BOOKS 150 Bakongo: “Les Fétiches” By Alain Lecomte, Raoul Lehuard, Kovo N’Sondé, and Jean N’Sondé Published in a bilingual French-English edtion by Éditions A. Lecomte, 2016 24.5 x 30.5 cm, 432 pages, illustrated in color ISBN: 978-2-9544167-2-4 Hardcover, 100 euros Limited edition of 700 copies of which 100 are reserved from sale In recent years, Alain Lecomte has been involved in the publication of monographs dedicated to the peoples of Central Africa, a subject he is particularly interested in and one that he has repeatedly honored in his Paris gallery through various thematic exhibitions. Following Bakongo : les siffl ets (Bakongo: Whistles) in 2013 and Batéké : “les fetiches” (Bateke: “Fetishes”) in 2014, to name just the two most recent titles. 2016 was the year of the opus dedicated to mi-nkisi and mi-nkondi (as the terms are rendered in the book) fi gures of the Bakongo peoples. Produced in collaboration with Raoul Lehuard, founder of the legendary magazine Arts d’Afrique Noire, Bakongo : “Les Fétiches” also features contributions by brothers Steve-Régis “Kovo” N’Sondé and Jean N’Sondé. Of Bakongo origin and researchers in African studies, these authors contributed two interesting essays, the fi rst a philosophical refl ection on the concepts of tradition and aesthetics within the Kongo context, and the second an analysis of various perspectives on Kongo arts. Illustrated with photographs of unparalleled quality, this book offers a remarkable synthesis of visuals and information about this artistic tradition that is simultaneously iconic and rich in formal nuance. Most of the examples are in private collections and have been the subject of rigorous stylistic analysis by the author in an effort to determine their origin. Given the paucity of accurate collection information, this is a complex and necessary exercise. Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacifi c By Steven Hooper Published in English by the Fiji Museum in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, 2016 22 x 27.5 cm, 288 pages, 414 illustrations ISBN: 978-0946009-69-5 and 978-0946009-70-1 Duel edition: hardcover, 50 euros, and softcover, 32 euros It is rare for us to present in this Books section a catalog for an exhibition that already has been the subject of an in-depth article in our pages. This was the case for Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacifi c, which was recently presented at Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich (see Tribal Art magazine, no. 81). However, the richness, quality, and complementary nature of the contents of this book, which accompanied the eponymous exhibition, convinced us to make an exception in order to bring to the attention of our readers this remarkable publication, which is far more than just a catalog. Intended as a preliminary attempt at presenting a comprehensive history of Fijian art, the book opens with an introduction to life and the arts in Fiji. The second chapter provides a historical overview of the circumstances of object collection and perspectives on exchanges between indigenous peoples and Europeans, particularly in the nineteenth century. The role of art objects in local cultures is then analyzed in depth. These essays precede the “catalog” part of the book, in which each of the 276 works presented in the exhibition— sculptures, textiles, ornaments, neckrests, etc.—is highlighted by a photograph that clearly shows its formal qualities as well as detailed commentary that expresses the importance of the artwork both as a social object and as a collector’s item. The book concludes with a valuable appendix composed by Katrina Talei Igglesden listing the main institutions and personalities (local chiefs and European collectors) who either has possessed or still holds signifi cant collections of Fiji art. Mangle Boards of Northern Europe Suomi, Danmark, Ísland, Nederland, Sverige, Norge, Deutschland By Jay Raymond Published in English by Streamline Press, 2015 12 x 15 inches, 288 pages, fully illustrated in color ISBN: 978-0578158037 Hardcover, 185 dollars This is a little different from what we usually address in these pages, but the subject matter has such strong visual affi nities to the arts we focus on that our readers will likely fi nd it interesting. A mangle board is a wooden implement used from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries for smoothing linen. They refl ect the work both of skilled carvers, trained in the classic styles of their times, and of naïve carvers, unschooled in woodcarving and academic visual traditions. They often incorporate traditional motifs that predate Christianity in Northern Europe and, though completely unrelated to these traditions, aesthetically many could easily be mistaken for being of Asian, African, Native American, or Indonesian origin. This book is oversized and lavishly produced. It is a thorough investigation into its subject matter and reveals the surprising aesthetics of an obscure object type.
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