184
K U L A N G O Alain-Michel Boyer
L e s f i g u r i n e s
Les esprits mystérieux de la brousse de la collection Pierluigi Peroni
48.00
Alain-Michel Boyer
L e s f i g u r i n e s
K U L A N G O
L e s e s p r i t s m y s t é r i e u x d e l a b r o u s s e
d e l a c o l l e c t i o n P i e r l u i g i P e r o n i
L’art étonnamment varié des Kulango, peuple du nord-est
de la Côte d’Ivoire, intrigue et déconcerte. Dans leurs créations
en métal surtout, d’une saisissante liberté d’expression,
les corps semblent réinventer le mouvement en adoptant
parfois une gestuelle presque chorégraphique, une grâce
aérienne, des lignes sinueuses. Dans cet ouvrage, plus de
100 gurines ressurgissent, telles des apparitions d’un
autre monde. Qui sont ces êtres énigmatiques dont les yeux
globuleux scrutent l’invisible?
The extraordinarily varied art of the Kulango, in the northeastern
Côte d’Ivoire, can be both intriguing and disconcerting.
Their metal sculptures in particular display a strikingly
free expressiveness. Doing away with immobile remoteness,
bodies seem to reinvent movement, sometimes adopting
almost choreographic gestures, an airy grace, sinuous
lines. In this book, more than 100 gurines have been revitalized,
like apparitions from another world. Who are these
enigmatic beings whose bulging eyes peer at the invisible?
BOOKS
A Bag Worth a Pony:
The Art of the Ojibwe Bandolier Bag
By Marcia G. Anderson
Published in English by the Minnesota Historical
Society Press, 2017
8.5 x 11 inches, 272 pages, 300 color and black-andwhite
illustrations
ISBN: 978-1-6813402-9-6
Softcover, $34.95
Bandolier bags, or gashkibidaaganag—the large,
heavily beaded shoulder bags made and worn by several
North American Indian tribes around the Great
Lakes—are prized cultural icons within their own cultures
and around the world. From the 1870s to the
present day, Ojibwe bead artists of Minnesota have
been especially well known for their lively, creative
designs. Neighboring Dakota peoples would trade a
pony for a beautiful beaded bag.
Over the years, non-Indian collectors and ethnographers,
struck by the bags’ cultural signifi cance and
visual appeal, bought them up. Today, there are hundreds
of bags in museums around the world, but not
so many in the hands of community members. In A
Bag Worth a Pony, Marcia G. Anderson shares the results
of thirty years of study in which she learned from
the talented bead artists who keep the form alive, from
historical records, and from the bags themselves. Anderson
examines the history, forms, structure, and motifs
of the bags, giving readers the tools to understand
a bag’s makeup and meaning. She also offers a tour of
Minnesota’s seven Ojibwe reservations, showing the
beautiful beaded bags associated with each along with
the personal insights of seven master beadworkers.
Part one of this densely illustrated book examines
the historical development of this unique and beautiful
art form, while part two looks at the tradition regionally
and identifi es specifi c artists. A wealth of historic
photos is distributed throughout its pages.
Archaeology of the Solomon Islands
By Richard Walter and Peter Sheppard
Published in English by the University of Hawaii Press,
2017
8.25 x 11 inches, 192 pages, 33 color and 17 blackand
white illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-8248753-7-4
Softcover, $42
At the time of the fi rst European encounter, the peoples
of Melanesia exhibited some of the greatest diversity
in language, sociopolitical organization, and cultural
expression of any region on earth. This extraordinary
diversity attracted scholars and resulted in coastal Melanesia
becoming the birthplace of modern anthropology,
and yet the area remains one of the least well-documented
regions of the Pacifi c in archaeological terms.
Archaeology of the Solomon Islands presents the
outcome of twenty years’ research in the Solomon Islands
undertaken jointly by Richard Walter and Peter
Sheppard, both leaders in the fi eld of Pacifi c archaeology.
It draws together the research that has taken place
in the fi eld over the past fi fty years and takes a multidisciplinary
approach to considering the work of archaeologists,
environmental scientists, anthropologists, and
historians. At the same time this volume highlights the
results of the authors’ own considerable fi eld research.
Their work also integrates the Solomon Islands into
ongoing models and debates around Pacifi c culturehistory,
including in such key areas as human expansion
during the Pleistocene, the spread of Austronesians,
Lapita colonization, the development of food
production, the role of exchange systems, the concept
and meaning of culture areas, and human impact on
landscapes and ecosystems. The result is a unique and
fascinating book, accessibly written, that represents a
groundbreaking contribution to Pacifi c archaeology.
Kulango Figurines:
Wild and Mysterious Spirits from the
Collection of Pierluigi Peroni
By Alain-Michel Boyer
Published in a bilingual French/English edition by
5 Continents Editions, 2017
15 x 25 cm, 240 pages, illustrated in color
ISBN: 88-7439-784-6
Hardcover, 48 euros
In his recent interview in Tribal Art magazine, Pierluigi Peroni
said that a book on his collection of Kulongo bronzes
authored by Alain-Michel Boyer was in the works (see
“Tribal People”, spring 2017). In early October of 2017,
this will become a tangible reality that will be a signifi cant
addition to the small body of literature relating to metal
sculpture from West Africa.
Published by 5 Continents Editions, with its characteristic
attention to detail, this work explores the wide diversity
of the copper alloy fi gurines of the Kulango, a people
of northeastern Côte d’Ivoire. With their stylized shapes,
sinuous bodies, and elongated faces with globular eyes,
these fi gures are characteristic of this culture area. Beautifully
photographed by Francesco Pachì, some 100 of these
fi gurines are reproduced in this book, many as full-page
plates, despite their small size. This allows for a better appreciation
of their sculptural nuances as well as the beauty
of the surfaces due to wear and time. Boyer’s text provides
interesting insights into these enigmatic artworks.