BagaGuinea

Art of the BAGA

The permanent collection or in the Black Womanhood exhibition at the Davis Museum, Wellesley College

Headdress, 19th–20th centuryBaga peoples; GuineaWood; H. 46 1/2 in. (118.1 cm)

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.17)

BAGA- ‘NIMBA’

Map & Environmental shot

Baga is one of the smallest ethnic groups in Guinea. Since they are isolated from their inland neighbors and from foreign visitors by the sea and by the vast swamps that surround them, they have proved elusive to outsiders, so little was known about the functions and meanings of their art abroad. Yet the Baga have created a monumental artistic legacy that has excited students of African art and has had a significant impact on the twentieth century art of the West.

Map & Environmental shot

Variations of Nimba Masks

•a raffia skirt on the piece.80" tall (6.67 feet or 203cm)

Variations of Nimba Masks

•Bust headdress: the young bride (Zigiren-Wonde). BagaKoba/Kakissa/Landuma, early twentieth century. The masquerade was held at wakes for the dead, at initiations, and at harvest festivals. Wood, pigment, metal. H. 84cm. Collection Hans van Witteloostuijn, Delft, The Netherlands.

Variations of Nimba Masks

women

Nimba & modern art 1 Merlyn Evans

Verical suite in Black: Helmet Head,1957.

Modern artists were especially attracted to the D’mba headdress for its exponential curves. Aquatint. H. 74.3cm. Collection Allen Davis, Alexandria

Nimba & modern art 2 Fred Wilson

sea of power,1991.

The play upon leg forms the two disparate sources suggests differing views of power. Two BagaD’mba headdress, French-style chair, Bible. H. 189cm.

Nimba & modern art 3

Gani odutokun, Dialogue with Mona Lisa, 1991.

The association of the BagaD’mba with fertility and creativity, from picasso to the present, is evident here.

Courtesy Leroi Coubagy, Accra, Ghana

Context shots

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.randafricanart.com/Baga_Nimba.html http://www.hamillgallery.com/BAGA/BagaNimbas/Ba

gaNimba4.html Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention -

Frederik Lamp. http://www.tribal-explorer.com/african_tribes/baga-

nimba.html http://www.zyama.com/Ilya's/baga.nimba.large.nimba

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