FEATURE
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FIG. 20 (right): Mask, okuyi.
Punu, Gabon. 19th century.
Wood, pigment. H: 34 cm.
CSSp. collection.
© CSSp. Photo: Vincent Girier
Dufournier.
FIG 21 (left):
Forge bellows, okuka.
Punu/Lumbu, Gabon.
19th century.
Wood, animal hide. H: 50 cm.
CSSp. collection.
© CSSp. Photo: Vincent Girier
Dufournier.
infl uence. In the context of this multifaceted communication
campaign, the ethnographic collections
the missionaries had assembled became a key part
of its their new presentation process.
The Ethnographic Collections as
Tools for Communication
In France, the Protestant evangelical missions were
the fi rst to show their objects publicly, at the Exposition
universelle of 1867, which was held in Paris.
It was not until 1894, at the Exposition universelle,
internationale et coloniale in Lyon, that the Catholic
missions would do likewise. The Société des
Missions Africaines put together an exhibition of
African objects for this event. Although the Spiritans
were not directly involved with it, the show
merits mention because it represents the starting
point for an approach that Catholic missionary orders
would soon adopt.
The pieces displayed at the Exposition universelle
in Lyon were primarily sculptures associated
with magic and divination.15 Their meanings and
functions were mostly unknown, but for the propagandists,
the power of these artifacts lay in their
ability to harness an audience. As living images of
paganism, these “fetishes” stood as symbols of the
state of ignorance of the Revelation in which African
peoples had cruelly remained. They had the
positive power to elicit compassion and charity
while simultaneously illustrating the vital need for
the apostolic mission. Of course, the “fetishes” also
represented the supposed savagery of Africa: cannibalism,
sacrifi ces, and idolatry. All of these aspects
were exacerbated by the caricaturish commentaries
that accompanied the works,16 which praised and
celebrated the missionaries’ courage, self-denial,
and devotion. The 1894 Exposition universelle thus
laid the groundwork for an ambiguous relationship
that would connect ethnographic objects with missionary
communication for decades thereafter.
Several important events that involved the Congregation
of the Holy Ghost, seen in the context of
this propagandist approach, now enable us to understand
the way in which the Spiritan collections
were formed and used.
Major Events in Which the Spiritans Participated
In May of 1914, the Congregation of the Holy
Ghost presented a major exhibition of African art,
not within the framework of a grand universal or