The Politics of Recognition

This week we read Charles Taylor’s The Politics of Recognition. Taylor argues that the demand for recognition stems from a new understanding of identity first articulated in the 18^th century. Individuals, and individual cultures, came to be seen as unique, equally valid, and inwardly generated. Because of this, a new emphasis was placed on societal recognition. Misrecognition and nonrecognition became forms of oppression because they can alter a group’s image of itself, trapping them within a distorted vision.

These ideas are particularly important for public museums that strive to represent diverse cultures from a variety of vantage points. Misrecognition and nonrecognition play a large role in conceptions of African art. This can be seen in the exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, “‘Primitivism’ in Modern 20^th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern,” in which African art and Western art were placed together based on their formal characteristics alone. Critics have observed that there was little attempt made to understand the non-Western cultures represented in the displays or the inherent racism found in many of the Western artworks. Taylor argues that the middle ground between ethnocentric misrecognition and homogenizing nonrecognition can be achieved through the study of cultures. What role does the gallery play in this study? Can a gallery create an exhibition that showcases various cultures without embedded value judgments and biases?

Power and Prestige

Woman’s tubular cloth

Ivory Coast; Dida peoples

Late 20^th century 

Raffia, dye

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

 

This week we discussed the ways that textiles and garments communicate power and prestige. Historically, tubular raffia cloths produced by the Dida peoples of Côte d’Ivoire were symbols of wealth and social status. Due to the time consuming process of weaving these garments, the women that produced them often had to be supported by affluent families. Today, tubular raffia cloths are worn as indicators of family wealth and expressions of Dida identity.

The Kuba peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo create embroidered cut-pile cloths that were used traditionally only by nobility and often in conjunction with funerary rites. The high level of skill required to create the diverse and innovative geometric designs on these cloths adds to their value and underpins their role as prestige symbols.

Cut-pile cloth

Democratic Republic of Congo; Kuba peoples
20th century

Raffia, dye
Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

 

In Nigeria, many men wear elaborate embroidered gowns (called riga among the Hausa) to express authority and status. These ideas are communicated through the layering of multiple gowns, the intricacy of embroidery, and the quality of cloth. 

 

Riga (man’s gown)

Nigeria, Kano; Hausa peoples

Mid 20^th century

Cotton

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

Yoruba women in Nigeria produce and wear indigo-dyed cloth called adire. Due to the high cost of materials and long production times, indigo cloths are prized garments often worn at public events. Production began to wane in the 1990s; however, Nike Davies Okundaye is preserving this form by training a new generation of artists in its production at the Nike Centre for Art and Culture. For more information on this project visit www.nikeart.com

Adire eleko cloth

Nigeria, Ibadan; Yoruba peoples

Mid to late 20^th century

Cotton, natural dye

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

As cultures grow and change, in what ways do expressions of power and prestige persist?  How are these ideas communicated through cloth in your community?

Agency and Identity

Donson dlokiw (hunter’s shirt)

Mali; Mande peoples

20^th century

Cotton, mirror, horns, bird’s head, leather

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

This week we discussed issues of identity and protection.  Mande hunters’ shirts are representations of their identity made to display their skill and experience.  Antlers, teeth, and protective amulets, accumulated during the course of their activities as a hunter, are sewn onto the fabric. Built up over time, these artifacts of the hunt visually articulate the history of the individual hunter. 

 

Young woman’s apron

South Africa; Zulu peoples

Late 19^th to early 20^th century

Cotton, glass beads

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

We also explored the various styles of beadwork used by Zulu-speaking people. Originally controlled by the king and used by the upper class, its use, or lack there of, can now signify political, regional, religious identity and social class.

Ta‘jira (woman’s shawl)

Tunisia; Imazighen (Berber) peoples

Mid 20^th century

Wool, cotton, dye, silk thread

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

 


Among the Amazigh (Berber) women of Morocco, metaphors of motherhood play important roles in textile, clothing and tattoo designs. These motifs link women with the natural world and emphasize their fertility. They also foreground their position as creators and preservers of Amazigh identity through their knowledge of the Tamazight language.

 
In Northern Kenya personal adornments, such as necklaces, earrings, scarification, and hair styles, are used to identify sex, age, and social status by marking important changes in the social state, such as circumcision, marriage, and elderhood. This helps to create and maintain social order.

How is body modification in your culture used to express agency and personal identity?

Interview with Barbara McCann

This past week we had the opportunity to interview Barbara McCann, whose textile collection is featured in the Conversation Pieces exhibition. We are happy to share her responses with you here.

Q: What was your motivation for starting this collection?

I was travelling through Ethiopia in 1971/72 when I met an ethnographer from the National Museum of Kenya, Dr. Jean Brown. I did not at that time of my life (pre-university studies) know what an ethnographer did, but I certainly knew after spending a few days with her travelling into Northern Kenya, that I was totally fascinated by her work. After a few months in Kenya during which time I learned more about collecting material culture, Jean encouraged me to go to West Africa to collect textiles. In those days as today, it is West Africa where so many handwoven and hand decorated textiles are produced.

Meeting Jean and later, ethnographers at the British Museum, was really the beginning of my collecting.
 
Q: What was your selection criteria? Did you look for specific textiles?

The selection criteria was based on ethnographic importance and aesthetic beauty, and of course the price since we were collecting on a very small budget. We also tried to collect as many different types of weaving and surface decoration examples as possible. This meant sometimes, for example while travelling in Nigeria, we would purchase a baby wrapper, a small item, but often one that showed a particular type of weaving such as floating weft.

Of course, we also travelled at great distances to go to well known weaving centres such as Djenné and Mopti in Mali, as well as Akwete in south-east Nigeria. This was based both on research I had done in London, England and in Paris, as well as information we gathered as we travelled. Many people would tell us, "You must go to...", and off we would go.

