the language spoken by the Lega.

(7.) In most Bantu languages, wa means "of," that is, originating from something or somewhere. For example, a person is from or "of" a town, a child is "of" a family. In this context, the artist does not just use an adze, he is "of" the adze.

References cited

Altman, Ralph C. 1963. Balega and Other Tribal Arts from the Congo. Los Angeles: Dickson Art Center, University of California.

Biebuyck, Daniel P. 1954. "The Function of a Lega Mask," Archives internationales d'ethnographie 47:108-20.

Biebuyck, Daniel P. 1969. "Introduction," in Tradition and Creativity in Tribal Art, pp. 1-23. Los Angeles; Berkeley: University of California Press.

Biebuyck, Daniel P. 1973. Lega Culture: Art, Initiation, and Moral Philosophy among a Central African People. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Biebuyck, Daniel P. 1976. "The Decline of Lega Sculptural Art," in Ethnic and Tourist Arts: Cultural Expressions from the Fourth World, ed. Nelson H. Graburn, pp. 334-49. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Biebuyck, Daniel P. 1977. Symbolism of the Lega Stool. Philadelphia: ISHI Publications.