Description: Wooden carving of a "blolo bian" -- a male spirit spouse from the Baule peoples of the Ivory Coast, c. 1950s. A part of the "After Spiritualism" Exhibit, Fitchburg Museum of Art February 8–June 7, 2020 So many questions... Where does this carved wooden figure come from? What does it mean? Why are there so…
Wooden carving of a “blolo bian” — a male spirit spouse from the Baule peoples of the Ivory Coast, c. 1950s.
A part of the “After Spiritualism” Exhibit, Fitchburg Museum of Art February 8–June 7, 2020
A careful study of African art history can help us to understand a great deal about the modern world. The trouble is — to date — this is not widely understood or fully appreciated — even by “the experts” in African art. Simply put, the problem is this: while there is a great deal written about African belief systems and African aesthetics, when it comes to discussing selected works of African art, there is comparatively little detailed historical study of the concrete circumstances or specific context tha