Q: Do you continue to collect?

Yes, but not so often, and very selectively. I am not travelling anymore through my work (in international development) now that I have left paid employment so those opportunities are no longer there. 

There are still a few possibilities but one must be very careful. For example, in the last five years I have found a few items through e-Bay, very unusual ones from Liberia. These pieces were probably brought back by missionaries, or Peace Corps volunteers, or Americans who worked for Firestone Tire back in the 1960s.

 

Occasionally people who have worked for foreign affairs, or in the volunteer sector will have some pieces, but again not necessarily of good quality -- but then I will be surprised and find something unusual. Some friends have given me a few very special pieces which I treasure.

Q: If there could be only one textile in the exhibit, which would you choose to show and why? 

I am very fond of the Tunisian pieces, the veils for women. The fact that these pieces are used to cover women in terms of meeting the female modesty requirements of their society, yet at the same time have beautifully coloured embroidery on them to attract attention, is a fascinating dichotomy. Given my professional work in women's equality rights, I have always had an eye for those pieces which spoke to women expressing themselves in their societies.

Q: Can you share a memorable experience of acquiring a particular piece? 

Purchasing the Arkilla kerka, the wedding blanket in Mopti, Mali in 1974 was quite the event. We had been in the textile section of the Mopti market for four days, and had purchased several beautiful textiles. However, I continued to negotiate the purchase of the Arkilla kerka, and had reached an impasse with the seller. Over many, many cups of tea, we finally realized we would not be able to purchase this piece. We had spent most of our money already and had a trip of hundreds of kilometers ahead of us before we reached back to our home in Togo. As we were leaving Mopti early one morning, empty handed, we looked out the back of the Land Rover and saw the seller running towards us with the very large blanket on his head. He was calling out, "Your price Madame, your price." And with that he tossed the blanket into the vehicle and we tossed the CFA (local currency) out to him --the driver refused to fully stop for the transaction!

Those blankets are no longer made, so it is really an example of a period in Malian history of weaving which is no more.

Q: What's next for the collection? Are there any plans for the pieces to be exhibited again?

There has been interest from other museums, but it normally takes at least two years to plan an exhibition. The Carleton University Art Gallery exhibition has been very well received, so we will see what comes out of this experience and build on this. It is a great deal of work to organize such a show, and the awareness  of the importance of African textiles as an art form and expression of cultural values, is just beginning to develop in Canada, in my opinion. 

Join us for the Ottawa premiere of "Fold Crumple Crush: The Art of El Anatsui" this Sunday at Carleton University!

Symbols and Proverbs

Adinkra cloth

Ghana, Ntonso; Asante peoples

Late 20^th century

Rayon, dye made from tree bark
Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

In Ghana the symbols stamped on Asante adinkra cloths are a visualization of proverbs that embody cultural ideals, social understandings, and popular sayings.  Beautiful as many of the adinkra cloths are, they are not intended to be seen for purely aesthetic reasons; it is the meanings that are most important, therefore symbols are chosen with the utmost care.

Appliqué cloth

Republic of Benin; Fon peoples

Late 20^th century

Cotton
Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

A hundred years ago the appliquéd cloths of the Fon people (located in present-day Republic of Benin) were tools of elite power whose production and use were controlled by kings. The cloths communicate oral and other traditions through the use of emblematic motifs. A popular form among tourists is the kinglist cloth in which emblems of specific kings are arranged in roughly chronological order. What is often regarded as violent imagery has been subdued to accommodate tourists’ tastes and in some cases emblems have been removed entirely.

Commemorative cloth (Kanga)

Tanzania

2008

Cotton and polyester blend
Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

East African kanga cloths are worn by women who use them as a form of communication. Each cloth has proverbial texts printed on it that “say” something in the absence of spoken language. Kanga cloths are a means for women to address issues that are taboo in their society. 

Think about how you and your community use symbols to communicate.  Are the meanings cross-cultural or do they require specific information to understand?  In order to appreciate the artistic production of another culture, is it necessary to be literate in its visual vocabulary?  What are the implications of changing particular symbols to suit an external audience?      

Exploring Issues of Authenticity and Identity

Bogolanfini (mud cloth)

Mali; Bamana peoples

Mid 20^th century

Cotton, dye made from leaves and mud

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

 

Frankaa (asafo flag) 

Ghana; Fante peoples

20^th century, cotton

Collection of Barbara and Bill McCann

This week we discussed issues of authenticity and shifting identities as they relate to the African textiles in the Conversation Pieces exhibition.  One piece that caught our attention was the bogolanfini (“mud cloth”) from the Bamana peoples of Mali. Initially made by women and used as forms of protection during important moments of transition, bogolanfini are now frequently created by men in a variety of forms that include canvas paintings, Western-style clothing, and tourist art.  In many of these new contexts, complex motifs that originally communicated cultural knowledge have been adapted and simplified to appeal to Western tastes.

Another piece that stimulated discussion amongst our class was the asafo flag from the Fante peoples of Ghana.  Made to promote the identity of individual social organizations and record their histories, these flags became very popular among North American and European collectors during the late twentieth century.  As a result, flags began to flood the market.  Older flags were sold by asafo associations (in some cases to raise money for their activities) and new flags were produced for sale – some of which were artificially aged to increase their value.

The broader histories of cloths like these raise issues about authenticity and identity.  Are textiles created for external markets inauthentic or can they stand as works of art in their own right?   How have changing materials, producers and forms impacted the ways these pieces are valued and interpreted by different consumers? 

Yinka Shonibare’s Mr. and Mrs. Andrews without their heads (1998), on loan for the exhibition from the National Gallery of Canada, addresses similar issues in unique ways.  To learn more about this work go to:

http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=52528