50 LEGA IVORY SECRETS Paris—After having impressed visitors at the Fowler Museum at UCLA many years ago, the exhibition on the collection of Lega art from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo assembled by Jay T. Last (to whom we devoted our “Tribal People” section in our last issue) can now be seen at the Musée du Quai Branly through January 26, 2014. Produced under the direction of Elisabeth L. Cameron, Secrets d’Ivoire, l’Art des Lega d’Afrique Centrale (Ivory Secrets, Art of the Lega of Central Africa) is an opportunity to explore and learn about one of the most important sculptural traditions of the African continent. The installation strives to be an aesthetic experience and each work, whether a sculpture, a mask, or an ornament, is associated with a proverb that reveals the profound link between the visual and the verbal in Lega art and culture. The exhibition’s presentation follows the sequence of the teachings of the Bwami secret society, with which most of the works presented are connected. The society has five ranks for men and three for women and guides its members in the pursuit for excellence in morals, beauty, wisdom, and prestige—values that, from a formal point of view, translate into artistic creations which are as sober as they are elegant. Exhibition poster for Secrets d’Ivoire © Musée du Quai Branly. Left: Female Figure. Lega, DR Congo. Ivory. Private collection, Los Angeles. Right: Figure with raised arms. Lega, DR Congo. Wood. © Fowler Museum at UCLA, X2007.21.47. Gift of Jay T. Last. Above left: Figurine. Lega, DR Congo. C. 1900. Ivory. Private collection, Los Angeles. Above right: Mask. Lega, DR Congo. Ivory. Private collection, Los Angeles.
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