127 imagined. I don’t buy a single work without his input. T. A. M.: You exclusively collect African art rather than in combination with Oceanic, American Indian, or the Taïno of your birthplace, Cuba. Many collectors are more diverse in this regard. Why just Africa? J. P.: My interest in classic African art is in part rooted in being from Cuba. While my family’s origins are Spanish, the culture of Africa is incredibly important to Cuba. Africa is as linked to Cuba as Spain is. I think that for me that link is part of what triggered my initial interest in African art, but it’s more than that. Classical African art inspires my interest and taste in all the other art forms that I admire, from contemporary and modern Western art, to classical Greek, Egyptian, and Roman art. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I don’t feel the same connection to classical art from other areas, although I can appreciate it. I think the only exception may be art from New Ireland, which I’m fi nding myself more and more attracted to. I could see starting to acquire some works from that area, but I don’t see how it could surpass my interest in African art. T. A. M.: What is it in a given piece that speaks to you? J. P.: The great thing about African art is that there were so many directions that artists from the continent took in creating their works. When I fi rst saw my Kaka altarpiece with Lance Entwistle in Paris, I was completely fl oored. The ferociousness of the faces on the lower part of the sculpture topped with a curious male fi gure that has what look like wings for arms captivated me on fi rst sight. It’s such a powerful image, and the crusty sacrifi cial surface takes it to another level. I had never acquired a work with such a surface before, but now it’s something I really love. My large Igbo male headdress similarly stopped me in my tracks, but on this sculpture it was the large head and face that grabbed me. The exaggerated details and cubistic features make me smile every time I see it. With my large male Mumuye, it was the exaggerated and pointy earfl aps that fi rst interested me, but then the long, ribbon-like arms caught my attention too. With my Fang, it’s what is missing that spoke to me—the mouth has been scratched out, the nose is missing, and all that is left of the eyes are the pins that held the circular metal shapes. The surface is also incredible, still oozing oil from all the years that it was ritually used. I guess that if I had to identify one characteristic that appeals to me in African art and that all these works share, it would be a sense of inner strength and power. These are sculptures with a purpose. They weren’t created to decorate a space, they were created to command attention. They certainly have mine. FIG. 13 (right): Male headcrest. Eket, Nigeria. Ex Alain Dufour, St. Maur, c. 1970; Lucien Van de Velde, Antwerp, c. 1970; Jacques Blanckaert, Brussels; Piet Blanckaert, Knokke, Belgium, 1991; Daniel Hourdé, Paris, July 2015; Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, September 2015. Wood. H: 64 cm. Photo: Andrea Rossetti. JAVIER PERES
•TribalPaginaIntera.indd
To see the actual publication please follow the link above