ART on view
60
USE AND GENERAL HISTORY
The main regions where asen were made and used
span between the Asante (Akan) of Ghana; the Adja
and Ewe of Togo; the Fon, Hueda, and Ayizo of the
Republic of Benin; and the Yoruba and Edo (Benin)
kingdoms of Nigeria. At their most basic, asen
constitute a kind of portable altar that is planted
in the ground of the asenxo (asen house) where the
deceased members of the family are memorialized
and recalled in annual ceremonies, during which
each is engaged. It is in front of the asen that the
living will meet the dead, speak to them, interrogate
them, and offer the sacrifi ces of propitiation.
Many asen, including several featured in the exhibition,
include a portrayal of a gourd container, or
Forging
Memory in Iron
ASEN ARTS OF DAHOMEY
From November 21, 2018,
until May 26, 2019, the Musée Barbier-Mueller
in Geneva will present a special exhibition
focused on the West African tradition of iron
altars known as asen, specifically those of the
former kingdom of Dahomey. Titled Asen:
Mémoires forgés à fer dans l’Art Vodun du Dahomey
(Asen: Forged Memories of Iron in Dahomey
Vodun Art), it will explore an array of
issues important to our understanding of these
striking sculptures. Key among these are artist
hands, questions of use, the history of these arts,
and how asen enhance our understanding of the
broader regional history of the southern area
of the Republic of Benin where they are found.
This collection, representing some of the finest
iron sculptures anywhere in Africa—or elsewhere—
offers a unique occasion for close looking
at these remarkable works. It is in the fine
details of their construction and figural forms
that the identity of each artist can be discerned.
calabash (fi g. 1). Such containers hold food used in
offerings to the deceased at the time the asen is fi rst
installed. This also recalls an alternative name for
asen in this area in southern Republic of Benin and
Togo, namely sinuka (calabash to drink water, the
calabash being the recepticle that one uses ritually
in libations for the ancestors). The tall pots shown
in some asen (fi g. 9) recall those used by women
to carry fresh water from a nearby spring to the
family compound for use in related rites. In some
ways, the various asen motifs referencing the deceased
help to recall the memory of these important
fi gures. The asen, transformed through related
offerings, in turn, becomes the means for further
engagement with these critical ancestors.
Historically in this region, asen were also closely
identifi ed with healing, protection, and divination,
as well as the transfer of knowledge from the spirit
world to the earthly world in Vodun temples and
other contexts (fi g. 2). This function shifted toward
a more specifi cally royal memorial use as the Da-
FIG. 1 (left): Asen by the
Master of the Curved-Horn
Ram. Ouidah, Republic of
Benin.
Mid–late 19th century.
Iron. H: 129 cm.
Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva,
inv. 1010-69.
Seated here is a man in a top hat
holding a knife. In front is a dead
bird (a duck?) on a platter. On one
side is a curved-horn ram and on the
other is a serpent grasping a frog.
Around the perimeter are trees and
a cross.
All object photography © Luis
Lourenço, Musée Barbier-Mueller.
By Suzanne Preston Blier