The James Lankton Collection
During August of 1995 the Wellington B. Gray Gallery opened the exhibition, Creativity, Continuity, Community: African Art The James Lankton Collection. The exhibit and overview of this newly acquired gift was enthusiastically received. Since then the collection has doubled in size through an anonymous gift. Subsequently a small "teaching" exhibition was installed in the Ledonia Wright African American Center.
In this exhibition, the plethora of art forms reflect a diversity of creative styles by artists existing in the same or different ethnic group(s) throughout various geographical regions of Central, West, and East Africa. The preponderance of artworks reflect artistic practices continued throughout generations and represent what is commonly referred to as "traditional" art.
Datable prototypes for most objects are unknown to Western scholars and are often approximated. For example, wood masks and figural sculpture are frequently dated to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This date derives from the fact that the life expectancy of wood used for sculpture in the tropical climates is no more than one hundred years.
Moreover since the twenties, modern technology and education stimulated the development of contemporary African art, which includes paintings on canvas and hardboard, sculpture produced with synthetic materials, and other art which is dependent upon importation of foreign tools and materials. In Africa today, traditional and contemporary art coexist. While contemporary art is supported by urban areas, traditional art survives in areas such as villages where traditional practices exist to sustain the art.
During the twentieth century, the catalyst for collecting traditional African art by Westerners stemmed from the formal associations made in the artworks of modern European artists. Artists, such as Pablo Picasso, were unaware of the social and religious meanings and functions of the artworks. Their approach to viewing was based purely on an aesthetic appreciation of formal qualities.
Masks and figural sculpture contain concepts dealing with a vital or life force that permeates throughout the universe. In presenting these concepts, the artist abstracts forms. What has been deemed by Westerners as a "primitive" style is instead a philosophical approach to conceptual meanings about the universe. For example, the masquerade may reflect an ancestral spirit or a nature spirit, such as a water spirit or an animal spirit, which is constantly evoked or assistance in daily activities and dilemmas of for their relevance to myths about origins. Furthermore wood sculpture, which are often placed on individual, family or community shrines or altars, are evoked to serve as mediators between members of the community and the spirit world.
Even though many traditional African artworks are associated with religion, some art forms served no religious or symbolic reference. These objects include household objects, weapons, tools or other utilitarian items. Similarly, while an abundance of wood sculpture exists among the forested and wooded savanna regions of settled communities in Central and West Africa, it is not the major material of East African ethnic groups. For example, the Maasai in Tanzania and Kenya are nomads living in grassland savanna regions. Their art consists of colorful jewelry used to decorate the bodies of both females and males.
The complexity of cultural idioms among the various ethnic groups in Africa is not always discernible to outsiders. The richness of their traditions supports the production of creative energies and expressions of continuity and transition intended to bind together the entire community.
Dr. Sharon Pruitt, Faculty ECU School of Art and Design
