ART IN MOTION 22 INNOVATIVE Tsogho— Icons of the Bwiti at Galerie Bernard Dulon Through his position as a major art dealer, Bernard Dulon has demonstrated an undeniable talent for curatorial work. The success of the exhibitions he has participated in producing, such as Objetos—Signos de África at the Fundación Ibercaja in Saragossa, Spain, in 2000, and Carnets de voyages, Edmond Dartevelle at the Musée du Président Jacques Chirac in France in 2010, are clear proof of that. Within the walls of his Paris gallery, he has often produced thematic exhibitions in which only a red dot on a label would remind the visitor that he was in a commercial space. Cameroon in 2006, Kota in 2011, and this year’s Tsogho—Icons of the Bwiti are all major events of this kind. This current show, which will open at Parcours and remain on view through October 8, 2016, is the fi rst to be devoted to the Tsogho statuary of Gabon. In an installation designed by François Marcq, visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to admire twenty-fi ve sculptures—heads, torsos, and full fi gures— most of which have never been publicly seen before. This show has been several years in the making, and it will be accompanied by the publication of an eponymous work by art historian and Société des Africanistes member Bertrand Goy. The book will fi ll a signifi cant void in the specialized literature and will shed much-needed new light on the arts of the Tsogho, as well as on those of their neighbors, the Sango, Vuvi, and Eshira. It takes a historical approach and features a stylistic analysis while at the same time stressing the importance of the cult objects associated with the Tsogho bwiti initiation ritual, which was vital to maintaining social order. The sculptural power of Tsogho objects was evident to the artists and collectors of the early avant-garde, such as Picasso, Matisse, and Epstein, and, as of September of 2016, there fi nally will be a book devoted to them. In the course of the years of preparation and research leading up to this book and exhibition, the story related in the Object History section of this issue came to light. AESTHETIC Hair at Galerie Yann Ferrandin Yann Ferrandin’s eye is subtle and exacting, and his selection of objects from Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas invariably highlights their beauty. His exhibitions also affi rm both his personal taste and his mastery of the use of space in the service of the artworks. Hair, his exhibition for the 2016 Parcours, explores the importance of personal appearance specifi cally as it relates to hair by showing some one hundred objects of exception- RIGHT: Female figure. Tsogho, Gabon. 19th century. Wood, traces of red pigment, tin, iron, gray-blue beads. H: 41 cm. Collected in situ before 1923. © Galerie Bernard Dulon. Photo: Hughes Dubois. BELOW: Bust with arms, mbumba. Tsogho, Mougamou village, Gabon. 19th century. Wood, metal, pigment. H: 33 cm. © Galerie Bernard Dulon. Photo: Vincent Girier Dufournier. BELOW RIGHT: Comb. Attie, Côte d’Ivoire. 19th century. Ivory with yellow-orange patina. H: 12 cm. © Yann Ferrandin. Photo: Hughes Dubois.
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